People & Publishing Roundup, October 2021
N.K. JEMISIN was named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2021 by Time. See the full list on their website.
NANCY PEARL will receive the 2021 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, to be presented November 17, 2021 at the National Book Awards ceremony in New York. Pearl is the influential librarian who created the ‘‘One Book, One City’’ program.
SUSANNA CLARKE’ s Piranesi (Bloomsbury) won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, celebrating ‘‘excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world,’’ and including a £30,000 prize and a bronze ‘‘Bessie’’ trophy.
MARIA DAHVANA HEADLEY’s Beowulf: A New Translation (FSG) won the $1,000 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award, which recognizes ‘‘a published translation of poetry from any language into English that shows literary excellence.’’
ELAINE CUYEGKENG’s ‘‘The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter’’ (Black Cranes) won the Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction for ‘‘the best in innovative fiction,’’ presented during Dragon Con, September 2-6, 2021 in Atlanta GA. She received a plaque and a $1,000 prize. The award honors the late author and editor Foster, who died in 2014.
RICH HARVEY won the Munsey Award, for ‘‘an individual or institution that has bettered the pulp community,’’ presented at Pulpfest, held August 19-21, 2021 in Pittsburgh PA. He received a fine art print by David Saunders as his award.
RICHARD POWERS’s Bewilderment (Norton) is one of six shortlisted titles for the £50,000 Booker Prize, for works in English published in the UK or Ireland. Each nominee receives £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book. The winner will be announced November 3, 2021.
JONATHAN CARROLL sold Mr. Breakfast to Dennis Johnson at Melville House.
RAMSEY CAMPBELL sold horror novel Fellstones to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency.
JULIE E. CZERNEDA sold SF novel To Each this World to Sheila Gilbert at DAW via Sara Megibow of kt literary.
ALAN DEAN FOSTER’s SF novel Prodigals sold to Kevin J. Anderson at WordFire Press via Vaughne Hansen of the Virginia Kidd Agency.
KAGE BAKER’s collection Maelstrom and Other Martian Tales sold to Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press via Vaughne Hansen of the Virginia Kidd Agency for the Baker estate.
ALEX BLEDSOE sold fantasy Dandelion to John Hartness at Falstaff Books via Paul E. Stevens of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
RACHEL HARRISON’s werewolf novel Such Sharp Teeth and a second title sold to Jessica Wade at Berkley via Lucy Carson of Friedrich Agency.
NALINI SINGH sold three more books in the Psy/Changeling series to Cindy Hwang at Berkley via Nephele Tempest for The Knight Agency.
GABINO IGLESIAS sold paranormal and political thriller The Devil Takes You Home and another title to Josh Kendall at Mulholland Books at auction via Melissa Danaczko of Stuart Krichevsky Agency.
EUGEN BACON sold Chasing Whispers, a “collection of mostly original black speculative fiction,” and An Earnest Blackness, a “ collection of essays on Afrofuturism,” to the Anti-Oedipus imprint at Raw Dog Screaming Press.
EMMI ITÄRANTA sold The Moonday Letters, a queer love story with speculative elements, to Cat Camacho at Titan Books via Rhea Lyons of HG Literary on behalf of Elina Ahlback of Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.
ASHOK BANKER sold The Blind King’s Wrath, final volume of the Burnt Empire Trilogy, to John Joseph Adams at John Joseph Adams Books.
JULIANNA BAGGOTT ’s first collection I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You (and Other Stories) went to Brendan Deneen at Blackstone Publishing.
J.S. DEWES sold Rubicon, “Old Man’s War meets Edge of Tomorrow but with robots and existential anxiety,” plus the third book in the Divide series to Jennifer Gunnels at Tor via Tricia Skinner of Fuse Literary.
JEREMY P. BUSHNELL’s cosmic horror mystery Relentless Melt sold to Carl Bromley at Melville House via Gary Heidt of Signature Literary Agency.
CATRIONA WARD’s Looking Glass Sound went to Miranda Jewess at Viper for six figures via Jenny Savill of Andrew Nurnberg Associates.
GABRIELLE KORN’s queer dystopian The Daughters o f Inside went to Hannah O’Grady at St. Martin’s via Nicki Richesin of Wendy Sherman Associates.
CHANA PORTER sold The Thick and the Lean to Amara Hoshijo at Saga Press via Sarah Bolling of The Gernert Company.
