People & Publishing Roundup, April 2022
JOANNE HARRIS was re-elected as the chair of the Society of Authors board. She ran unopposed for her second two-year term.
CELIA NERI is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS has been awarded a star on the Palm Springs Walk of the Stars, which was founded in 1992 and runs through the commercial district of Palm Springs CA. Burroughs lived in Palm Springs from 1935-36.
MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL is the recipient of the 2022 Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (AKA the Skylark Award), presented by the New England Science Fiction Association at Boskone 59, held February 18-20, 2022. (The Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist was not presented this year.)
JAMES BRADLEY was presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to literature in a ceremony held on February 14, 2022.
SHEREE RENÉE THOMAS is the 2022 Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame winner, presented by the Darrell Awards for “Outstanding or Extraordinary Midsouth Fiction for authors who have a body of work that appeared in prior years.” Thomas will be honored during MidSouthCon 38, March 25-27, 2022 at the Clarion Inn & Suites in Memphis TN.
ZADIE SMITH will receive the 2022 PEN/Audible America Literary Service Award on May 23, 2022 during a gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York NY. The award is presented to authors “whose work embodies PEN America’s mission to oppose repression in any form and to champion the best of humanity.”
CYNTHIA MILLER’s Honorifics (Nine Arches) and Brown Baby by NIKESH SHUKLA (Bluebird) are among finalists for the £1,000 Jhalak Prize, which seeks “to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers.” The shortlist will be announced April 19, 2022, and the winner on May 26.
JACK THORNE won the award for Outstanding Contribution to Writing, and ELI LEE’s A Strange and Brilliant Light (Jo Fletcher) won for Best First Novel, in the 29th Writers’ Guild Awards, announced February 14, 2022 during a ceremony at the Royal College of Physicians in London.
DEAN KOONTZ sold The House at the End of the World and four more books to Gracie Doyle at Thomas & Mercer via Richard Pine and Kim Witherspoon of Inkwell Management. Jessica Tribble Wells will edit.
SHARON LEE & STEVE MILLER sold three new Liaden Universe novels to Toni Weisskopf at Baen for six figures via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
KELLY ROBSON’s historical fantasy High Times in the Low Parliament sold to Ellen Datlow at Tor via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.
PREMEE MOHAMED sold debut collection No One Will Come Back for Us to Michael Kelly at Undertow Publications via Michael Curry of Donald Maass Literary Agency. She sold novellas We Spoke Through the Mountain and The First Thousand Trees, sequels to The Annual Migration of Clouds, to Jen Albert at ECW Press, also via Curry.
P.C. CAST sold Earth Walker, last in the Tales of a New World series, to Monique Patterson at Wednesday Books via Rebecca Scherer of Jane Rotrosen Agency.
CHARLIE N . HOLMBERG sold The Hanging City to Adrienne Procaccini at 47North, and, in a separate two-book deal, also sold Wielder of Uncertain Magic and Boy of Chaotic Making, set in the world of Keeper of Enchanted Rooms to Procaccini, all via Marlene Stringer of Stringer Literary Agency. Two-Damage My Heart, second in the Nerds of Happy Valley series written as CN HOLMBERG, went to Tantor Media via Christine Witthohn at Book Cents Literary Agency on behalf of Stringer.
CHAD CORRIE’s The Shadow Regent, set after the Wizard King trilogy, went to Mike Richardson at Dark Horse. David Marshall will edit.
MICHAEL MAMMAY sold an untitled SF novel to David Pomerico at Voyager via Lisa Rodgers of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
DAVID B. COE’s urban fantasy Stone Bound and two more books went to Debra Dixon at Bell Bridge Books via Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.
SARAH ROSE ETTER sold Pomegranate, “a surreal tale of late-stage capitalism,” to Emily Polson at Scribner in a pre-empt via Kent Wolf of Neon Literary.
HEATHER WALTER sold Crimson Crown, “a Tudor-inspired retelling of the rise of Snow White’s Evil Queen,” and another title to Tricia Narwani at Del Rey via Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary Agency.
PHILIP FRACASSI’s horror novel Boys in the Valley, resold from a 2021 Earthling limited edition, and a second title went to Kristin Temple at Nightfire for six figures via Elizabeth Copps of Copps Literary Services.
NICOLE CUSHING’s dark satire Mothwoman sold to Ross Lockhart at Word Horde.
KEITH ROSSON sold literary horror Fever House and another book to Caitlin McKenna at Random House in a pre-empt via Chad Luibl of Janklow & Nesbit.
