Dear writers: Please be aware of ongoing scams by agent impersonators. Use extra caution with any unsolicited offers from agents. Reputable agents will not ask for upfront fees of any kind. For more information, look at sites such as Writer Beware (https://writerbeware.blog/). Please always check email addresses/spellings. All official emails from Donald Maass Literary Agency will come from an address that ends in @maassagency.com (2 A's, 2 S's in MAASS).

Deal: A.J. Hackwith

Oct 032018
 

photo of author A.J. Hackwith/Ada HarperAuthor A.J. Hackwith’s fantasy debut THE LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN, the first in a trilogy about a librarian who preserves and protects the Library of Unwritten Books, which exists in the same realm as Hell but maintains independence. When she is assigned to track down a powerful missing codex, she is led on a dangerous hunt that will take her across realms accompanied by her ex-muse assistant, a rogue book, and a handful of Hell’s most unlikely escorts, with only her knowledge of books and stories as her weapons.

The series was sold to Rebecca Brewer at Ace, in a three-book deal, by Caitlin McDonald. The first book is planned for publication in February 2020.

Hackwith also writes science-fiction romances under the name Ada Harper, the second of which—A TREASON OF TRUTHS—was released by Carina Press on October 1st.

Make A Nerdy Living by Alex Langley

Oct 022018
 

Cover of Make a Nerdy Living: How to Turn Your Passions into Profit, with Advice from Nerds Around the Globe by Alex Langley.Turn your obsession into your profession! This funny, information-packed guide shows you how to transform your nerdy passion into a lucrative career . . . and satisfying life.

“How can I make a living at this?” Many nerds ask themselves this question—and now they have an answer. Filled with humor and real-life advice, this entertaining guide explores how you can actually get paid for nerdy passions that range from live-streaming video and prop making to writing and cosplay. Along with general tips for newcomers and in-depth advice for the more experienced, interviews with stars reveal how geeks, gamers, and fans successfully turned their dreams into reality.

Star Wars: Lando’s Luck by Justina Ireland

Oct 022018
 

Cover of Star Wars: Lando's Luck (Star Wars: Flight of The Flacon) by Justina Ireland.An all-new adventure starring Lando Calrissian and L3-37 onboard the Millennium Falcon!

When Lando Calrissian gets caught smuggling on the planet Hynestia, the queen agrees to let him go if he delivers something called the Solstice Globe to the Empire on her behalf. Lando is relieved that his punishment is a simple delivery mission—but he soon discovers things are not as simple as they seem. The queen’s daughter, Princess Rinetta, has stowed away on the Millennium Falcon and demands Lando and L3-37 take the globe back to its home planet, which needs the globe to survive. Now Lando has to choose: Do what’s right, or do what’s best for Lando. But if he’s lucky enough, he just might be able to do both….

A Treason of Truths by Ada Harper

Oct 012018
 

Cover of A Treason of Truths by Ada Harper.She turned her back on her people and shifted her allegiance to the very Empire she was sent to betray

Now head spymaster, Lyre’s loyalty lies with Sabine, the Empress she has loved since childhood. But when Sabine visits the secretive Cloud Vault, the floating citadel home that Lyre betrayed, Lyre’s elaborate web of lies starts to untangle. Her very presence threatens Sabine’s future, and Lyre will do whatever it takes to protect her lover…even if that means sacrificing herself.

Empress Sabine Corvus has lived a life of service, pushing aside her own desires for the greater good. With the Empire teetering on the brink of war with the traitorous Syndicate, she cannot afford to show weakness. Although Lyre’s spymaster skills are her greatest weapon, their bond is Sabine’s Achilles’ heel. Regardless of the price, she will not give Lyre up.

Review: Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Jul 172018
 

Cover of Witchmark by C.L. Polk.Shelf Awareness: Witchmark, C.L. Polk’s debut, introduces a magically infused world reminiscent of early 20th-century England, with gas-lit rooms, cloaks and carriages.

Dr. Miles Singer has created a life for himself mostly devoid of magic. Having fled his powerful family as a young man, he joined the Aeland army, went to war against the Laneeri, and now works in a veterans’ hospital. But in a world where most witches are sent to asylums, supposedly for their own safety, Miles must be careful about how–and where–he uses his magical gifts. When a handsome gentleman brings a poisoned journalist into the hospital for treatment, this careful balancing act becomes increasingly hard to maintain–especially as his feelings for the gentleman evolve. And when his sister, a member of the elite magical class, shows up on his doorstep, he is drawn right back into the world he fled so long ago.

Polk’s worldbuilding is done with finesse; information on the magical systems at play in Aeland are revealed smoothly and as appropriate to the story. But the magic is only the smallest part of what makes Witchmark the impressive novel that it is. The subtle ways Polk builds her characters, reveals the systems under which they live and unwinds a complicated, twisting plot with both personal and political implications are testaments to her skill as a storyteller. She builds toward a satisfying yet unpredictable conclusion, but with just enough wiggle room that these beloved characters may make appearances in future installments–which would be a welcome treat. –Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm

Discover: A debut fantasy novel introduces a gas-lit world where most witches are banished to asylums–unless they are of the wealthy ruling class.

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Jun 192018
 

Cover of Witchmark by C.L. Polk.C. L. Polk arrives on the scene with Witchmark, a stunning, addictive fantasy that combines intrigue, magic, betrayal, and romance.

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

UK Deal: Justina Ireland

Jun 142018
 

Photo of author Justina Ireland.UK rights to Justina Ireland’s New York Times bestseller DREAD NATION, about a young black woman fighting zombies in an alternate post-Civil War South, and its sequel, to Cath Trechman at Titan Books, at auction, by Caitlin McDonald.

The Heartreader’s Secret by Kate McIntyre

Apr 172018
 

Cover of The Heartreader's Secret by Kate McIntyre.The brilliant engineer Emilia Banks has gone missing.

Deathsniffer Olivia Faraday may be partial to solving murders, but this missing persons case is too personal to pass up — especially when all the clues lead her and her assistant, Chris, to the sprawling countryside manor where Olivia was born and raised. Their investigation reveals new insights into the political conflict raging in nearby Darrington City, but every step is fraught with mysterious deaths, suspicious stalkers, and players both new and old each harboring dangerous agendas of their own.

Are the powerful traditionalists or the anarchic reformists prowling the borders of the estate responsible for the sudden disappearance of Miss Banks? And could the elusive engineer’s private project truly change the world forever?

Congratulations to Justina Ireland!

Apr 162018
 

Cover of Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.Dread Nation debuted #5 on the NYT Children’s Bestsellers List!

At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland’s stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar—a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet.

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.

In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.

But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.

And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Review: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Apr 112018
 

Cover of Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.Tor.com: In Justina Ireland’s fantastic new young adult novel, Dread Nation, the world is upended when the dead rise from their graves at Gettysburg. In order to salvage what’s left of the US, the Civil War ends in a compromise that frees the enslaved but forces them into combat schools that train them to slay the undead shamblers.

Ireland tapped into our collective knowledge of the past and dreams for the future and poured it into Dread Nation. She revealed the truth of the real America by rewriting the fictional one.

When I think of using young adult fantasy fiction to explore systemic racial oppression, a nineteenth century zombie apocalypse isn’t the first thing to come to mind. Yet in Justina Ireland’s more than capable hands, it works.

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