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).

2022 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists

May 182022
 

Congratulations to all our DMLA authors chosen as 2022 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists!

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
Noor, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)

FANTASY NOVEL
The Witness for the Dead, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris)

HORROR NOVEL
A Broken Darkness, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)
The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s)

YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

FIRST NOVEL
Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
The All-Consuming World, Cassandra Khaw (Erewhon)

NOVELLA
A Blessing of Unicorns, Elizabeth Bear (Audible Originals 10/20; Asimov’s 9-10/21)
Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (Tordotcom)
Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE
“The Red Mother“, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 6/23/21)
“Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story”, Nalo Hopkinson (F&SF 11-12/21)
“The Black Pages“, Nnedi Okorafor (Black Stars)

SHORT STORY
“Proof by Induction“, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5-6/21)

2022 Igynte Awards Finalists

Apr 282022
 

Congratulations to all our DMLA authors who were chosen as 2022 Igynte Awards Finalists!

Best Novel: Young Adult
A Snake Falls To Earth – Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

Best Novella
Nothing But Blackened Teeth – Cassandra Khaw (Tor Nightfire)

Best Novelette
“The Music of the Siphorophenes” – CL Polk (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

Best Comics Team
Abbott: 1973 – Saladin Ahmed (writer) (Boom! Studios)

The Ember Award (for unsung contributions to genre)
Tananarive Due

2022 Aurora Awards Nominees

Apr 202022
 

Congratulations to all our DMLA writers have been nominated for the 2022 Aurora Awards!

Best Novel

  • A Broken Darkness, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)
  • Soulstar, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

Best Novelette/Novella

  • The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed (ECW)
  • These Lifeless Things, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)

2022 Hugo Award Finalists

Apr 142022
 

Congratulations to all our DMLA authors who have been selected as 2022 Hugo Award Finalists.

BEST SERIES

The Kingston Cycle, by C. L. Polk (Tordotcom)
Terra Ignota, by Ada Palmer (Tor Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Proof by Induction”, by José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny Magazine, May/Jun 2021)

BEST SEMIPROZINE

S.B. Divya as editor and Premee Mohamed as assistant editor from the Escape Pod team

LODESTAR AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

A Snake Falls to Earth, by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

ASTOUNDING AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

Micaiah Johnson (2nd year of eligibility)

March Translation Rights Deals

Mar 312022
 

French rights to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s CROWBONES, a novel of the Others, to Bragelonne, by Megan Husain at the Anna Jarota Agency in association with Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

German rights to Lara Elena Donnelly’s AMBERLOUGH, to Cross Cult, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Caitlin McDonald.

German rights to Robert McCammon’s FREEDOM OF THE MASK, to Luzifer, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

Taiwanese/Complex Chinese rights to Micaiah Johnson’s THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS, to Apex, by Gray Tan at The Grayhawk Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier, for Cameron McClure.

 

2021 Locus Recommended Reading List

Feb 042022
 

Congratulations to our DMLA authors on the 2021 Locus Recommended Reading List!

Novels – Science Fiction

  • The Second Shooter, Nick Mamatas (Solaris)
  • Noor, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)
  • Perhaps The Stars, Ada Palmer (Tor; Ad Astra)

Novels – Fantasy

  • Soulstar, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
  • The Mask of Mirrors, M.A. Carrick (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Novels – Horror

  • A Broken Darkness, Premee Mohamed (Solaris)
  • The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling (St. Martin’s)

Young Adult Novels

  • A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)

First Novels

  • Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
  • Star Eater, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
  • The All-Consuming World, Cassandra Khaw (Erewhon)

Illustrated and Art Books

  • After the Rain, Nnedi Okorafor, adapted by John Jennings, art by David Brame (Abrams ComicArts/Megascope)

Novellas

  • A Blessing of Unicorns, Elizabeth Bear (Audible Originals 10/20; Asimov’s 9-10/21)
  • And What Can We Offer You Tonight?, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
  • The Annual Migration of Clouds, Premee Mohamed (ECW)
  • Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (Tordotcom)
  • The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
  • Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

Novelettes

  • “The Red Mother”, Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com 6/23/21)
  • “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story”, Nalo Hopkinson (F&SF 11-12/21)
  • “The Black Pages”, Nnedi Okorafor (Black Stars)
  • “Music of the Siphorophenes”, C.L. Polk (F&SF 3-4/21)
  • “In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi”, Molly Tanzer (F&SF 3-4/21)

Short Stories

  • “The Wishing Pool”, Tananarive Due (Uncanny 7-8/21)
  • “Clap Back”, Nalo Hopkinson (Black Stars)
  • “Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5-6/21)
  • “Love, That Hungry Thing”, Cassandra Khaw (Apex 1/21)
  • “Laughter Among the Trees”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
  • “Of Claw and Bone”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 5/21)

Base Notes by Lara Elena Donelly

Feb 012022
 

A lasting impression is worth killing for.

