More upcoming historical novel deals

Here are some other forthcoming books - only these will be in print well over a year from now, most likely, rather than this fall.

First, it looks like Pauline Gedge is returning to Egyptian historical fiction... when was her last novel published - five, six years ago? There's no news about a US edition of these, but that may be forthcoming.

Canadian rights to Pauline Gedge's THE KING'S MAN, Volumes 1 & 2, when an accident leaves a man to all appearances dead, and his subsequent return to life leaves him both feared by those who once loved him, and in possession of a special gift, he becomes a seer and a healer, summoned by the Pharaoh himself, to Helen Reeves at Penguin Canada, in a very nice deal, by Bella Pomer.

Then we have Nest's Irish counterpart (sorry, couldn't resist), novelized by Western Australian writer Jules Watson.

Jules Watson's THE SWAN MAIDEN, about Deirdre, the "Irish Helen of Troy," whose beauty ignited a bloody war between two medieval Irish kingdoms, to Anne Groell at Bantam Spectra, in a very nice deal, by Russell Galen at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency (NA).

I'd always thought Deirdre of the Sorrows (I assume this is the story it's based on) was part of an ancient Irish myth, rather than anything medieval, but what do I know. It's also interesting to me that Watson's novels are marketed as fantasy in the USA. Is this true overseas? The White Mare, which I loved, is the first book in a trilogy set in Celtic Britain at the time of the Roman invasion, and I recall that the fantasy aspects were minimal. Problem is, historical fiction fans don't always look in bookstores' fantasy sections for reading material, so this novel may have passed them by... but maybe they sell better as fantasy. My guess. The author's website has more about her upcoming series of books.

Finally, since good things come in threes and all that:

Jeanne Kalogridis's THE BLOODIEST QUEEN, the story of Catherine de Medici, the Italian princess who became Queen of France during an era of brutal religious wars, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, in a good deal, in a two-book deal, by Russell Galen at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency (NA).

Kalogridis has a novel about the woman depicted in Leonardo's Mona Lisa coming out this fall, and I still haven't read The Borgia Bride, so it may be a while until I get to this one. But I'm sure I'll buy it anyway.