GILLIAN MCALLISTER’s time-loop crime novel Wrong Place, Wrong Time and a second book went to Lyssa Keusch at William Morrow in a pre-empt via Zoe Sandler at ICM on behalf of Felicity Blunt and Lucy Morris at Curtis Brown UK. UK rights sold to Michael Joseph, and Sony/Columbia Pictures has optioned it for a feature film.
VERONICA CHAPA sold The Woman in the Obsidian Mirror to Michelle Herrera Mulligan at Atria via Mariah Stovall of Trellis Literary Management.
EVELYN SKYE sold first adult novel The Hundred Loves of Juliet and a second title to Anne Groell at Del Rey in a pre-empt via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
JULIANNE HOUGH & ELLEN GOODLETT sold fantasy The Light She Holds to Kate Roddy at Sourcebooks Landmark via Simon Lipskar of Writers House.
MOLLY GREELEY sold “Beauty and the Beast”-inspired novel Marvelous to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow via Jennifer Weltz of Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.
MICHAEL FARRIS SMITH sold Salvage This World to Josh Kendall at Little, Brown via Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group.
TALIA TAYLOR’s A Destiny of Crystals and Realms and a second book went to Lilly Brown at Night Shade Books.
LEE KELLY & JENNIFER THORNE sold All Will Be Revealed, “a feminist take on Indiana Jones,” and a second title to Kimberly Carlton at Harper Muse at auction via Katelyn Detweiler of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
LUCY BROWN’s The Nightwoods and a second title sold to Kate Meltzer at Roaring Brook Press in a pre-empt via Natascha Morris of the Tobias Literary Agency.
KATIE WILLIAMS’s near-future crime novel My Murder sold to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead via Douglas Stewart of Sterling Lord Literistic.
HEATHER WEBBER sold Southern magical realism books At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities and A Certain Kind of Starlight to Kristin Sevick at Forge via Jessica Faust at BookEnds.
LAILA LALAMI’s near-future novel The Dream Hotel went to Lisa Lucas at Pantheon via Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group. Naomi Gibbs will edit.
LOUISA HALL sold Reproduction, “part autofiction, part reflections on the life of Mary Shelley, and part contemporary retelling of Frankenstein,” to Gabriella Doob at Ecco in a pre-empt via Susanna Lea of Susanna Lea Associates on behalf of Kerry Glencorse of SLA London.
YVETTE LISA NDLOVU sold collection Drinking from Graveyard Wells: Stories, “weaving southern African mythology and history,” to Lisa Williams at University Press of Kentucky. Patrick O’Dowd will edit.
ROBERT OTTONE sold Bigfoot novel Nocturnal Creatures and sequel Ape Canyon to Raven Tale.
NAVID SINAKI sold Medusa of the Roses to Katie Raissian at Grove/Atlantic via Mariah Stovall of Trellis Literary Management.
DAVID SLAYTON’s Rogue Community College and Last Son of Night sold to Rick Bleiweiss at Blackstone Publishing via Lesley Sabga of the Seymour Agency.
L.M. SAGAS sold SF novel Cascade Failure and another book to Jennifer Gunnels at Tor in a pre-empt via Hannah Fergesen of kt literary.
SIM KERN sold climate-change collection Real Sugar Is Hard to Find to Justine Norton-Kertson at Android.
SARAH HOLLOWELL sold horror novel What Stalks Among Us to Lily Kessinger at Clarion via Thao Le of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
BINA SHAH sold SF novel The Monsoon Wars, sequel to Before She Sleeps, to Joseph Olshan at Delphinium via Jessica Woolard of David Higham Associates.
OWEN KING sold “Dickensian fantasy” The Curator to Nan Graham at Scribner via Amy Williams of the Williams Company. Joe Monti will edit.
LAVANYA LAKSHMINARAYAN’s “cyberpunk mosaic novel” The Ten Percent Thief, first published by Hachette India as Analog/Virtual, and two more books sold to David Thomas Moore at Solaris via Cameron McClure of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
CLAIRE WINN sold City of Vicious Night, sequel to City of Shattered Light, to Meg Gaertner at Flux via Cortney Radocaj of Belcastro Agency.
NICHELLE GIRALDES sold feminist horror novel Haunt Me Then and another title to Jenna Jankowski at Sourcebooks via Claire Friedman of Inkwell Management. Rachel Gilmer will edit.
LING LING HUANG sold satirical horror Natural Beauty to Pilar Garcia-Brown at Dutton via Kirby Kim of Janklow & Nesbit.
