People & Publishing Roundup, April 2021
JOHN VARLEY, 73, began having chest pains in late February 2021, and subsequently underwent quadruple bypass surgery. He returned home on February 28 and is recovering well. “I thank you for the good vibes and wishes and karma sent my way during my recent travails. Yes, and your prayers as well, though I’m an atheist and don’t know quite what to do with them. Is anyone really listening? Maybe so. Can’t hurt to pray, anyhow.”
GWENDA BOND‘s adult work is now represented via Kate McKean at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary Agency will continue to rep her YA and children’s work.
SUSANNA CLARKE‘s Piranesi (Bloomsbury) is among the 16 titles on the £30,000 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist. The shortlist will be announced on April 28, 2021 and the winner on July 7.
STEPHEN KING & RICHARD CHIZMAR sold Gwendy’s Final Task, third in the series begun with Gwendy’s Button Box, to Ed Schlesinger at Gallery, with Cemetery Dance to release the hardcover, via Chuck Verrill of Darhansoff & Verrill for King and Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency for Chizmar.
CHARLES STROSS sold two more novels in the New Management series, set in the world of the Laundry books, to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tordotcom in the US and Jenni Hill at Orbit in the UK via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.
MARLON JAMES sold a story collection to Kate Atley at Penguin UK via Nora Rawn of Trident Media Group on behalf of Ellen Levine.
KEVIN J. ANDERSON & late drummer/lyricist NEIL PEART‘s Clockwork Destiny, third in their trilogy based on the Rush concept album Clockwork Angels, sold to David Caron at ECW Press.
KELLY BARNHILL‘s speculative novel When Women Were Dragons sold to Lee Boudreaux at Doubleday at auction via Steven Malk of Writers House.
MEG ELISON sold Number One Fan, “Misery for millennials,” to Margot Mallinson at Mira via Dara Kaye of Ross Yoon Agency.
DAVE BARA sold the second book in the Trinity’s Children series to Tony Daniel at Baen via Paul Stevens of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
K.L. ARMSTRONG sold a standalone thriller and a second book Bhavna Chauhan at Doubleday Canada via Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.
NICHOLAS KAUFMANN sold horror novel The Hungry Earth to David Niall Wilson at Crossroad Press via Richard Curtis of Richard Curtis Associates.
KRISTI DEMEESTER sold feminist horror novel Such a Pretty Smile to Alexandra Sehulster at St. Martin’s in a pre-empt via Stefanie Lieberman of Janklow & Nesbit.
EUGEN BACON sold Danged Black Thing to Transit Lounge Publishing.
ALAN SMALE‘s alternate history Hot Moon sold to Shahid Mahmud at Caezik SF & Fantasy via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.
DAVE EGGERS sold The Every, a follow-up to The Circle, to John Freeman at Knopf in association with McSweeney’s. Canadian rights went to Knopf Canada, and UK rights to Hamish Hamilton.
NAN FISCHER sold Some of It Was Real, about a reluctant psychic, and a second book to Kerry Donovan at Berkley in a pre-empt via Stephanie Kip Rostan of Levine Greenberg Rostan.
BRYAN THOMAS SCHMIDT sold his hard SF novel Shortcut, based on a story by Schmidt & HUNT LOWRY, to Peter J. Wacks at 25 and Y Publishing. Schmidt & ROBERT SILVERBERG will edit Robots Through the Ages for Rick Bleweiss at Blackstone Publishing.
NAMWALI SERPELL sold The Furrows: An Elegy to Alexis Washam at Hogarth in the US and Poppy Hampson at Hogarth UK via PJ Mark of Janklow & Nesbit and Will Francis of Janklow & Nesbit UK respectively.
DEBBIE URBANSKI‘s post-apocalyptic SF novel What Comes After the End sold to Tim O’Connell at Pantheon in a pre-empt via Kate Garrick of the Karpfinger Agency.
SASCHA STRONACH sold The Dawnhounds and two more SF titles to Amara Hoshijo at Saga Press via Sara Megibow of kt literary.
TARA SIM‘s The City of Dusk and two more in a new epic fantasy trilogy went to Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit via Victoria Marini of Irene Goodman Agency.
LAUREN OWEN‘s sold fantasy Small Angels to Caitlin McKenna at Random House in the US and to Mary-Anne Harrington at Tinder Press in the UK.
JUNO DAWSON‘s historical fantasy Her Majesty’s Royal Coven and two more titles sold to Margaux Weisman at Penguin at auction via Alyssa Reuben and Katelyn Dougherty of Paradigm on behalf of Sallyanne Sweeney of MMB Creative.
JENNIFER NEAL sold The Color of Her Blood, described “as reminiscent as the work of Octavia Butler and Helen Oyeyemi,” to Jonathan Lee at Catapult via Andrea Joyce on behalf of Milly Reilly of the Jo Unwin Literary Agency.
JOSH WEISS sold alternate history Beat the Devils, “set during Joseph McCarthy’s presidency in 1958,” and another title to Ben Sevier and Wes Miller at Grand Central in a pre-empt via Scott Miller of Trident Media Group.