In New York City everybody needs a side hustle, and perfumer Vic Fowler has developed a delicate art that has proved to be very lucrative: creating bespoke scents that evoke immersive memories―memories that, for Vic’s clients, are worth killing for. But the city is expensive, and these days even artisanal murder doesn’t pay the bills. When Joseph Eisner, a former client with deep pockets, offers Vic an opportunity to expand the enterprise, the money is too good to turn down. But the job is too intricate―and too dangerous―to attempt alone.

Manipulating fellow struggling artists into acting as accomplices is easy. Like Vic, they too are on the verge of burnout and bankruptcy. But as relationships become more complicated, Vic’s careful plans start to unravel. Hounded by guilt and a tenacious private investigator, Vic grows increasingly desperate to complete Eisner’s commission. Is there anyone―friends, lovers, coconspirators―that Vic won’t sacrifice for art?

Review: Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly

Dec 072021
 

Kirkus: Can perfume kill?

Scent is everything in Donnelly’s unique, voluptuous thriller. Not only does suave antihero Vic Fowler analyze the mix of odors emanating from every person and place he encounters; Donnelly’s introductory list of characters describes them in terms of their “base notes.” She opens each chapter with an analysis of its content in scent—for example, Chapter 1: “Notes de Tête: Whiskey, Jasmine, Oakmoss. Notes de Cœur: Old Cigarettes and Stale Coffee. Notes de Fond: Mildew, Charcoal, Barbicide.” The death of iconoclastic perfume magnate Jonathan Bright has left his company, Bright House, in tatters under the stewardship of Vic, his lover and protégé. Vic’s brilliant invention is a line of perfumes that allows the wearer to relive memories. Down at the heels and subletting a bas ement apartment in Harlem, Vic is determined to use his considerable charm and sex appeal to return to his former glory and exact revenge upon Joseph Eisner, the man he blames for bringing him low. As Vic is implicated in both Jonathan’s death and the disappearances of wealthy Conrad and Caroline Yates, dogged detective Pip Miles lurks in methodical pursuit of the truth. Details of those crimes are doled out in tidbits over hundreds of pages. Vic accepts a commission from Eisner to devise a fatal scent and, with an offbeat trio of sexy sidekicks—bartender, barber, and tailor—hopes to use it as the vehicle of his vengeance. Donnelly offers physical descriptions nearly as rich as the olfactory, and she colorfully depicts a pre-Covid New York City, heavy with detail and likely to trigger nostalgia. But her plot moves at a glacial pace. The question for readers to ponder: Is the journey luscious enough to mitigate a long-delayed destination?

Manhattan’s beau monde served up in juicy, evocative prose.

Review: Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly

Dec 022021
 

Publishers Weekly: New York City perfumer Vic Fowler, the narrator of this clever standalone from Donnelly (the Amberlough Dossier series), has a somewhat less respectable sideline—murder for hire. To save his financially strapped perfume business, Vic accepts a contract from Joseph Eisner to kill the three partners in Eisner’s asset management company. A further condition is that before Vic disposes of the victims’ bodies, he must produce a fragrance that evokes a particular memory in Eisner, a task Vic has no idea if he can accomplish. Vic’s previous victim was Caroline Yates, whose death was ordered by her husband, a partner of Eisner and now one of Eisner’s intended targets. When an investigator comes to interview Vic about Caroline’s disappearance, Vic knows he can no longer do Eisner’s job himself without raising suspicion. He decides to find three other people to carry out the murders. Whom he picks and how he convinces them to do his bidding develops into a fascinating psychological drama. This intoxicating thriller keeps the reader guessing. With luck, Vic will be back for an encore.

Deal: A.J. Hackwith

Nov 112021
 

Acclaimed Hell’s Library series author A.J. Hackwith’s new novel HOLLOW ROAD HOME and its sequel, pitched as a queer, millennial American Gods, about a fae working at a truck stop in Wyoming to hide from her past until she’s blackmailed by a self-taught magician to guide him and his sister—a girl born with a changing map on her skin—across the strange backroads and forgotten spaces of the gothic American Midwest in search of a powerful treasure, to Miranda Hill at Ace for publication in spring 2023, by Caitlin McDonald.

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