People & Publishing Roundup, January 2022
JOHN VARLEY, 74, was hospitalized last year with COVID, pneumonia, and congestive heart failure, and received a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He is home now, and expects to soon “be back at work on my next novel, a re-write and near total alteration of the horrible second draft of my first unpublished novel, Gas Giant.” Read his account here.
TOMI ADEYEMI’s publishing rights are now represented by Michelle Weiner of CAA.
Musician JANELLE MONÁE has created a new book set in the world of her album Dirty Computer and associated Hugo Award nominated film. The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer includes Afrofuturist stories co-written by Monáe and ALAYA DAWN JOHNSON, EVE L. EWING, YOHANCA DELGADO, DANNY LORE, & SHEREE RENÉE THOMAS, to be published by Harper Voyager.
Scientist ROBERT LANZA & NANCY KRESS sold SF novel Observer to Lou Aronica at The Story Plant via Michael Signorelli of Aevitas Creative Management.
VERONICA ROTH sold novella Arch-Conspirator and two more books to Lindsey Hall at Tor via Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary & Media.
WESTON OCHSE sold supernatural thriller Red Unicorn to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via Cherry Weiner of Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.
TIM WAGGONER sold three books in the Atrocity Engine series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via Cherry Weiner of Cherry Weiner.
CHLOE GONG sold epic fantasy Immortal Longings and two more books to Amara Hoshijo at Saga Press in a pre-empt via Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary Agency. UK rights to all three sold to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton.
SANDRA NEWMAN sold Julia to Peter Hubbard at Mariner via Victoria Hobbs of A.M. Heath; Nicole Angeloro will edit. The novel is a feminist version of GEORGE ORWELL’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, told from the perspective of protagonist Winston Smith’s lover Julia, and is authorized by the Orwell Estate.
OLESYA SALNIKOVA GILMORE sold historical fantasy The Witch and the Tsar and a second book to Jessica Wade at Berkley at auction via Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.
Documentary filmmaker KATELYN MONROE HOWES sold SF novel The Awoken to Maya Ziv at Dutton at auction via Albert Lee and Meredith Miller of UTA.
ERIN EVANS sold fantasy Empire of Exiles and two more books to Bradley Englert at Orbit via Bridget Smith of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
MAURA CHEEKS sold Forgiveness, a fictional expansion of her article “American Wealth Is Broken” (Atlantic, 2019), set in a future where the US government makes reparation payments to the descendants of enslaved people, to Chelcee Johns at Ballantine at auction via Stephanie Delman of Trellis Literary Management.
NICK CUTTER & ANDREW F. SULLIVAN sold horror novel The Handyman Method to Ed Schlesinger at Gallery via Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit for Cutter and Stephanie Sinclair at CookeMcDermid for Sullivan.
RAUL PALMA’s literary fantasy A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens sold to Pilar Garcia-Brown at Dutton at auction via Jane von Mehren of Aevitas Creative Management.
BRANDON HOBSON sold literary fantasy The Devil Is a Southpaw and a story collection to Sara Birmingham at Ecco via Bill Clegg of the Clegg Agency.
JES BATTIS sold literary fantasy The Winter Knight to Jen Knoch and Jen Albert at ECW Press via Lauren Abramo of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
French fantasy writer VICTOR DIXEN sold The Court of Shadows and The Court of Miracles, the first two in the Vampyria Saga, translated by FRANCOISE BUI, to Gabriella Page-Fort at Amazon Crossing in a pre-empt via Benita Edzard of Editions Robert Laffont.
HILARY LEICHTER sold literary fantasies Terrace Story (about a terrace that appears inside a closet) and The Quarter Century Songbook (about a restaurant that appears for one night every 25 years) to Gabriella Doob at Ecco at auction via Monika Woods at Triangle House Literary.
MELISSA BARON sold timeslip novel Twice in a Lifetime to Melissa Rechter at Alcove Press via Devon Halliday of Transatlantic Literary Agency.
