A.R. KAHLER’s The Immortal Circus: Final Act sold to David Pomerico at 47North via Laurie McLean of Foreword Literary Agency.
ANDY WEIR’s survival thriller The Martian, about an astronaut stranded on Mars, sold to Julian Pavia at Crown via David Fugate of LaunchBooks Literary Agency; film rights were optioned by Simon Kinberg of 20th Century Fox.
J.C. NELSON’s Free Agent, described as ‘‘Once Upon a Time meets October Daye,’’ and two more books sold to Leis Pederson at Ace in a pre-empt via Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.
WALTER HUNT sold Elements of Mind to Vikki Ciaffone at Spence City via Rebecca Mancini of RightsMix.
DC FARMER sold 400 Lb Gorilla to Vikki Ciaffone of Spence City.
DAVE JACKSON’s fantasy Tattoo Rampage went to James Wymore at Curiosity Quills Press via Sharon Belcastro and Ella Marie Shupe of the Belcastro Agency.
MAGGIE STIEFVATER, TESSA GRATTON & BRENNA YOVANOFF sold collection The Anatomy of Curiosity, which includes new stories and a ‘‘conversational step-by-step guide to their writing/critiquing process and relationship,’’ to Carolrhoda Lab via Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency for Stiefvater and Gratton and Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency for Yovanoff.
BREE DESPAIN sold new trilogy Into the Dark to Greg Ferguson at Egmont via Ted Malawer of Upstart Crow Literary.
JOSHUA DAVID BELLIN sold Survival Colony Nine to Karen Wojtyla of Margaret K. McElderry Books via Liza Fleissig at Liza Royce Agency.
Gwenda Bond (2011)
ELLA WEST sold Moon Child to Eva Mills at Allen & Unwin via Dean Krystek at Word Link.
COURTNEY ALAMEDA sold YA fantasy Shutter to Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends in a pre-empt via John Cusick of Greenhouse Literary Agency.
PAUL DURHAM’s Luck Uglies and two more books sold to Phoebe Yeh at Harper Children’s and Harriet Wilson at Harper UK in a pre-empt via Lauren Pearson and Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.
SARAH RAUGHLEY sold Feather Bound, ‘‘a dark retelling of Cinderella’’ about a ‘‘black market for human swans’’ to Amanda Rutter at Strange Chemistry via Natalie Lakosil of Bradford Literary Agency.
ALYXANDRA HARVEY’s Stormcatcher, second in the Witching Season series, sold to Emily Easton at Walker Children’s via Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency.
LINDSAY SMITH sold Skandal, sequel to YA thriller Sekret about a Cold War psychic spy, to Katherine Jacobs of Roaring Brook Press via Mandy Hubbard of D4EO Literary Agency.
MORIAH McSTAY’s Progression of Fates and a second book sold to Jill Davis at Katherine Tegen books in a pre-empt via Steven Chudney of the Chudney Agency.
CASSANDRA ROSE CLARKE sold The Wizard’s Promise and The Nobleman’s Revenge, a new duology set in the world of The Assassin’s Curse, to Amanda Rutter at Strange Chemistry via Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
TRACY BARRETT’s The Stepsister’s Tale, a retelling Cinderella from the point-of-view of the stepsister, sold to Annie Stone at Harlequin Teen via Lara Perkins and Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
JILLIAN CANTOR sold I Am Sky to Mary Kate Castellani of Walker Children’s at auction via Jessica Regal of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. Bloomsbury UK will co-publish.
MARK FALKIN sold near-future dystopia Contract City to Bruce Bortz at Bancroft Press.
MICHELLE PICKETT sold The Infected, sequel to Pods, to Kate Kaynak at Spencer Hill Press via Rebecca Mancini at RightsMix.
A.C. ARTHUR sold three more in the paranormal romance Shadow Shifter series to Monique Patterson at St. Martin’s via Christine Witthohn.
ARIA KANE sold zombie novel Once Upon a Darkness to Julie Wingfield of Entranced Blush.
CONNIE MICHAEL sold YA fantasy Entrusted to Eden Plantz at Entranced Blush.
ERRICK NUNNALLY sold werewolf novel Blood for the Sun to Vikki Ciaffone of Spence City via Rebecca Mancini of Rights Mix.
S.M. JOHNSTON’s ‘‘New Adult’’ SF novel Sleeper went to Eden Plantz at Entranced Blush.
LISA KESSLER sold Moonlight, Hunter’s Moon, and Blood Moon, paranormal romances about ‘‘rich cowboy werewolves and unscrupulous assassin jaguar shifters,’’ to Danielle Poiesz at Entangled Edge via Laurie McLean of Foreword Literary.