JESSIE BURTON sold historical fantasy The House of Fortune, set in the world of The Miniaturist, to Jonathan Lee at Bloomsbury in a pre-empt via Jenny Bent of The Bent Agency on behalf of Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.
NICK BINGE sold SF thriller Ascension to Delia Taylor at Riverhead via Alexandra Machinist of ICM on behalf of Alexander Cochran of C+W. Vicky Leech at Voyager picked up UK rights at auction.
SOFIA ROMERO sold magical realist collection We Have Always Been Who We Are to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Publishing in a pre-empt via Alicia Brooks of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.
ALEX SHVARTSMAN sold The Middling Affliction to Shahid Mahmud at Caezik SF & Fantasy via Valentina Sainato and Joshua Bilmes of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
MARCUS KLEIWER’s horror novel We Used to Live Here, expanded from the viral post on Reddit’s “NoSleep” forum, plus a second book sold to Emily Bestler at Emily Bestler Books in a pre-empt, via Liz Parker of Verve Talent & Literary. Film rights went to Netflix at auction; Matt Reeves will produce, and Blake Lively will produce and star.
CJ LEEDE sold Maeve and two more books to Kelly Lonesome at Nightfire at auction via Chad Luibl of Janklow & Nesbit.
EDAN LEPUCKI’s literary fantasy Time’s Mouth sold to Dan Smetanka at Counterpoint via Erin Hosier of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
THOMAS MULLEN’s S F thriller After the Blinding and another book went to Kelley Ragland at Minotaur via Susan Golomb at Writers House. Ed Wood at Sphere acquired UK rights via Peggy Boulos Smith of Writers House.
BENJAMIN MYERS sold literary historical SF The Perfect Golden Circle to Dennis Johnson at Melville House via Jessica Woollard of David Higham Associates. Carl Bromley will edit.
TARA SIM sold We Shall Be Monsters, “Mary Shelley meets Indian mythology,” to Stacey Barney at Nancy Paulsen Books. Caitlin Tutterow will edit.
ELLA CERON sold magical realist romance Viva Lola Espinoza and another title to Zareen Jaffery at Kokila in a pre-empt via Viana Siniscalchi and Joelle Hobeika of Alloy Entertainment.
LEE ALLRED sold SF collection Down the Arches of the Years to Joe Monson at Hemelein Publications.
CRAIG LAURANCE GIDNEY’s collection The Nectar of Nightmares went to Mark Teppo at Underland Press.
DIANE MARIE BROWN’s Black Candle Women went to Melanie Fried at Graydon House via Cherise Fisher of Wendy Sherman Associates.
HAILEY PIPER’s No Gods for Drowning went to Chantelle Aimee Osman at Agora Books.
D HARMA WINDHAM sold SF thriller Backfire to Walt Boyes at Ring of Fire Press via Robert Thixton of Pinder Lane.
LUCAS HAULT sold historical horror The Devil’s Whispers to Nicholas Holloway at TCK Publishing . Tom Corson – Knowles will edit.
S.C. GRAYSON sold fantasy Blade of Bronze to Lisa Green at Mystic Owl.
JUSTIN ROBINSON sold neo-noir urban fantasy Unwitch Hunt to Athena Andreadis at Candlemark & Gleam.
LEE FRYAR sold paranormal romance Flipping to Lisa Green at Mystic Owl.
AMIE KAUFMAN sold YA The Isles of the Gods and a second book to Melanie Cecka Nolan at Knopf Children’s for six figures via Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.
KATE DYLAN sold SF YA thriller Mindwalker and another book to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton via Alessandra Birch of Writers House on behalf of Andrea Morrison.
MORGAN RHODE S sold YA vampire epic Bad Blood and two more books to Gretchen Durning at Razorbill via Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
ISABELLE sold YA fantasy The Witchery and another title to Shelly Romero at Scholastic in a pre-empt via Susan Graham of Einstein Literary Management.
KAYLIE SMITH sold YA fantasy Witch’s Dice and another title to Cassidy Leyendecker at Disney- Hyperion for six figures via Emily Forney of BookEnds.
JUNE HUR’s YA fantasy A Crane Among Wolves went to Emily Settle at Feiwel and Friends via Amy Elizabeth Bishop of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
MAIKA MOULITE & MARITZA MOULITE sold YA fantasy The Summer I Ate the Rich and a second book to Trisha de Guzman at Farrar, Straus Children’s at auction via JL Stermer of New Leaf Literary & Media.