S.T. GIBSON’s A Dowry of Blood – “a reimagining of Dracula’s brides” – and another book sold to Nadia Saward at Orbit UK and Angeline Rodriguez at Orbit via Tara Gilbert of Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
DANIEL SUAREZ sold “space-tech thriller” Critical Mass, to Lindsey Rose at Dutton via Rafe Sagalyn of ICM.
FIONA BARNETT sold The Dark Between the Trees to Michael Rowley at Solaris via Anne Perry of Ki Agency Ltd.
JORDAN KURELLA’s SF/F collection When I Was Lost sold to Christopher Payne at Trepidatio via Matthew Belford of the Tobias Literary Agency. Scarlett Algee will edit.
MERIAL WILES sold Where Ivy Dares to Grow – “Mexican Gothic meets Outlander” – and a second book to Shannon Plackis at Kensington via Jill Marr of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
DALAN MUSSON sold fantasy Gaze Long into the Abyss to Robert Peterson at California Coldblood via Noah Ballard of Verve Talent & Literary.
ALI BRYAN sold The City and The Mainland, completing the trilogy started by The Hill, to Jenny Baumgartner at Dottir via Stacey Kondla of The Rights Factory.
SUSAN HARRIS sold Angel’s Gambit, first in the Wings of Deceit series, and four more titles to Veronica English at CTP.
MARTIN OTT sold SF novel Dream State to In Churl Yo at Castle Bridge Media via Jackson Keeler of InkWorks and Seth Nagel of 5X Media.
A.M. TUOMALA sold fantasy The Map and the Territory, with illustrations by HEESEON WON, to Athena Andreadis at Candlemark & Gleam.
LIZZY GAYLE’s time-travel novel A Matter of Time went to Heather McCorkle at Mystic Owl.
ELISSE HAY sold fantasy Foul Is Fair to Lisa Green at City Owl Press.
S.C. GRAYSON sold Bladed Rose to Lisa Green at Mystic Owl.
LAUREN CONNOLLY sold the last four books in the Casual Magic series to Yelena Casale at City Owl Press via Lesley Sabga of the Seymour Agency.
KATIE ZHAO’s YA fantasies Descendants of Dragons and Heirs of Power went to Tricia Lin at Random House Children’s at auction via Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management.
ANNA-MARIE MCLEMORE & ELLIOTT MCLEMORE sold YA fantasy Venom & Vow to Kat Brzozowski at Feiwel and Friends via Taylor Martindale Kean of Full Circle Literary. Anna-Marie McLemore is now represented by Michael Bourret of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret; Elliott McLemore now represents himself.
DAVID BOWLES & GUADALUPE GARCIA MCCALL sold YA fantasy romance The Moon Conch and a second title to Mary Kate Castellani at Bloomsbury Children’s via Taylor Martindale Kean of Full Circle Literary for Bowles and Andrea Cascardi of Transatlantic Literary Agency for McCall.
SARAH VAN NAME sold YA These Bodies Between Us to Hannah Hill at Delacorte via Maria Bell of Sterling Lord Literistic.
GRY KAPPEL JENSEN’s YA fantasy Rosenholm trilogy sold to Joy Bean at Arctis via Tine Nielsen of Babel-Bridge Literary.
KIKA HATZOPOULOU sold YA fantasy noir Threads That Bind and a second book to Gretchen Durning at Razorbill via Michaela Whatnall of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
KATE ANDERSON sold ghost story YA Here Lies Olive to Ashtyn Stann at Flux via Sharon Belcastro of Belcastro Agency.
KATHERINE QUINN sold YA horror novel To Kill a Shadow and another title to Jen Bouvier at Entangled Teen.
XAN VAN ROOYEN sold YA My Name Is Magic to Joshua Dean Perry at Tiny Ghost Press via Lindsay Leggett of The Rights Factory.
CIERA BURCH’s middle-grade fantasy Finch House and a second book sold to Kate Prosswimmer at Margaret K. McElderry Books at auction via Patrice Caldwell at New Leaf Literary & Media.
J.R. DAWSON’s debut The First Bright Thing and another title sold to Lindsey Hall at Tor in a pre-empt via Rena Rossner of Deborah Harris Agency.
SARA HASHEM’s first book The Jasad Heir, an Egyptian-inspired fantasy, and a second title sold to Nivia Evans at Orbit via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
JULIA LANGBEIN’s first novel American Mermaid sold to Lee Boudreaux at Doubleday in a pre-empt via Sarah Bedingfield of Levine Greenberg Rostan.