ARWEN ELYS DAYTON’s first YA trilogy Seeker sold to Krista Marino at Delacorte Press via Jodi Reamer of Writers House, and Annie Eaton bought it for Random House UK in a pre-empt via Angharad Kowal and Reamer of Writers House. Film rights were optioned by Columbia Pictures via Kassie Evashevski of UTA and Reamer of Writers House.
JESSIE BURTON sold debut historical with fantasy elements The Miniaturist to Lee Bourdeaux at Ecco for six figures at auction and to Francesca Main at Picador in the UK at auction, via Juliet Mushens of the Agency Group. Harper Canada will publish in Canada.
NATALIE LLOYD’s first novel, A Snicker of Magic, and a second book sold to Mallory Kass at Scholastic at auction via Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary & Media.
KATE CLARK sold first novel Enslaved and two more titles to Nicola Martinez at Watershed via Terry Burns of Hartline Literary Agency.
First novelist W.C. BAUERS sold Unbreakable and a second book in the Promise Payne SF series to Marco Palmieri at Tor via Cherry Weiner.
Ian McDonald (2009)
LIANA LIU’s first novel, near-future The Memory Key, and a second book went to Kristen Pettit at Harper Children’s in a pre-empt via Sarah Burnes and Logan Garrison of the Gernert Company.
New writer GINA CONKLE sold historical Beauty and the Beast retelling The Beast’s Bargain and two more books to Leah Hultenschmidt at Sourcebooks via Sarah Younger of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
ADAM GALLARDO’s debut, YA Zomburbia, and a second book sold to Michaela Hamilton at Kensington Children’s via Anne Collette of Rees Literary Agency.
New writer HOWARD ODENTZ’s zombie novel Dead a Lot went to Debra Dixon at Bell Bridge Books via Lois Winston of Ashley Grayson Literary Agency.
LINDSAY CUNNINGHAM sold digital novella The Murder Complex to Virginia Duncan at Greenwillow via Louise Fury of L. Perkins Agency.
KIJ JOHNSON will edit Nebula Awards Showcase 2014 for Lou Anders at Pyr via Eleanor Wood of Spectrum.
JOHN JOSEPH ADAMS sold original anthology Dead Man’s Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West to Titan Books via Joe Monti of Barry Goldblatt Literary.
BOOKS RESOLD
RAY BRADBURY’s estate has agreed to release 16 of his blacklist titles as e-books for the first time via HarperCollins: Bradbury Speaks; Death Is a Lonely Business; A Graveyard for Lunatics; Now and Forever; One More for the Road; Green Shadows, White Whale; Dandelion Wine; Something Wicked This Way Comes; We’ll Always Have Paris; The Illustrated Man; Quicker Than the Eye; Driving Blind; The October Country; The Cat’s Pajamas; Let’s All Kill Constance; and A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories.
JEFF VANDERMEER resold Annihilation to Nicholas Pearson at Fourth Estate in the UK and to Iris Tupholme at Harper Canada via Devon Mazzone at US publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Film rights were optioned by Paramount Pictures and Scott Rudin Productions via Joseph Veltre of the Gersh Agency on behalf of Harding.
CHRIS BECKETT resold Dark Eden and sequel Gela’s Ring to Julian Pavia at Broadway via Michael Carlisle of Inkwell Management on behalf of UK publisher Atlantic Books.
BOOKS DELIVERED
IAN McDONALD handed in Empress of the Sun, the third Everness novel, to Lou Anders at Pyr.
GRANIA DAVIS turned in her memoir/collection Tree of Life, Books of Death: The Treasures of Grania Davis to Richard Lupoff at Surinam Turtle Press.
PUBLISHING
MARK SUCHOMEL abruptly left his position as president of distributor Independent Publishers Group in March, after nearly 30 years with the company. No replacement has yet been named.
MEDIA
ARTHUR C. CLARKE’s Childhood’s End and LARRY NIVEN’s Ringworld are being adapted as TV mini-series by Syfy.
SUSAN
NA CLARKE’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is being adapted as a seven-part drama series by the BBC. BBC America is co-producer with Cuba Pictures, Toby Haynes is directing, and Peter Harness is writing the adaptation.
Grania Davis (2011)
Film rights to ALEX HUGHES’s Clean were optioned by 20th Century Fox via Howard Sanders of UTA on behalf of Alexandra Machinist of Janklow & Nesbit.
TV rights to the MEG CABOT’s Mediator series were optioned by FreemantleMedia with Tim Williams and Julia Pistor producing via Bill Contardi on behalf of Laura Langlie.
Film rights to RICHARD PARKER’s Scare Me were optioned by Relativity Media via the Gotham Group on behalf of Angry Robot.
Film rights to CRISTIN TERRILL’s time-travel novel All Our Yesterdays were optioned by Gold Circle Entertainment, with Global Produce to produce, via Pouya Shahbazian of New Leaf Literary on behalf of Diana Fox at Fox Literary.
