People & Publishing Roundup, December 2022
Gareth L. Powell (2022)
MILESTONES
SF writers J. DIANNE DOTSON & GARETH L. POWELL were married November 5, 2022 in a small ceremony held in Los Angeles CA. Dotson designed her wedding dress herself: “I chose red as it is my favorite color and it honors Gareth being half-Welsh, given the colors of the Welsh flag.”
ALICIA WANSTALL-BURKE is now represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES is the recipient of the 2023 American Indian Writers Award, presented by the Tulsa Library. He will be honored in a ceremony on March 4, 2023 at Hardesty Regional Library in Tulsa OK. He sold I Was a Teenage Slasher to Joe Monti at Saga Press via BJ Robbins of BJ Robbins Literary Agency.
KHADIJA ABDALLA BAJABER’s The House of Rust (Graywolf) is the winner of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction, an inaugural $25,000 cash prize given to “a single book-length work of imaginative fiction.” The 2022 jury was adrienne maree brown, Becky Chambers, Molly Gloss, David Mitchell, and Luis Alberto Urrea.
MERCEDES LACKEY’s next three Elemental Masters books – volumes 17, 18, and 19 – went to Betsy Wollheim at DAW, and Lackey & LARRY DIXON sold two more Valdemar books, also to Wollheim, all via Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
TAD WILLIAMS sold Osten Ard novel The Splintered Sun and a second book to Betsy Wollheim at DAW via Matt Bialer of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
KIM HARRISON sold the 18th Hollows book, Demon’s Bluff, plus the 19th volume, to Anne Sowards at Ace via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
NAOMI ALDERMAN sold “technological thriller” The Future to Tim O’Connell at Simon & Schuster and Jennifer Lambert at Harper Canada via Simon Lipskar of Writers House on behalf of Veronique Baxter of David Higham Associates; UK rights sold to Fourth Estate.
ANN LECKIE sold Translation State, a standalone set in the world of the Imperial Radch, and a second book to Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit via Seth Fishman of the Gernert Company. UK rights sold to Jenni Hill at Orbit UK.
RAMSEY CAMPBELL’s horror novel The Lonely Lands went to Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press via John Jarrold of John Jarrold Literary Agency.
KRISTEN BRITAIN sold Spirit Of The Wood to Brendan Durkin at Gollancz via Danny Baror of Baror International on behalf of Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
’PEMI AGUDA sold collection Ghostroots and novel The Suicide Mothers to Nneoma Amadi-obi at Norton in a pre-empt via Renee Zuckerbrot of Massie & McQuilkin.
EUGEN BACON’s collection A Place Between Waking and Forgetting sold to Jennifer Barnes at Raw Dog Screaming Press.
TIMOTHY ZAHN sold space operas The Icarus Twin, The Icarus Job, and The Icarus Changeling to Toni Weisskopf at Baen via Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency.
NICOLE CUSHING’s horror novel The Plastic Priest sold to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
WRATH JAMES WHITE sold horror novel Yaccub’s Curse to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
ISABEL IBAÑEZ sold historical fantasy duology What the River Knows to Eileen Rothschild at Wednesday Books and to Molly Powell at Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, at auction in a pre-empt, via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic.
SEB DOUBINSKY sold The Sum of All Things, the final book in the City-States Cycle, to Tricia Reeks at Meerkat Press via Matt Bialer of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
CYNTHIA PELAYO’s historical horror novel Funeral at Clark Street Bridge and another book sold to Jessica Tribble Wells at Thomas & Mercer in a pre-empt via Lane Heymont of the Tobias Literary Agency.
LAURA KEATING sold horror novel Agony’s Lodestone to Matt Blairstone at Tenebrous Press. Alex Woodroe will edit.
TODD KEISLING’s horror collection Cold, Black, and Infinite sold to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance via Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin and Fountain Literary Management.
ASHLEY DENG’s near-future novel Dehiscent sold to Matt Blairstone at Tenebrous Press. Alex Woodroe will edit.
LAUREN J.A. BEAR’s Mother of Rome, “a reimagining of the story of Rhea Silvia, the mythical mother of Romulus and Remus,” and a second book sold to Anne Sowards at Ace via Jane Dystel of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
LYRA SELENE’s first adult novel A Feather So Black and two more books sold to Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit and Nadia Saward at Orbit UK via Jessica Watterson of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
GENEVIEVE GORNICHEC’s historical fantasy The Weaver and the Witch Queen and a second title sold to Jessica Wade at Berkley via Rhea Lyons of HG Literary; the author is now represented by Brianne Johnson.