ALEX THOMSON‘s Spidertouch went to Gemma Creffield at Angry Robot via Jennie Goloboy of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
CHRIS PANATIER‘s SF novel Stringers sold to Gemma Creffield at Angry Robot via Hannah Fergesen of kt literary.
JAMES KENNEDY‘s Dare to Know, about an algorithm that predicts your death, went to Jhanteigh Kupihea at Quirk Books via John Cusick of Folio Literary Management.
ROBERT REPINO sold Malefactor, the last volume in the War With No Name series, to Mark Doten at Soho Press via Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.
LINDSAY WONG‘s Careful Dying, a collection of “immigrant horror stories” with speculative elements, and a second book went to Deborah Sun de la Cruz at Penguin Canada in a pre-empt via Carly Watters of P.S. Literary Agency.
ANN DÁVILA CARDINAL‘s first novel for adults, The Storyteller’s Death, and a second title sold to Christa Desir at Sourcebooks via Linda Camacho of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
SASHA FLETCHER‘s Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World sold to Athena Bryan at Melville House via Monika Woods of Triangle House Literary.
ZAIN KHALID sold Brother, literary fiction with speculative elements, to Peter Blackstock at Grove/Atlantic in a pre-empt via Kent Wolf of Neon Literary.
LUCY HOLLAND sold a Wild Hunt novel to Bella Pagan at Tor UK via Veronique Baxter at David Higham Associates, and US rights went to Priyanka Krishnan at Redhook via Tor UK.
AINSLIE HOGARTH sold domestic horror novel Motherthing and a second title to Caitlin Landuyt at Vintage via Rach Crawford of MacKenzie Wolf.
M DRESSLER sold Our Eyes at Night, third in the Last Ghost series, to Cal Barksdale at Arcade via Alison Bond of Alison Bond & Associates.
LIZ PARKER sold fantasy In the Shadow Garden to Leah Hultenschmidt at Forever via Rena Rossner of Deborah Harris Agency.
CHARLIE ADHARA sold three books in a spinoff from the Big Bad Wolf paranormal romance series to Stephanie Doig at Carina Press.
HANK SCHWAEBLE sold horror collection Moonless Nocturne to Isabel Penraeth at Esker & Riddle.
RUS WORNOM‘s sold Southern Gothic Ghostflowers to Christopher Payne at JournalStone via Anne Tibbets of D4EO Literary Agency. Scarlett Algee will edit.
TERRY PERSON sold Rewind and Sky People to Valerie Mathews at The Wild Rose Press.
JOHN MAULDIN sold The Orb, illustrated by JENNIFER GREEFF, to Valerie Mathews at The Wild Rose Press.
REBECCA JOHN sold a fantasy novel to Penny Thomas at Firefly Press via Jenny Savill of Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
JASON OCKERT‘s surreal collection Shadowselves went to Michelle Dotter at Dzanc Books via John Rudolph of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
CHARLES RAFFERTY sold Moscodelphia, “a poetic rendering of a dystopian future,” to Christopher Madden at Woodhall Press.
NORET FLOOD IV sold three books in The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via Drew Gilmour of Achilles Literary Agency.
ANDREW HALLMAN‘s Mirrenwood went to David Niall Wilson at Crossroad Press via Richard Curtis of Richard Curtis Associates.
ROB EDWARDS sold superhero novel The Crossover Paradox, sequel to The Ascension Machine, to Geoff Habiger at Shadow Dragon Press.
KEVIN KAUFFMANN‘s SF novel Daytrippers and three more titles went to Isabel Penraeth at Lophii.
CARY FAGAN sold fantasy The Animals to Jay Millar at Book*hug via Samantha Haywood of Transatlantic Literary Agency.
HARISSON SHAWS‘s post-apocalyptic novel The Lonesome Road sold to Eric Williams at 5310 Publishing. Alex Williams will edit.
ELIZABETH CHATSWORTH sold The Brass Queen: Grand Tour to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Helga Schier will edit.
LUNA JOYA sold Wicked Crown, Wicked Match, and Wicked Grace in the Redemption Series to Tee Tate at City Owl Press.
GABRIELLE ASH sold The Unrighteous Son and The Wayward Daughter, second and third in the Circle Seven trilogy, to Tee Tate at City Owl Press, and For the Murder and two more books to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press, all via Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency.
T.M. BLANCHET‘s fantasy Herrick’s End went to Galen Surlak-Ramsey at Tiny Fox Press via Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency. Jennifer Wallace will edit.
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY‘s novel Once Upon A Wardrobe, inspired by the early life of C.S. LEWIS, sold to Amanda Bostic at Harper Muse via Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates.
ANDREA BOUGIOUKLIS sold The Art of Becoming a Traitor to Eric Williams at 5310 Publishing.
KATHRYN TROY sold A Vision in Crimson, first in the Frostbite vampire series, and two more titles to Tee Tate at City Owl Press.
