Sunday, September 09, 2007

Deals, deals, and more deals

Apologies, I've been neglecting this blog lately -- real life has taken over, with a multitude of library workshops to teach (and many students asking for help at the reference desk). I'm also in the middle of my literary fiction chapter. It promises to be long, which is why I'm making myself write it sooner rather than later. As a result, the house has piles of books scattered everywhere.

Oh, and for the person who googled "anne boleyn bodybuilder" and found this blog - I don't think I have what you're looking for.

These were spotted on Publishers Marketplace recently:

Jeane Westin's THE VIRGIN'S DAUGHTERS, exploring the constricted heart of the most famous queen in history, Elizabeth I, again to Ellen Edwards at NAL, in a nice deal, for publication as a trade paperback original, by Danielle Egan-Miller of Browne & Miller Literary Associates (NA).
[not sure what it's about, but it seems to be general fiction, not romance...]

The Last Town on Earth author Thomas Mullen's THE MANY DEATHS OF THE FIREFLY BROTHERS, which tells the story of two brothers, bank robbers and pop culture heroes, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, to Jennifer Hershey at Random House, by Susan Golomb of Susan Golomb Agency.

Film rights to Robert Graves' I, CLAUDIUS, to Scott Rudin, who will produce along with Alison Owen (The Other Boleyn Girl", for $2 million, at auction, by Nick Harris at RWSH, on behalf of the Graves estate.

Historical novelist C. W. Gortner's THE LAST QUEEN, the story of Juana La Loca, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit the throne, to Suzie Doore at Hodder & Stoughton, in a two-book deal, by Rachel Kind at Ballantine (UK/Commonwealth).

Diana Birchall's MRS. DARCY'S DILEMMA, sequel to Price and Prejudice, to Deb Werksman at Sourcebooks Casablanca, in a nice deal, for publication in 2008, by Elizabeth Pomada at Larsen/Pomada Literary Agents (US).
[In case you haven't read any of the other dozen sequels, or want to read another?]

Lisa Marie Wilkinson's FIRE AT MIDNIGHT, about a French privateer/smuggler's quest for vengeance against the woman he erroneously believes betrayed him to the English customs authorities, to Helen Rosburg at Medallion Press, in a nice deal, for publication in March 2009.

7 comments:

  1. Boswell and I are colloborating on a book called Darcy's Dog, about the courtship of Lizzie and Darcy told from the perspective of . . . well, you get the idea.

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  2. You could probably get a book deal now for a parody with that title. (Unfortunately, I'm not kidding.)

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  3. A remake of I Claudius? With lots of sex, little politics and the wrong uniforms, I'm afraid. ;)

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  4. Anonymous5:06 PM

    Lots of interesting sounding books! But I had the same thought as Gabriele. I know a book can be adapted more than once, but somehow the thought of another version of "I, Claudius" seems--well, *wrong*...

    Mind you, a good production could change my mind. But I think in my head all those characters will always be the actors in the television series.

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  5. I like the new typo-title for Austen: "Price and Prejudice." It's quite apropos, considering the seemingly endless number of books people are spinning-off of one novel!

    Oh, and though I'm not a - gasp!- Austen devotee (more in tune with the Brontes, actually) I'll definitely buy "Darcy's Dog"!

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  6. Price and Prejudice - that's funny. Especially since the typo wans't mine (I pasted it from Publishers Marketplace).

    Library Journal just posted an article on many recent Austen sequels. I have five of them on the current "books for review" list for HNS.

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  7. I just saw the BBC production of I Claudius. It has such amazing acting in it I wonder how the movie could possibly compare...

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