CHARLEE DYROFF’s near-future novel The Most Human Thing sold to Grace McNamee at Bloomsbury via Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.
JESSIE REN MARSHALL’s collection Women! In! Peril! and novel Alohaland sold to Grace McNamee at Bloomsbury in a pre-empt via Michelle Brower and Natalie Edwards of Trellis Literary Management.
JULIE HEABERLIN’s Night Will Find You, about a psychic astrophysicist, went to Christine Kopprasch at Flatiron Books in a pre-empt via Kim Witherspoon of Inkwell Management. UK rights sold to Maxine Hitchcock at Michael Joseph, and film rights were optioned by Kassie Evashevski at Anonymous Content.
NIKKI MARMERY’s Lilith, “a feminist retelling of the Hebrew myth about the first woman,” went to Holly Ingraham at Alcove Press via Allison Hellegers of Stimola Literary Studio on behalf of Ella Kahn of DKW. Legend Press will publish in the UK.
KEVIN LUCIA’s novel The Horror at Pleasant Brook went to Joe Mynhardt at Crystal Lake.
CHAD LUTZKE sold horror novel Bruises on a Butterfly to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
JOEL DANE’s SF novel The Ragpicker sold to Tricia Reeks at Meerkat Press via Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.
CHELSEA IVERSEN’s historical fantasy The Witches at the End of the World and a second book sold to Jenna Jankowski at Sourcebooks via Nicole Cunningham of The Book Group.
JOHN BODEN’s horror collection The Etiquette of Booby Traps sold to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
MARIA ALEJANDRA BARRIOS VELEZ sold literary fantasy The Women of Caminito to Melissa Valentine at Lake Union Publishing at auction via Amanda Orozco of Transatlantic Literary Agency.
DANGER SLATER’s “psychedelic splatter tale” House of Rot went to Matt Blairstone at Tenebrous Press. Alex Woodroe will edit.
GEMMA AMOR’s horror thriller The Folly went to Jason Pinter at Polis Books via Mark Falkin of Falkin Literary.
ROSE SUTHERLAND sold A Sweet Sting of Salt, “a queer feminist reimagining of the Scottish folktale ‘The Selkie Wife’,” to Caroline Weishuhn at Bantam Dell and Amanda Ferreira at Random House Canada in a pre-empt via Jill Marr of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
NORMAN PRENTISS sold horror collection In the Porches of My Ears to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
DONNA HERREN & BREE BRIDGES, writing as KIT ROCHA, sold epic fantasy The High Court of Dreamers, first in a new series, plus a second book, to Lauren Plude at Montlake via Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
COURTNEY SMYTH’s queer fantasy mystery The Undetectables and a second book sold George Sandison at Titan Books via Zoe Plant of the Bent Agency.
ELLE MACHRAY’s alternate history Remember, Remember and another book went to Daisy Watts at Harper North in a pre-empt via Rachel Neely of Mushens Entertainment.
ERIN STERLING sold fantasy romance The Wedding Wish, third in the Graves Glen universe, to Tessa Woodward at Avon via Holly Root at Root Literary.
YANGSZE CHOO’s fantasy novel The Fox Wife and a second book sold to Cassie Browne at Quercus via Jenny Bent of the Bent Agency.
GINA CHUNG’s collection Green Frog, with stories inspired by Korean fairytales, and novel Sea Change sold to Anne Meadows at Picador via Rachel Clements of Abner Stein on behalf of Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic.
MAT OSMAN’s historical fantasy The Ghost Theatre sold to Tracy Carns at Overlook via Sarah Fuentes of Fletcher & Company on behalf of Victoria Hobbs of A.M. Heath. Chelsea Cutchens will edit.
STEPHANIE NELSON sold horror novel The Vein to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
ZACHARY ASHFORD’s “Faustian death metal tragedy” Polyphemus sold to Andrew Robert at DarkLit.
TERRY FRIEDMAN’s fantasy Bone Pendant Girls went to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Helga Schier will edit.
