5 New Deals

Jennifer Lynn Barnes‘s romantic thriller Nobody to Egmont. About 2 supernaturally unnoticeable teens: 1 uses the skill to kill, while the other uses it to hide.

Sarah Crossan’s Breathe in a 3-book deal to Greenwillow (US/CA). About a world where oxygen is a precious commodity & only the rich breathe easily in the glass pod that is now home, from which 3 teens venture into the dangerous outlands beyond the pod with only 2 days of oxygen in their tanks. For publication in 2012.

Sophie Littlefield‘s The Museum of Eyes in a 2-book deal to Mira (World English). A family’s legacy of murder & abuse are but the 1st things a mother is determined to keep from her daughter.

Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong‘s The Blackwell Pages middle grade trilogy to Little, Brown (NA). The story of 2 12-year-old boys & 1 girl, all distant descendants of the Norse gods, who must journey to prevent the impending Ragnarok (the apocalypse). Book 1, Loki’s Wolves, is slated for publication in 2013.

Rachel Vincent: Books 6 (Before I Wake) & 7 in the Soul Screamers series to Harlequin Teen. 3rd Unbound novel & additional adult novel to Mira.

*****
TV RIGHTS OPTIONED

Holly Black‘s White Cat to Vertigo Pictures. A family of con artists has dangerous magical powers & 1 son refuses to take part in their schemes.

Carolyn Crane‘s The Disillusionist Trilogy to FishBowl Media. About a psychological hit squad of misfits & neurotics who reform criminals by pumping them full of their negative energy, pitched as Heroes meets Inception.

Melissa Marr‘s Graveminder to Ken Olin, the same man responsible for Alias & Brothers & Sisters.

*****
FILM RIGHTS OPTIONED

Kathleen Peacock‘s Hemlock to Lane Shefter Bishop of Vast Entertainment. A small town is under siege by a werewolf virus.

[REVIEW] White Cat – Holly Black

Holly Black
White Cat (The Curse Workers, Book 1)
Simon & Schuster Margaret K. McElderry (US & CA: 4th May 2010); Hachette Gollancz (UK & AU: 17th June 2010)
Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

When you’re the only one in the family who’s not a magic worker, you have to build your own talents. Cassel Sharpe is a liar and a con, making a small fortune taking bets at his boarding school. But sleepwalking leads him to a rooftop, about to jump, and it doesn’t help that a white cat is haunting his dreams – never letting Cassel forget that he murdered someone.

Normally I don’t like magic in urban fantasy, but Holly Black has created an intelligent, logical world where nothing comes for free, and blowback can very well destroy a worker. A suspicious feline, a crime family, and gruesome self-surgery combine for an intricate but enjoyable novel of mind games and mystery. A bit confusing, but well worth the persistence, White Cat is a massive step up from the author’s teen faery tales.

There are also hidden gems, such as this: It’s some more messed-up Olympian family stuff, starring Zeus. His pregnant girlfriend, Semele, gets tricked by his wife, Hera, into demanding to see Zeus in all his godly glory. Despite knowing this is going to kill Semele, he shows her the goods. A few minutes later he’s cutting baby Dionysus out of burned-up Semele’s womb and sewing him into his own leg. No wonder Dionysus drank all the time. I’ve never been interested in the Olympians before, but this is messed-up shiz!

And it’s not just mythology that’s effed: I see the necklace of keloids, where his maker cut across his throat to symbolise the death of Philip’s previous life, and then packed the wound with ash until it scarred in a long, swollen line…All labourers, minor crime bosses, have them. Just like a rose over the heart showed you were one of the Russian bratva, or like a yakuza inserts pearls under the skin of his penis for every year in jail. Holy freaking heck!

June 2010 Releases

Done with May 2010 Releases? Here are June 2010 Releases. To look further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

May 2010 Releases

Done with April 2010 Releases? Here are May 2010 Releases. To see further into the future, check Reading Wishlist.

10 New Covers

Have fallen behind in my covers posting, so you may have already seen these by now. Click on the images (behind the cut) to take you to the direct sources where I found them. Please note that Tales of the Otherworld and Tales from the Otherworld are the same book – I imagine the Oz version will switch to the UK cover before release.

Jennifer Armintrout: All Souls’ Night (UK) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Kelley Armstrong: Tales of/from the Otherworld (UK/AU) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Holly Black: White Cat (UK) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Catherine Fisher: Sapphique (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Megan Hart: Naked Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Caitlin Kittredge: Second Skin (UK) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)
Jessica Verday: The Haunted (UK) Buy (US) Buy (UK) Buy (CA) Buy (Worldwide)

YA Releases – 2010 & Beyond

C. A. Moulton called out for a list of 2010 & 2011 YA fantasy fiction, but my list here contains other YA subgenres, too 😉 These are only the ones with known release dates – those without are on my Reading Wishlist. Release dates can and probably will change in the lead-up to the books’ publication. Some are re-releases, international editions, etc. Of course, I don’t list every single book – only the ones that I’ve heard of and am interested in.

ANN AGUIRRE – Razorland – Dec 2010
KELLEY ARMSTRONG – The Reckoning – 27 Apr 2010/6 May 2010
JENNIFER LYNN BARNES – Raised by Wolves – 8 Jun 2010
HOLLY BLACK – White Cat – 4 May 2010/17 Jun 2010/1 May 2011
S. A. BODEEN – The Gardener – 25 May 2010
RACHEL CAINE – Kiss of Death – 3 May 2010/4 May 2010
KRISTIN CAST et al – Kisses from Hell – 8 Aug 2010
CASSANDRA CLARE – The Clockwork Angel – 1 Sep 2010/14 Sep 2010
ANDREA CREMER – Nightshade – 14 Oct 2010
HEATHER DAVIS – The Clearing – 15 Mar 2010/12 Apr 2010
KAT FALLS – Dark Life – 29 Apr 2010/1 May 2010
CATHERINE FISHER – Incarceron – 26 Jan 2010
BECCA FITZPATRICK – Crescendo – 2010
AMY GARVEY – Cold Kiss – 2011
TERI HALL – The Line – 4 Mar 2010/9 Mar 2010
STACEY JAY – Undead Much? – 21 Jan 2010/26 Jan 2010
STACEY JAY – My So-Called Death – 1 Mar 2010/1 Apr 2010
CARRIE JONES – Captivate – 5 Jan 2010/5 Apr 2010
KELLY KEATON – Darkness Becomes Her – 2011
JACKIE MORSE KESSLER – Hunger – 11 Aug 2010
JACKIE MORSE KESSLER – Rage – 2011
KAREN KINCY – Other – 1 Jul 2010
GEMMA MALLEY – The Returners – 1 Feb 2010/2 Mar 2010
RICHELLE MEAD – Spirit Bound – 18 May 2010
JACKSON PEARCE – Sisters Red – 3 Jun 2010/7 Jun 2010
SUSAN BETH PFEFFER – This World We Live In – 4 Mar 2010/1 Apr 2010/3 May 2010
CARRIE RYAN – The Dead-Tossed Waves – 9 Mar 2010/8 Apr 2010/1 Mar 2011
JERI SMITH-READY – Shade – 4 May 2010/18 May 2010
MARIA V. SNYDER – Inside Out – 1 Apr 2010
LILI ST. CROW – Jealousy – 29 Jul 2010/3 Aug 2010
MAGGIE STIEFVATER – Linger – 20 Jul 2010
JESSICA VERDAY – The Haunted – 31 Aug 2010
ROBIN WASSERMAN – Wired – 14 Sep 2010