Agency News
12/19/13
Yikes! I started this update 7 weeks ago.
I came to check out the Agency News page and saw that the last one was in March 2013. Even crazier is the fact that I wrote, “But post Spring Break, I will try to do a real update. Try being the operative word in that sentence.”
Well, I will say that my intentions are always good. I won’t make ridiculous false promises about a better update to come. Whatever you see here is probably the best it’s going to get until the next one. Especially since this update is taking me a month to write (actually 7 weeks, as indicated above).
Anyway, let’s start with books out or coming up really soon since the last update:
MIND GAMES by Kiersten White had just blown everyone’s mind with its brilliant, twisty story of two sisters. The paperback is coming out next week, on December 3, and includes a special never-been-seen-anywhere-else short story entitled ANNIE AND FIA. It’s a must have! And now we’re just a few months away from the sequel, PERFECT LIES. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one. It’s another fast-paced, yet incredibly satisfying read. Coming February 2014.
Kasie West had just burst onto the scene with her incredible debut, PIVOT POINT. I love reading the reader reviews of this one. It cracks me up that so many people are surprised at how much they loved this book. Well PP fans are psyched because this sequel is coming in February too and it doesn’t disappoint: SPLIT SECOND is coming and keeps up the alternating chapters structure but brings in another POV. Check out the cover and see if you can guess who that is. Or, you know, read the blurb. Fine, fine, it’s Laila, dammit. Just don’t click away before you’ve read the rest of the news. I mean, unless you’re going to pre-order it. But then come back.
The good news about taking so long to do an update is that just in case you’re first hearing about these books (which, why on earth is that?? But, ok, let’s just say that’s the case.) Both MIND GAMES and PIVOT POINT are out or about to be out in paperback, and their sequels—PERFECT LIES and SPLIT SECOND—are due out any minute!! It’s a total win for you!
Indie author Lauren Blakely burst onto the scene and the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists with her adorable romances that just keep getting hotter and hotter. Don’t even try to figure out how she does it; just be glad she does. Go read them all starting with CAUGHT UP IN US. And for her Entangled debut, check out FAR TOO TEMPTING, an awesome rock star love story. Look for lots more from this rising superstar soon.
In May we had GAME. SET. MATCH., the first in the Outer Banks Tennis Academy series from Jennifer Iacopelli. Where futures are forged in blood and sweat, and dreams are shattered in an instant? And LOVE is a four letter word???? Sign. Me. Up. For the next installment, that is. Not the crazy-cakes workouts those players do! Uh, no Einsteins from me, thanks. Stay tuned for a release date for books 2 and 3.
In June, Daisy Whitney’s latest contemporary WHEN YOU WERE HERE released and I don’t know what to say except that I love this book so much. It’s about big love and big loss. How to live, how to die, and how to love with your whole heart. I cry every time I read it and I almost never cry at books. As others said while reading it, “It breaks your heart then heals it,” and I couldn’t have put it better myself (which is why I quoted that here). This is an incredibly powerful read, that I devoured the first time I read it, and I find something new that touches me in each reread since. This one is not to be missed.
July opened with a bang as Kasie West burst onto the contemporary YA scene with THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US. Pretty in Pink meets Pride and Prejudice in a slightly creepy porcelain doll store in a modern day California. Xander is swoon-worthy and Caymen is just the perfect amount of sarcastic, and together—well, just go find out for yourself, but you’ll see why this has been nominated for a Goodreads Best Young Adult Fiction Pick of 2013. Go vote! And fans will be thrilled to hear that Kasie has two more contemporaries on the schedule already. Make sure you add them to your Goodreads shelves, ON THE FENCE (Summer 2014) and THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND (2015).
August brought the release of QUICK FIX, the highly anticipated 2nd book in the Ciel Halligan, aura adaptor series by the lovely and talented Linda Grimes. This was supposed to be a quickie job between jobs (get it? Quick Fix??) but turns into a hot mess faster than you can say my cousin is an orangutan. Ciel always has me laughing out loud (I guess that’s Linda) and I’m so excited that this series will be continuing for another two books starting with THE BIG FIX next winter. So get to know Ciel & co. because they are here to stay!
September opened with a one two punch: STARRY NIGHTS by Daisy Whitney and then THE CHAOS OF STARS by Kiersten White. I would probably be content just to own these two books and stare at the gorgeous covers all day long even if they contained nothing but gibberish inside. Lucky for you, they are both fantasy masterpieces in their own right. STARRY NIGHTS is a modern mix of fantasy and magical realism that brings Paris alive with possibilities and explores the secrets behind famous paintings with the skill that only Daisy can.