KELLI OWEN sold horror novel The Headless Boy to Joe Mynhardt at Crystal Lake.
B.R. LOUIS sold humorous SF novel Space Holes: First Transmission to Sue Arroyo at CamCat Books. Helga Schier will edit.
J.H. MARKERT’s horror novel Mr Lullaby went to Sara Henry at Crooked Lane via Alice Speilburg of Speilburg Literary Agency.
KATE STAYMAN-LONDON sold vampire romantic comedy Fang Fiction to Emma Caruso at Dial Press via Julia Masnik of Watkins Loomis.
NICK STEVENSON sold Nethergeist 2 to Tina Beier at Rising Action.
R.L. MEZA sold horror novel Our Love Will Devour Us to Rob Carroll at Dark Matter Ink.
JANE ALBERDESTON sold dystopian novel Colony 51 to Lisa Pegram at Jaded Ibis Press.
E.A. FIELD’s fantasy The Scriver went to Tina Beier at Rising Action.
ALAYA DAWN JOHNSON sold The Library of Broken Worlds to David Levithan and Orlando Dos Reis at Scholastic via Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
AMANDA LINSMEIER’s YA feminist horror novel Six of Sorrow sold to Krista Marino at Delacorte via Juliana McBride of Rebecca Friedman Literary.
SANDRA PROUDMAN sold Salvación, “a gender-swapped Zorro retelling set in an alternate California,” to Mara Delgado- Sanchez at Wednesday Books via Kate Schafer Testerman and Hannah Fergesen of kt literary.
ALEXANDRA CHRISTO’s YA fantasy romance The Night Hunt sold to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends via Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong. Ruth Bennett bought UK rights for Hot Key Books.
PASCALE LACELLE’s YA fantasy Curious Tides and a second book went to Sarah McCabe at Margaret K. McElderry via Victoria Marini of Irene Goodman Agency.
LYDIA GREGOVIC sold YA historical fantasy The Monstrous Kind and a second book to Krista Marino at Delacorte for six figures via Sarah Landis of Sterling Lord Literistic.
BEA FITZGERALD’s feminist fantasy Girl, Goddess, Queen and two more titles sold to Naomi Colthurst at Puffin UK in a pre-empt via Hannah Schofield of Luigi Bonomi Associates.
JAMIE PACTON’s “sapphic friends-to-lovers romantasy” The Absinthe Underground went to Ashley Hearn at Peachtree Teen via Kate Schafer Testerman of kt literary.
ZOE HANA MIKUTA sold Off With Their Heads, “a sapphic, Korean-inspired” take on Alice in Wonderland, to Rebecca Kuss at Disney-Hyperion in a pre-empt via Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
LYNDALL CLIPSTONE sold standalone YA Gothic fantasy Unholy Terrors to Kat Brzozowski at Feiwel and Friends via Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management.
REBECCA YARROS sold new adult fantasy Fourth Wing and two more books to Liz Pelletier at Red Tower via Louise Fury of the Bent Agency.
First novelist CAITLIN ROZAKIS sold high fantasy Dreadful to George Sandison at Titan Books via Sarah Fisk of the Tobias Literary Agency.
First novelist BENJAMIN WRIGHT sold O/X, set in an America where the Black population has mysteriously vanished, to Danny Vazquez at Astra House via Kayla Lightner of Ayesha Pande Literary.
NEENA VIEL’s debut horror novel Listen To Your Sister and a second book sold to Alexandra Sehulster at St. Martin’s in a pre-empt via Sharon Pelletier of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
RUBEN REYES, JR. sold debut speculative collection There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven and alternate-timeline novel Archive of Unkown Universes to Jessica Vestuto at Mariner via Aemilia Phillips of Stuart Krichevsky Agency.
First novelist A.B. FINLAYSON sold four books in the Arthur Crazy fantasy series to Malorie Nilson at Parliament House Press.
ELAINE U. CHO’s first SF novel Ocean’s Godori went to Sareena Kamath at Hillman Grad Books in a pre-empt via Amy Elizabeth Bishop of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.
Debut writer RAE RASHAD’s speculative novel The Blueprint sold to Sarah Ried at Harper in a pre-empt via Catherine Cho of Paper Literary.