Film rights to Japanese author CHOHEI KAMBAYASHI’s Yukikaze SF series were optioned by Warner Bros, with Erwin Stoff and Tom Lassally to produce, and Tom Cruise slated to star.
PATRICK WEEKES sold gaming tie-in Dragon Age: The Masked Empire to Stacy Hague-Hill at Tor via David Hale Smith of Inkwell Management.
Film rights to Swedish authors SARA B. ELFGREN & MATS STRANDBERG’s YA paranormal Engelsfors Trilogy – The Circle, Fire, and The Key – were optioned by RMV film for a Swedish-language film via Lena Stjernström of Grand Agency.
Return to In This Issue listing.
CONVENTIONS AND WORKSHOPS
Norwescon 36 • 2013 Writers and Illustrators of the Future • 2013 Williamson Lectureship • 2013 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts • 2013 Rainforest Writers Village Retreats
Norwescon 36 was held March 28-31, 2013 in SeaTac WA at the Double Tree by Hilton Seattle Airport. Guests of honor were Catherine Asaro (writer), Lee Moyer (artist), Edward Tenner (science), and Gardner Dozois (special guest). Terry Brooks was Grand Master, and Baen Books was the spotlight publisher.
Norwescon 37 will be held April 17-20, 2014 with guests of honor Michael Moorcock (writer), Robert Gould (artist), and Seanan McGuire (special guest). For more:
We have included a selection of photos from the convention below.
Guests of honor: Gardner Dozois, Tony Daniel, Lee Moyer, Edward Tenner, Terry Brooks; Author GoH: Catherine Asaro, Duane Wilkins
Gardner Dozois, Leslie Howle; Cat Rambo, Caren Gussoff; Patrick Swenson, Brenda Cooper
Jack Skillingstead & Nancy Kress; Katherine Howell, William Sadorus; Kevin Black & Sunny Jim Morgan
2013 WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS OF THE FUTURE
New writer Tina Gower and illustrator Aldo Katayanagi were named the Golden Award winners for the 2013 L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest. Each received the traditional, large red-and-gold Lucite trophy and a check for $5,000. Twenty-four writers and illustrators attended the ceremony and took part in the preceding workshop.
Grand Prize Writer Winner Tina Gower, Grand Prize Illustrator Winner Aldo Katayanagi; American Idol’s Kimberly Locke performs during Opening Ceremonies; Ender’s Game actors Aramis Knight ‘‘Bean’’ and Khylin Rhambo ‘‘Dink’’ experience the Mars Rover firsthand
The 29th Writers and Illustrators of the Future Award Ceremony took place at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 2013, in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The event was attended by 1,200 guests, consisting of writers, illustrators, contest judges, media personalities, and Author Services and Galaxy Press staffers (who represent and publish L. Ron Hubbard’s writing). The ceremony was also streamed live online at
Writer and illustrator winners received over $30,000 in cumulative winnings and royalties and were invited to participate in a free, week-long workshop held at the headquarters of Author Services on Hollywood Boulevard. The winners were also given a tour of Author Services, a visit to Bang Printing Valencia to observe the anthology being produced, breakfast with former winners, seminars on promotion and marketing, and more. The writers’ workshop was run by contest judges Tim Powers and Nina Kiriki Hoffman, and included special talks by Kevin J. Anderson and Robert J. Sawyer, and the illustrators’ workshop was led by judges Cliff Nielsen, Ron Lindahn, and Val Lakey Lindahn. Writer judges were Anderson and Sawyer, Dr. Doug Beason, Dr. Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, Eric Flint, Brian Herbert, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Dr. Yoji Kondo, Todd McCaffrey, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Silverberg, Dean Wesley Smith, Sean Williams, and Dave Wolverton. Artist judges included Robert Castillo, Vincent di Fate, Diane & Leo Dillon, Dave Dorman, Bob Eggleton, Laura Brodian Freas, Stephen Hickman, the Lindahns, Stephan Martiniere, Judith Miller, Cliff Nielsen, Sergey Poyarkov, Shaun Tan, and Stephen Youll. Winners were flown in from all around the US and other countries, and received publication in the annual anthology, advice and exercises, media coaching, and interviews, all organized by Author Services to help launch the winners’ careers.