JINWOO CHONG’s first novel Flux, “combining elements of noir, speculative fiction and ’80s detective shows,” sold to Carl Bromley at Melville House via Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.
New writer CHRISTY HEALY sold fantasy Unbound to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Publishing via Shauna Turnmire at ArtHouse Literary Agency.
JENNIFER LYLE sold first novel Season of the Butterfly and another book to Wendy McClure at Sourcebooks Fire via Amy Giuffrida of Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
BIANCA MARAIS sold first novel The Witches of Moonshyne Manor – “Practical Magic meets The Golden Girls” – to Nicole Brebner at Mira via Cecilia Lyra of P.S. Literary Agency.
TOBI OGUNDIRAN’s first collection Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic sold to Michael Kelly at Undertow Publications.
VICTORY WITHERKEIGH’s first novel The Girl and second book The Demon sold to Kisstopher Musick at Cinnabar Moth.
LARA BUCKHEIT’s first book A Realm of Ash and Shadow went to MaryBeth Dalto-McCarthy at Sword and Silk.
LILY X sold five books in the debut New World series to Kerri Buckley at Carina Press.
First novelist JENN STOREY’s Tilting Gravity sold to Craig Gibb at Dreamsphere.
New writer ELLEN O’CLOVER sold YA SF novel Seven Percent of Ro Devereux and a second book to Tara Weikum at Harper Teen in a six-figure pre-empt via Katie Shea Boutillier of Donald Maass Literary Agency.
First novelist AKURE PHÉNIX sold The Empire Wars and two more books to Daniel Ehrenhaft at Blackstone Children’s for six figures in a pre-empt via Lynnette Novak of the Seymour Agency.
First novelist KRISTI MCMANUS sold Our Vengeful Souls, a prequel to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”, to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Bridget McFadden will edit.
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN, ELIO GARCIA JR. & LINDA ANTONSSON sold The Rise of the Dragon, “a companion to Martin’s Fire & Blood as well as the upcoming TV series House of the Dragon,” to Anne Groell at Bantam Dell and Kaitlin Ketchum at Ten Speed Press.
JIM BUTCHER sold limited edition rights to new novella The Law to Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
NICOLE KORNHER-STACE sold novella Containment to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon Publications via Kate McKean of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
E.L. ADAMS sold novella Southwest Heat, launching the Southwest Supernatural Society series, and three more titles to Theresa Cole at Mystic Owl.
PHOEBE WAGNER sold novella We Survive When We Hold Each Other Up to Justine Norton-Kertson at Android.
JENN NORTHINGTON & S. ZAINAB WILLIAMS will edit Fit For The Gods, with “gender-bent, LGBTQIA+, race-bent, neurodiverse, and inclusive retellings of Greek mythology,” for Anna Kaufman at Vintage via Kate McKean of Howard Morhaim Literary Agency.
SHINGAI NJERI KAGUNDA, YVETTE LISA NDLOVU, H.D. HUNTER, & LP KINDRED will edit Voodoonauts Present: (Re)Living Mythology, an anthology “exploring mythology, folklore, wives’ tales, and superstitions from Africa and its diaspora,” for Justine Norton-Kertson at Android.
AIDAN MOHER sold Fight, Magic, Items, “an exploration of the history of Japanese role-playing games,” to Britny Brooks at Running Press via Eric Smith at P.S. Literary Agency.
TOBIAS S. BUCKELL sold a revised edition of A Stranger in the Citadel, previously an Audible Original, to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon via Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates. Jaymee Goh will edit.
CLAIRE HEYWOOD’s The Shadow of Perseus, “a female-centered and historically grounded reinterpretation of the ancient myth,” resold to Lindsey Rose at Dutton via Rebecca Folland at Hodder & Stoughton.
Argentinian author AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA’s collection Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird resold to Sally Howe at Scribner via Johanna Castillo at Writers House on behalf of Pushkin Press.
MICHAEL LIVINGSTON resold Origins of The Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan to Bella Pagan at Tor UK via Chris Scheina at Tor in the US.
BRIT HVIDE has been promoted to executive editor at Orbit, and TIANA COVEN to assistant editor
JOHN KESSEL’s stories “Hearts Do Not in Eyes Shine” and “Clean” were optioned for adaptation as TV series Clean by Anonymous Content via Vince Gerardis and Matt Kennedy.
ETHAN PETTUS’s Primitive War series was optioned by Sparke Films, with Luke Sparke attached to write and direct, and Carly Imrie, Zachary Garred, and Carmel Imrie to produce.
Read more like this in the April 2022 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.