DANIEL KRAUS’s “fictionalized true crime story” The Ghost That Ate Us: The Tragic True Story of the Burger City Poltergeist, about an author investigating murders and hauntings, sold to Jennifer Barnes at Raw Dog Screaming Press, via Richard Abate of 3 Arts Entertainment.
W.A. SIMPSON sold fantasy Tarotmancer, sequel to Tinderbox, to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press via Anne Tibbets of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
ALISON WISDOM sold The Burning Season – “a Texan Midsommar by way of Ottessa Moshfegh” – to Emily Griffin at Harper Perennial via Stephanie Delman of Trellis Literary Management (when still an agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates).
ANNIE RAINS sold magical holiday novel Through the Snow Globe and two more books to Shannon Plackis at Kensington via Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
JESS HARDY’s I, Bionic sold to Heather McCorkle at Mystic Owl.
CHRIS MCKINNEY sold Eventide, Water City, sequel to Midnight, Water City, to Yezanira Venecia at Soho Crime.
MARIA INGRANDE MORA’s speculative literary novel The Immeasurable Depth of You went to Ashley Hearn at Peachtree via Erica Bauman of Aevitas Creative Management.
VINAYA BHAGAT’s horror novel The Girl in the Mist sold to Chantelle Aimee Osman at Agora via Mita Kapur of Siyahi.
SARENA STRAUS’s SF novel Reinception went to Michael Dolan at Winding Road Stories.
J.H. MARKERT sold horror novel The Nightmare Man to Benjamin LeRoy at Crooked Lane via Alice Speilburg of Speilburg Literary Agency.
MEGAN SHEPHERD sold supernatural thriller Malice House and another book to Adam Wilson at Hyperion Avenue via Barbara Poelle of Irene Goodman Agency.
JEN ST. JUDE sold apocalyptic YA SF novel If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come and a second book to Camille Kellogg at Bloomsbury Children’s via Erin Harris of Folio Literary Management.
TRICIA LEVENSELLER sold YA fantasy Vengeance of the Pirate Queen, a “companion novel” to the Daughter of the Pirate King series, to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends via Rachel Brooks of BookEnds.
MELISSA LANDERS sold YA fantasy Lumara to Kieran Viola at Disney-Hyperion via Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency
AMPARO ORTIZ’s YA fantasy Last Sunrise In Eterna went to Tamara Grasty at Page Street Kids via Linda Camacho of Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
JULIE KAGAWA sold the YA fantasy Fateless trilogy to Stephanie Cohen at Inkyard Press via Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary.
ADRIENNE TOOLEY’s YA fantasy duology The Third Daughter and The Second Son sold to Jessica Anderson at Christy Ottaviano Books at auction via Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
SCOTT REINTGEN’s YA fantasy A Door in the Dark went to Kate Prosswimmer at Margaret K. McElderry Books via Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency.
ELLY BLAKE sold YA fantasy Thirstwood and two more books to Deirdre Jones at Little, Brown Children’s via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media. UK rights sold to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton.
LAURA RESAU sold YA SF novel Virch to Hannah Smith at Owl Hollow Press via Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency.
J.E. MCDONALD sold shapeshifter novel Captive Wilderness to Heather McCorkle at Mystic Owl.
LISA EDMONDS sold fantasy thriller River of Souls to Heather McCorkle at City Owl Press.
CIRCE MOSKOWITZ will edit No Harm Done, an anthology of Black horror with stories by Kalynn Bayron, Liselle Sambury, and Joelle Wellington, among others, for Alicia Sparrow at Chicago Review Press via Natascha Morris of The Tobias Literary Agency.
SAMIRA AHMED & SONA CHARAIPOTRA sold anthology Magic Has No Borders, featuring stories that “reimagine South Asian folklore, legends, and epics,” to Megan Ilnitzki at Harper Teen at auction via Joanna Volpe and Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
Debut novelist DAVINIA EVANS sold fantasy adventure Notorious Sorcerer and two more books to Nivia Evans at Orbit via Kurestin Armada at Root Literary. UK rights went to Nadia Saward at Orbit UK.