And THE CHAOS OF STARS is Kiersten’s take on family drama. What a brilliant idea for putting your own family drama in perspective, by comparing it to the unbelievably screwy drama that went on in Egyptian mythology. Kiersten, as always, brings wit, charm, and an underlying groundedness to her characters that makes them relatable, whether they’re mortal, immortal, or somewhere in between. I loved Isadora when she was supposed to have 3 books, 5 books, 2 books, but maybe the most of all now that she found her final voice and completed her story as a standalone.
Tawna Fenske had two short stories out: EAT, PLAY, LUST and THE GREAT PANTY CAPER. All I can say is if you haven’t read Tawna’s books, you’re missing out big time. Laugh out loud funny and a great read every time no matter which book you pick up. Tawna has lots of books on the horizon, including a new series from Entangled Brazen coming any minute and another standalone from Sourcebooks in May 2014, so be sure to check out her blog for latest news.
Other Sales/Upcoming books:
That felt like a slightly disorganized update, being part author based and part chronological, but if I try to fix it, I’ll never get this posted. So here is a list of sales since the last update in March 2013. From most recent sale working backwards, as listed with Publishers Marketplace.
IN THE SHADOWS by Kiersten White and Jim Di Bartolo: This spellbinding tale of love, mystery, and dark conspiracy is told in an alternating narrative of words and pictures…it’s Hugo Cabret meets Miss Peregrine… it’s simply unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. And it’s coming to you from Scholastic on April 29, 2014!
THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND by Kasie West: About a girl whose boyfriend dumps her in the parking lot on prom night, so she grabs a “fill-in” date in order to convince her friends her boyfriend is real. Coming from HarperTeen in 2015.
FAST FORWARD by Lindsey Pollak: Career expert Lindsey Pollak advises the largest and most highly educated generation in history as they prepare for their next big challenge – being leaders themselves. Harper Business, Fall 2014.
THE BIG FIX by Linda Grimes: The 3rd book in the Ciel Halligan series continuing the adventures of an aura adaptor extraordinaire, who takes on a job for an action superstar whose snake phobia prevents him from completing his latest Hollywood blockbuster, only to find that when the superstar’s wife turns up dead, she may have unwittingly provided the perfect alibi. Tor, Winter 2015.
Maggie Malone and the Mostly Magical Boots by Jenna McCarthy and Olivia Swann, an incredibly fun middle grade series about a girl who acquires a special sort of magic that allows her to step into someone else’s shoes for a day where she learns that you never really know what someone else’s life is like until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Sourcebooks, May 2014
Ben Fox: Squirrel Zombie Specialist at Your Service by Daisy Whitney. Daisy takes on the middle grade market with this fun story about a 10 year old who must battle an army of squirrel zombies that his dastardly cat has raised in his very own backyard. Spencer Hill Press, October 2014.
Still untitled Brazen series by Tawna Fenske!
Still untitled Brazen series by Lauren Blakely!
Ok, this was a little all over the place. And some books haven’t been talked about yet so I didn’t mention them here. But they’re coming!! So I guess look out for mention of them in the great blogosphere.
In the meantime, I will try to update more frequently, but I make no promises.
And don’t forget, I’m open to queries. Maybe I can include your book on my list of books that I one day give a slightly belated, definitely disorganized, kind of random, but always well-intentioned update.
Hey, maybe this is the reason I’m actually up to date on my queries. Go me!
Happy holidays!! See you in 2014.
3/21/13
Wow, so much news! But quick update.
Books have come out, more sales (just too busy to officially announce them anywhere), feels like an endless cycle of busy, but somehow that December date on the last update was taunting me and I just had to update this with a new Spring date.
Unfortunately, it’s not going to be a very informative one. But post Spring Break, I will try to do a real update. Try being the operative word in that sentence.
Anyway, new books coming out:
GAME. SET. MATCH. by Jennifer Iacopelli May 1
WHEN YOU WERE HERE by Daisy Whitney, June 4, 2013
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US by Kasie West, July 3, 2013
Books Recently Out:
MIND GAMES by Kiersten White
PIVOT POINT by Kasie West
CAUGHT UP IN US by Lauren Blakely
PRETENDING HE’S MINE by Lauren Blakely
Coming This Fall…
QUICK FIX by Linda Grimes
THE CHAOS OF STARS by Kiersten White
STARRY NIGHTS by Daisy Whitney
And some surprises too…like big surprises.
More announcements when I catch my breath. Maybe next month sometime.
Also, sorry to say, but Wolfson Literary Agency is still CLOSED to submissions.
Wolfson Literary Agency 