VAJRA CHANDRASEKERA sold debut novel, a postcolonial fantasy The Saint of Bright Doors, “meeting at the point between The Name of the Wind and The God of Small Things,” and two more books to Carl Engle-Laird at Tordotcom Publishing for six figures via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
AUBREY WOOD sold first novel Bang Bang Bodhisattva to Jim Killen at Solaris via Stacia Decker of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
BRENNAN GILPATRICK & GREGORY LANE sold debut SF novel Battery Life, “a dystopic cyberpunk epic,” to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Publishing via Abby Walters of CAA.
First novelist NICK MEDINA sold mythological thriller Two Spirits and the Rolling Head and a second book to Sareer Khader at Berkley at auction via Amanda Orozco of Transatlantic Literary Agency.
CAMILA VICTOIRE’s first novel Blood Circus went to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Publishing via Mollie Glick and Abby Walters at CAA.
ZEBA SHAHNAZ sold debut Midnight Strikes, a YA fantasy time loop novel to Hannah Hill at Delacorte in a pre-empt via Claire Friedman of Inkwell Management.
First novelist ROSE EGAL’s The Sevenfold, a YA SF military thriller, and a second title went to Tamara Grasty at Page Street via Garrett Alwert of Emerald City Literary Agency.
CIEL PIERLOT’s first novel Bluebird went to Angry Robot via Lauren Spieller of Triada US Literary Agency.
BONNIE JO STUFFLEBEAM sold novella Glorious Fiends to Mark Teppo at Underland Press via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. Darin Bradley will edit.
MOSES OSE UTOMI’s novella The Lies of the Ajungo and two more books sold to Carl Engle- Laird at Tordotcom Publishing via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
GWENDA BOND, KAMI GARCIA & SAM HUMPHRIES sold three novellas in audio original series The Youngbloods, about “a family of demons trapped on Earth… thrown into a Succession-style conflict,” to Rose Hilliard at Audible Originals for six figures via Jennifer Laughran of Andrea Brown Literary Agency for Bond and Jodi Reamer of Writers House for Garcia and Humphries.
C.L. POLK’s queer magical noir novella Even Though I Knew the End sold to Carl Engle-Laird at Tordotcom Publishing via Caitlin McDonald of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
CHAZ BRENCHLEY resold the Books of Outremer epic fantasy series to Cheryl Morgan at Wizard’s Tower Press via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency, to be published in six volumes starting with Devil in the Dust.
JENNI HILL has been promoted to editorial director at Orbit UK, reporting to publisher ANNA JACKSON. NADIA SAWARD has been promoted to assistant editor, reporting to Hill.
SAM MCQUEEN has left his position as publishing assistant at Angry Robot. ANTONIA DESOLA COKER has taken over his role.
MEG ELISON has joined Uncanny magazine as non-fiction editor, taking over from ELSA SJUNNESON. NAOMI DAY was promoted to the new position of senior assistant editor, with MONTE LIN assuming her former role as assistant editor.
CHARLIE JANE ANDERS’s Victories Greater Than Death will be adapted as a series for Amazon Studios, produced by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, with Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo as executive producers for Outlier. Other executive producers are Anders, Dan Halstead, and Nate Miller.
DON DELILLO’s Underworld is being adapted as a series for Netflix via Amy Schiffman of Echo Lake Management on behalf of Robin Straus of Robin Straus Agency; Ted Mefli will adapt, direct, and co-produce.
NATASHA C. CALDER & EMMA SZEWCZAK, writing as CALDER SZEWCZAK, optioned rights to The Offset to Urban Myth Films for development as a series via Emily Hayward Whitlock of the Artists Partnership on behalf of John Ash of PEW Literary. HOWARD OVERMAN will write the adaptation.
Film Rights to ANNIE SULLIVAN’s A Touch of Gold, about “the cursed daughter of King Midas,” were optioned by Michael Uslan, David Uslan, and Jon Karas via Leslie Conliffe of Intellectual Property Group on behalf of Christa Heschke of McIntosh and Otis.
Read the full interview in the October 2021 issue of Locus.
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.
©Locus Magazine. Copyrighted material may not be republished without permission of LSFF.
