Annmarie SanSevero · Sci-Fi & Fantasy Author
Fantastic Worlds.
Enduring Questions.
Clean sci-fi and fantasy that stays with you. Stories that elevate the human spirit, explore big ideas, and ignite hope.

The Problem
Your Reading Time Is Limited. Spend It Well.
You only get so many reading hours in a week. Maybe a stolen lunch break. Maybe twenty minutes before the kids wake up. When you finally crack open a book, it should be worth it.
Too much fiction today forces a frustrating choice. On one shelf, stories so shallow you forget them before the last page. On the other, stories so crude you feel like you need a shower in holy water afterward.
You deserve a third option. Fiction that entertains, wrestles with the human experience, and sends you back into your life with more hope than you started with.
Meet The Author
Why I Write These Stories
I know what it's like to want a book that entertains you while exploring ideas that make you think. I also know what it's like for life to be hard. Growing up in a challenging family, I read books about characters who struggled through the darkness of difficulties and came out stronger than before. Those books gave me courage. As an adult, I look for those same kinds of books, with the added ingredient of giving me something to think about when I'm done.
I'm an award-winning writer, editor, and speaker. I grew up in New York City but was transplanted to the South in high school. I write stories designed to bring courage, hope, and resilience, accompanied by humor and a desire to explore the human experience. I want readers to feel like they can do more than survive. They can conquer.
My short fiction has earned multiple Honorable Mentions and a Semi-Finalist placement with Writers and Illustrators of the Future, the largest international writing competition, and I'm currently a finalist for the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award. I've appeared on multiple podcasts and regularly speak about craft, resilience, and meeting your goals. I'm available for library and school visits.
When I'm not dodging tornadoes or battling mosquitoes of unusual size, I enjoy computer programming, learning new things, playing violin, and singing. I can occasionally be found tap dancing or playing DnD. One day I want to go LARPing.
"[...] It takes a meticulous mind to understand how important detail is to setting, but a great capacity for imagination to understand how to weave it into a story.
Annmarie has both, in addition to a genuine enthusiasm."
Trisha Ray, author of The Girls Behind the Gunfire (HarperCollins Publishers India)
The Books
What Are You in the Mood For?

Quick Reads, All Annmarie
The Butterfly's Stroke and Other Stories is her short story collection, published by Stark Publishing and available everywhere. Every story in it has earned recognition from Writers of the Future, from Honorable Mention to Semi-Finalist. And every story she writes (anywhere) is clean, even the ones with smoochy smoochy.

Quick Reads with Friends
From themed anthologies to fiction magazines, you'll find Annmarie alongside bestsellers like Jonathan Maberry, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Martin L. Shoemaker.

Ready for a Book?
Marked by Magic, a middle-grade fantasy/steampunk mashup, arrives this fall. It's the first in a three-book series that tackles tough themes while being laugh-out-loud funny, even for adults. In the meantime, read her annotated re-release of G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, a fantastical mystery/thriller/comedy the Chesterton Society called "a great way to start an argument."
For Parents, Teachers, and Librarians
Stories You Can Hand to a Young Reader With Confidence
Young people face heavy themes. Good fiction helps them face those themes with courage, hope, resilience, and empathy for others. My commitment to you is that my stories will always tackle real questions in a way that builds students up rather than tearing them down. Hand one to a student and rest easy.
Free discussion guides are available, and I'm happy to set up in-person or Zoom visits with classrooms and libraries, including special events for homeschool groups.
The Problem
Get "How to Be Friends with a Human"
Join the newsletter and get a free short story about two young cryptid penpals: a Fouke Monster who desperately wants a human friend, and a Champy sea monster who advises him on how to approach humans, with hysterical results.
You'll also be first to hear about new stories, appearances, and other shenanigans.