KAT ENRIGHT’s debut romantic fantasy The Mistress of Lies and two more books sold to Priyanka Krishnan at Orbit and Nadia Saward at Orbit UK via Jennifer Azantian of Azantian Literary Agency.
NADA SMITH’s debut literary fantasy All Water Has Perfect Memory sold to Lisa Pegram at Jaded Ibis Press.
New writer MORGAN WATC-HORN’s YA fantasy novel Fire to the Stars and a second book sold to Michelle Frey at Knopf Children’s for six figures via Josh Adams of Adams Literary.
KARA A. KENNEDY’s debut YA novel I Will Never Leave You, about a girl “haunted by the ghost of her toxic ex-girlfriend,” sold to Hannah Hill at Delacorte via Chloe Seager of Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency.
REBECCA FRAIMOW sold SF novella The Iron Children to Jim Killen at Solaris via Bridget Smith of JABberwocky Literary Agency. Amy Borsuk will edit.
LISA MORTON & JOHN PALISANO sold horror novella Placerita to Kevin Lucia at Cemetery Dance.
ANDREW HILBERT’s horror novella Xcrmntmntn sold to Max Booth III at Ghoulish Books.
TERRY J. BENTON-WALKER will edit horror anthology The White Guy Dies First, with stories by Kalynn Bayron, Kendare Blake, H.E. Edgmon, Tiffany D. Jackson, and more, for Ali Fisher at Tor Teen via Patrice Caldwell of New Leaf Literary & Media.
ROB COSTELLO will edit Queer Beasties, which “celebrates the monster as a positive and empowering metaphor for the otherness of being queer,” for Britny Brooks-Perilli at Running Press Kids via Marie Lamba of Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency.
STEPHANIE WILLIAMS is writing four volumes of a graphic novel adaptation of MAGGIE STIEFVATER’s YA fantasy series The Raven Cycle, illustrated by SAS MILLEDGE, for Meriam Metoui at Viking Children’s at auction via Richard Pine and Charlie Olsen of Inkwell Management for Stiefvater and Jennifer March Soloway of Andrea Brown Literary Agency for Milledge; Williams represents herself.
ALAN GARNER’s Booker Prize finalist Treacle Walker resold to to Kara Watson at Scribner via Karolina Sutton of Curtis Brown UK.
DHONIELLE CLAYTON resold four books in The Marvellers series to Ruth Bennett at Bonnier Books UK via Kristin Dulaney of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.
Bookseller and editor DEL HOWISON resold Western The Survival of Margaret Thomas, with illustratons by DIRK BERGER, to Kasey Lansdale at Pandi Press via Valentina Sainato of JABberwocky Literary Agency. Tiffany Trent will edit.
KATE DRAMIS resold the Curse of Saints trilogy to Mary Altman at Sourcebooks Casablanca at auction via UK publisher Michael Joseph.
SARA MEGIBOW has been promoted to vice president and senior literary agent at KT Literary.
MARY McAVENEY was hired as president and CEO of Abrams effective November 28, 2022 – the first woman to ever run the company – replacing MICHAEL JACOBS, who served for 19 years. McAveney was previously a marketing executive at Open Road, and has worked for Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, and even in marketing and sales for Abrams in the early ’90s. Jacobs will become executive chair of the Abrams board and will remain on the Abrams & Chronicle Books board in the UK; he will also assist with the transition.
Marketing and publicity coordinator ANJULI SMITH has left Aconyte Books. ASHLEY STEPHENS has been hired as a US-based book marketing and publicity manager.
COLLEEN ANDERSON has been elected president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, and will replace outgoing president BRYAN THAO WORRA. Anderson was previously vice president.
JULIETTE CAVENDISH has stepped down as president of the Australian Science Fiction Foundation “to Pursue [an] International Photographic Career,” and GEOFF ALLSHORN has resigned as vice president, effective October 14, 2022. No successors have been named.
Film rights to HAILEY PIPER’s horror novel A Light Most Hateful were optioned by producer Tony Eldridge of Lonetree Entertainment via Lane Heymont of the Tobias Literary Agency.
TV rights to SAMANTHA ALLEN’s satiric horror novel Patricia Wants to Cuddle were optioned by ABC Signature at auction via Addison Duffy at UTA on behalf of Leila Campoli of Stonesong. Goddard Textiles is producing.
This report and more like it in the December 2022 issue of Locus.
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