Illustrator and writers were paired to produce art based on the writer’s story (l-r): Back row: Andrea Stewart, Lucas Durham, Joshua Meehan, Stephen Sottong, Tina Gower, Luis Menacho, Aldo Katayanagi, Kodiak Julian, Christopher Reynaga, Brian Trent, John Eno, Chrome Oxide, Eric Cline, Daniel Reneau; Front: James Eads, Shannon Peavey, Sida Chen, Marilyn Guttridge, Alex Wilson, Jackie Albano, Marina Lostetter, Tiffany England, Karen Slater, Alisa Alering
After a red carpet welcome for the winners, judges, guests, and audience, a musical performance starring American Idol’s Kimberly Locke opened the black-tie ceremony. Author Services Executive Director for Fiction Affairs, Gunhild Jacobs, once again served as Master of Ceremonies, and began the ceremony by listing the writer and illustrator judges, noting new judges Nnedi Okorafor and Larry Elmore, and remembering the judges who passed in 2012: Leo Dillon and K.D. Wentworth. Jacobs described the winners’ week at Author Services, and there was a brief presentation about Hubbard’s belief in living the things he was writing about in his stories. The L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented by contest director Joni Labaqui to Dr. Gregory Benford, who was one of the original judges for the contest. Speleologist Jut Wynne followed with a speech about his work in cave research and its applications in planetary research, and keynote speaker Brett Kennedy, who was one of the JPL engineers who worked on the rover Curiosity, talked about working on the rover, and how much he looks forward to seeing new fiction leading scientists into future avenues of research.
Finally the awards presentation began, interspersed with brief dance performances interpretating a selection of the works and including some impressive pieces with aerial silks and lyra. Writer and illustrator winners from each quarter were introduced by various presenters; each winner receiving a blue, pyramid-shaped Lucite trophy.
Galaxy Press president John Goodwin announced the publication of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXIX, and then the Golden Awards were announced. Kimberly Locke and illustrator judge Ron Lindahn presented the Golden Brush Award; Brett Kennedy and writer judge Dave Wolverton presented the Goldn Pen Award, with winner envelope delivery by the Mars rover. A reception with coffee and petit fours followed. Winning writers and illustrators were on hand to autograph the anthology, copies of which were available for sale to attendees.
Writers and Illustrators of the Future Winners, Judges, and Others (l to r); back row: Nnedi Okorafor, Joshua Meehan, Brian Trent, Stephen Sottong, Daniel Reneau, Lucas Durham, Eric Cline, Aldo Katayanagi (Golden Brush Award Winner), John Eno, Luis Menacho, Andrea Stewart, Chrome Oxide, Alex Wilson, Alisa Alering, Christopher Reynaga; middle row: Marina Lostetter, Jackie Albano, Cliff Nielsen, Shannon Peavey, James Eads, Tiffany England, Stephen Hickman, Sergey Poyarkov, Kevin J. Anderson, Markus Wuethrich (Exec Dir Author Services), Joni Labaqui (Contest Administrator), Gunhild Jacobs (Executive Director for Fiction Affairs Author Services), John Goodwin (Presid
ent Galaxy Press), Val Lakey Lindahn, Ron Lindahn, Dave Dorman, Larry Elmore, Olivia Xu, Karen Slater, Sida Chen, Tina Gower (Golden Pen Award Winner), Kodiak Julian, Marilyn Guttridge; front row: Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Douglas Beason, Larry Niven, Robert J. Sawyer, Rebecca Moesta, Todd McCaffrey, Yoji Kondo, Tim Powers, Dave Wolverton, Laura Freas Beraha, Mike Resnick, Eric Flint, Gregory Benford, Jerry Pournelle, Gary Meyer
There are no entry fees to the contests, which choose three writers and three illustrators every quarter; entries may be submitted online. Writers who have not professionally published a novel or short novel, or with no more than three professionally published stories or one novelette in any medium are eligible, as are illustrators with no more than three story illustrations or one color piece in a nationally distributed medium. For information about the contest, contact L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contest, PO Box 1630, Los Angeles CA 90078 or
–Liza Groen Trombi
2013 WILLIAMSON LECTURESHIP
The 37th Williamson Lectureship, with a theme of ‘‘Return to Mars,’’ was held April 11-13, 2013, in Portales NM, near Eastern NM University. Joe Haldeman was the special guest, with Connie Willis as toastmistress.
Standing (l to r): M.T. Reiten, Joan Saberhagen, Melinda Snodgrass, Eleanor Wood, Steven Gould, Ian Tregillis; seated: Connie Willis, Joe & Gay Haldeman, Edward Bryant
SF attendees included authors Ed Bryant, Steven Gould, Darynda Jones, Stefan Kiesbye, M.T. Reiten, Joan Saberhagen, Melinda Snodgrass, and Ian Tregillis; editor Eleanor Wood; illustrator Brad Hamann; and spouses Gay Haldeman and Courtney Willis. Jack Williamson’s sister-in-law Nancy Williamson; Jack’s niece Betty Williamson, her husband Milz Bickley, and daughter Katie, attended, too. Also present were Bubonicon organizers Craig Chrissinger, Jessica Coyle, Danielle Pollock, and Patricia Rogers; booksellers Nina & Ron Else from Denver; and librarians Gene Bundy and Debbie Lang.
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