Voyager Nabs New Series by Brown
World Fantasy Award–nominated author Christopher Brown closed a world English rights two-book deal with Harper Voyager. Mark Gottlieb at the Trident Media Group represented Brown, negotiating the agreement with David Pomerico. The two books will launch a new series, set in the world of the author’s previous book Tropic of Kansas, that Gottlieb said Brown pitched as “Better Call Saul meets 1984.” The first book, Gottlieb continued, follows “a criminal defense lawyer working to free a political prisoner who harbors explosive secrets about a totalitarian American government while being pursued by Feds and vengeful corporate mercenaries.” Book one in the series is set for summer 2019 and book two for summer 2020.
Jackson Re-ups at Morrow
Joshilyn Jackson sold two new novels to her current publisher, William Morrow, in a North American rights agreement. Emily Krump at Morrow acquired the titles from Caryn Karmatz Rudy at Defiore & Co. The first book in the deal, Never Have I Ever, is, Morrow said, a work of domestic suspense that marks “an exciting new direction” for the author; it follows a group of friends who, while playing a drinking game at a bar, begin revealing their darkest secrets. The publisher continued: “As too much wine is poured it quickly becomes clear that what started out as innocent fun has evolved into an escalating war of dark pasts. After all, no one wants to answer the question, what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” Jackson has written eight novels to date; she has won the SIBA Novel of the Year award and is a two-time Georgia Author of the Year winner.
Briefs
For Da Capo Press, Robert Pigeon took world rights to Sleeping with Napoleon: Resistance, Escape, Love, and Betrayal in World War II Paris by Stephen Harding (The Last Battle). The book, which is set for fall 2019, was sold by Scott Mendel at Mendel Media Group. The publisher said the title is a “nail-biter wartime adventure story” of “courage and desperation in the shadows of the City of Light.” It follows Allied pilots who, after being downed in Europe, were saved by members of the French Resistance.
Heidi Taylor Gordon at Shadow Mountain’s Deseret imprint bought world rights to Sarah M. Eden’s A Healing Heart. Bob Diforio at D4EO Literary, who struck the deal along with Pam Victorio, said the novel follows a nurse who, “desperate to escape the dangers of her past... accepts a position in an isolated town in the Wyoming Territory, only to discover the position is not a job but an arranged marriage.” The heroine must then fight “to regain control of her life.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Christopher Brown's book Tropic of Kansas as Tropic of Cancer.
