Cassandra Khaw’s A SONG FOR QUIET, a standalone follow-up to HAMMERS ON BONE in which rambling bluesman Deacon Jones meets trouble on his journey from Georgia to Arkham, and a madman who calls himself John Persons may be the only one who can help, to Carl Engle-Laird at Tor.com for publication in 2017, by Michael Curry.
USA TODAY bestselling author Kaira Rouda’s BEST DAY EVER, narrated by a husband who’s promised his wife that the first day of their romantic vacation will be her “best day ever,” but who might actually have more sinister intentions, to Margo Lipschultz for the new Graydon House imprint, in a two-book deal, by Katie Shea Boutillier.
P.C. Hodgell’s next novel in the Kencyrath series, Three Nights in Tai-tastigon, the sequel to The Gates of Tagmeth (coming from Baen in July 2017) and taking readers back to the fabled city featured in the critically acclaimed Godstalk, to Toni Weisskopf at Baen Books by Jennifer Jackson.
Simon Pulse has acquired, with Liesa Abrams to edit, We Are the Ants author Shaun David Hutchinson’s new YA book, The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza, about a teen who was the first scientifically confirmed “virgin birth.” At 16 she discovers she can heal with a touch; simultaneously, people all over the world start disappearing in beams of light, making her wonder if she is bringing about the Apocalypse. Publication is scheduled for spring 2018; Amy Boggs at Donald Maass Literary Agency brokered the two-book deal for World English rights.
World Fantasy Award nominee Yoon Ha Lee’s story collection, to include the current short fiction from the Hexarachate setting of NINEFOX GAMBIT along with new previously unpublished stories, to be published in 2018, sold to Jonathan Oliver at Solaris via Jennifer Jackson.
Joy Peskin at Farrar, Straus Children’s has acquired award-winning playwright Mariah MacCarthy’s Squad, about a cheerleader who suddenly becomes alienated by her best friend and cheer squad and is set out to discover who she is without the things that always defined her. It’s planned to publish in Fall 2018; Katie Shea Boutillier of Donald Maass Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.
Simon Pulse has pre-empted, with Liesa Abrams to edit, world English rights to Feral Youth, a novel with 10 authors edited by Shaun David Hutchinson, in the same vein as his previous Violent Ends. The book is a modern YA retelling of The Canterbury Tales, set during the last three days at a survival camp for “troubled youth” with 10 teens trying to win $100 by telling the best story, with stories from Brandy Colbert, Tim Floreen, Ellen Hopkins, Justina Ireland, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Stephanie Kuehn, E.C. Myers, Marieke Nijkamp, and Robin Talley. Fall 2017 is the projected pub date.
Hugo Award-winning editor and writer for Pitchfork, NPR, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker Jason Heller’s STRANGE STARS, about the massive influence that science fiction has had on popular music, particularly during the 1970s boom of both, to Ryan Harrington at Melville House, by Jennifer Jackson.
Eliza Maxwell’s self-published first novel, THE GRAVE TENDER, a hauntingly beautiful story set in a claustrophobic small town in Texas about a broken family where no one is who they seem, and one woman willing to go to any lengths to set things right, and her next novel, THE UNREMEMBERED GIRL, a twisted love story set in the brutal woods of east Texas about a gentle soul who falls for a mysterious abandoned feral girl, until the strength of their love turns against them in dangerous ways, to Miriam Juskowicz at Lake Union Publishing, in a two-book deal, by Katie Shea Boutillier.
Brent Weeks returns to his Night Angel series (Way of Shadows, Shadows Edge, Beyond the Shadows) in a new volume to be delivered in 2019, to Tim Holman at Orbit/Hachette via Donald Maass.