RICK RIORDAN sold children’s SF Daughter of the Deep, about the last descendant of Captain Nemo from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by JULES VERNE, to Stephanie Lurie at Disney-Hyperion via Nancy Gallt of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
DANIEL JOSÉ OLDER sold YA Ballad & Dagger, launching the Outlaw Saints urban fantasy series, and a second book to Stephanie Lurie at Rick Riordan Presents via Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary & Media.
RAE CARSON sold YA Any Sign of Life, described as “Arrival meets The Fifth Wave,” to Martha Mihalick at Greenwillow via Holly Root of Root Literary.
MELISSA MARR‘s middle-grade fantasy The Hidden Knife and a second book sold to Nancy Paulsen at Nancy Paulsen Books via Merrilee Heifetz of Writers House.
ANDREA TANG‘s YA The Kingdom of Without – “a cyberpunk Six of Crows” – went to Alyza Liu at Simon & Schuster Children’s via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
SOYOUNG PARK‘s dystopian YA Snowglobe went to Krista Marino at Delacorte at auction via Sue Park of Barbara Zitwer Agency.
LISETTE AUTON sold YA mermaid novel The Secret of Haven Point and a second book to Emma Jones at Puffin UK via Molly Ker Hawn of the Bent Agency.
ADRIANNE STRICKLAND‘s YA Court of the Undying Seasons, about a school for vampires, went to Rachel Diebel at Feiwel and Friends via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
EMILY LLOYD-JONES sold YA fantasy The Drowned Woods to Hannah Milton at Little, Brown Children’s via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic.
MEGAN PAASCH‘s YA fantasy Dream To Me sold to Camille Kellogg at Imprint and Rachel Diebel at Feiwel and Friends via Moe Ferrara of BookEnds. (Paasch is now represented by Natascha Morris of the Tobias Literary Agency.)
AKEMI DAWN BOWMAN‘s third book in the Infinity Courts series sold to Jennifer Ung at Simon & Schuster Children’s via Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management. Alyza Liu will edit.
CHLOE GONG “speculative historical noir” YA Foul Lady Fortune and another title sold to Sarah McCabe at Margaret K. McElderry Books via Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary Agency. UK rights went to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton via Brent Taylor and Crockett.
MARGARET ROGERSON sold YA fantasy Vespertine, to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books via Sara Megibow of kt literary.
New writer HOLLY JAMES sold Nothing But the Truth, “a feminist Liar Liar,” to Stephanie Kelly at Dutton at auction via Melissa Edwards of Stonesong.
First novelist KRITIKA H. RAO sold epic fantasy The Surviving Sky and two more books to Leah Spann at DAW at auction via Naomi Davis of BookEnds.
JOHNNY COMPTON‘s Southern Gothic debut The Spite House and a second title sold to Daphne Durham at Nightfire for six figures in a pre-empt via Lane Heymont of the Tobias Literary Agency.
ALEPH KATZ sold first novel Starborne to Ashley Carlson at TouchPoint Press.
UMAR TURAKI‘s debut Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold, set in “a small community… cut off from the world after a mysterious illness leaves only children behind,” and a second book sold to Selena James at Little A in a pre-empt via Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger.
First novelist JORDAN BARTLETT sold Contest of Queens to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
BRIANNA JOY CRUMP‘s debut YA The Culled Crown went to Deanna McFadden at Wattpad.
K.E. FLANN sold humor volume How to Survive a Human Attack, “a guide for vampires, swamp monsters, and other cryptids” on how to avoid humans, to Jess Riordan at Running Press via Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary.
DON ZACANELLA sold A Storm in the Stars, a novel about Mary Shelley & Percy Bysshe Shelley, to Joseph Olshan at Delphinium. Jennifer Ankner-Edelstein will edit.
Journalist and SF editor GIDEON LICHFIELD is the new global editorial director of Wired.
NIVIA EVANS has been promoted to senior editor at Orbit US. ANGELA MAN was promoted to publicist, and LISA MARIE POMPILIO to associate art director.
ROBERT DAVIS has been promoted to editor at Forge.
ANNE TIBBETS has joined Donald Maass Literary Agency as a literary agent. She was previously part of D4EO Literary Agency.
BRIAN J. HATCHER is stepping down as program manager of the Horror Writers Association’s mentorship program after four years. Assistant manager JG FAHERTY will take over his duties.
TV rights to N.K. JEMISIN’s Inheritance trilogy were optioned by Searchlight Television, with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios to produce the planned ongoing series.
DAVID LEVITHAN will write a graphic novel adaptation of his novel Every Day, illustrated by DION MBD, for Melanie Cecka Nolan at Knopf via Bill Clegg of the Clegg Agency for Levithan and Chad Beckerman of The Cat Agency for MBD. Marisa DiNovis will edit.
YAN LEISHENG sold The Ming Storm, a tie-in to the Assassin’s Creed: China video game, to Aconyte.
This and more like it in the April 2021 issue of Locus.
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