DENISE CRITTENDON sold debut Afrofuturist novel Where It Rains in Colour to Gemme Greffield at Angry Robot. This is the company’s first acquisition through its “Black Voices Matter” open submission period for Black authors without literary representation. Crittendon is now represented by Nikki Terpilowski of Holloway Literary.
VICTOR MANIBO’s debut near-future SF novel The Sleepless and a second book went to Sarah Guan at Erewhon via Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
New writer JAMES J. BUTCHER sold fantasy Dead Man’s Hand and two sequels to Anne Sowards at Ace via Jennifer Jackson of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
EM X. LIU sold debut novel The Death I Gave Him, “a queer sci-fi retelling of Hamlet,” to David Moore at Solaris via Penelope Burns of the Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency.
SAM REBELEIN’s first novel Edenville and collection The Poorly Made and Other Things sold to Vedika Khanna at William Morrow via Claire Harris of P.S. Literary Agency.
New writer JACQUELINE HOLLAND sold literary fantasy The God of Endings to Megan Lynch at Flatiron Books in a pre-empt via Jennifer Gates of Aevitas Creative Management.
First novelist LEIGH FRYLING sold historical fantasy Surf Mystic to Jason Henderson at Castle Bridge Media.
BRANDON YING-KIT BOEY’s postapocalyptic debut novel Karma of the Sun sold to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books via Tamara Kawar at ICM. Helga Schier will edit.
DANA CLAIRE’s first novel Hunterland went to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
First novelist AMY GOLDSMITH sold speculative YA horror novel Ocean Dark to Lydia Gregovic at Delacorte via Claire Friedman of Inkwell Management.
New writer AMANDA GLAZE sold historical supernatural YA The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond to Laura Schreiber at Sterling Children’s in a pre-empt via Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties.
ERICA HOLLIS sold debut YA Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire to Jen Bouvier at Entangled Teen.
JOHN WYNDHAM’s estate resold ten of the late author’s novels, including The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, and The Kraken Wakes, to Mika Kasuga at the Modern Library via Lesley Pollinger of Paper Lion, Ltd. The books will feature new introductions by authors including Jeff VanderMeer and Kelly Link.
JUSTIN CRONIN resold The Passage, The Twelve, and The City of Mirrors to Paul Stark at Orion in the UK via Marianna Sharp of Trident Media Group on behalf of Ellen Levine.
ALISON RUMFITT’s horror novel Tell Me I’m Worthless and a second book sold to Kristin Temple at Nightfire via Jenn Thompson of UK publisher Cipher Press.
MIKE ASHLEY delivered The Rise of the Cyberzines, the fifth and final volume in his History of the SF Magazine for Liverpool University Press.
KATIE ESPINER is being promoted from managing editor of Orion to CEO of Hodder & Stoughton and Orion, effective January 1, 2022. She will replace CEO JAMIE HODDER-WILLIAMS, who is leaving in the spring after more than 20 years at the company. ANNA VALENTINE will take over as managing director of at Orion.
PREMEE MOHAMED is joining Escape Pod as an assistant editor.
C.L. CLARK has resigned as editor for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America blog, effective November 30, 2021. Clark held the role for just over a year.
DEAN KOONTZ’s dozen Nameless thriller stories will be adapted as a TV series by SK Global with Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan of the Mazur Kaplan Company. Actor Henry Golding will star, and also produce via his Long House Productions.
KATE HEARTFIELD will write tie-in Assassin’s Creed: The Magus Conspiracy for Marc Gascoigne at Aconyte via Jennie Goloboy of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Locus reviewer GABINO IGLESIAS’s upcoming novel The Devil Takes You Home is set to become a feature film, directed and adapted by Alejandro Brugués, via Hotchkiss Daily and Associates on behalf of Melissa Danaczko of Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency.
TV rights to OLIVIE BLAKE (AKA ALEXENE FAROL FOLLMUTH)’s The Atlas Six and its two sequels were optioned by Amazon Studios with Brightstar to produce via Alex Creasia of Sugar23 and Uwe Stender & Amelia Appel of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
Read the full interview in the January 2022 issue of Locus.
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