Tag Archives: liesa abrams

November 2021 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction

Russian poet, artist, and feminist activist Oksana Vasyakina’s WOUND, following a young queer woman on a journey across Russia to Siberia, where she has promised to take her mother’s ashes, woven through with memories of a traumatic and impoverished childhood, experiences of the sublime, her sexual and artistic awakening, and the pains and joys of life as a lesbian in Russia, to Katharina Bielenberg at MacLehose Press, in a nice deal, at auction, by Rachel Clements at Abner Stein on behalf of Marleen Seegers at 2 Seas Agency, for Catapult.

Victoria Lee’s A SHOT IN THE DARK, a contemporary queer romance featuring Elisheva Cohen, a now-sober young artist who returns to New York to study photography after nearly a decade in Los Angeles and has an unforgettable one-night stand with a gorgeous trans man who turns out to be her teacher, the legendary Wyatt Cole, to Shauna Summers at Dell, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty at Root Literary.

Sophie Burnham’s SARGASSA, a queer speculative novel set in contemporary North America in a world where the Roman Empire never fell, following the high-and low-born children of a murdered politician as they are swept up in a revolution and race to find a powerful artifact, to Joshua Demarest at CatStone, by Maria Napolitano at Bookcase Literary Agency (world English).

ACLU-NJ honoree and LGBTQ activist Robyn Gigl’s next two books in her Erin McCabe legal thriller series, featuring a transgender attorney, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2023 and 2024, by Carrie Pestritto at Laura Dail Literary Agency (world).

Author of NYTBR Editors’ Choice THE RECENT EAST Thomas Grattan’s IN TONGUES, a coming-of-age novel set in New York City and Europe in fall 2001, following a gay 24-year-old Midwesterner as he gets swept up in the charm and desires of a powerful older couple, examining issues of social class and queer desire, the pursuit of religious and physical ecstasy, and the complicated relationships between fathers and sons, both biological and chosen, again to Jackson Howard at MCD/FSG, for publication in fall 2023, by Jody Kahn at Brandt & Hochman (world).

Argentinian author Marina Yuszczuk’s THIRST, a queer Gothic vampire novel set in Buenos Aires, following two women in different time periods who confront desire, fear, violence, loneliness, and mortality, pitched as having echoes of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN and for readers of Samanta Schweblin, Carmen Maria Machado, and Samantha Hunt, to Pilar Garcia-Brown in her first acquisition for Dutton, by Elianna Kan at Regal Hoffmann & Associates (world English).

Hell’s Library series author A.J. Hackwith’s HOLLOW ROAD HOME and its sequel, pitched as a queer, millennial AMERICAN GODS, about a fae working at a truck stop in Kansas to hide from her past, until she’s blackmailed by a self-taught magician to guide him and his sister—a girl born with a changing map on her skin—across the strange backroads and forgotten spaces of the gothic American Midwest in search of a powerful treasure, to Miranda Hill at Ace, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2023, by Caitlin McDonald at Donald Maass Literary Agency (world).

Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Fellow and UMass Amherst MFA/PhD Shastri Akella’s THE SEA ELEPHANTS, a queer bildungsroman set in 1990s India, following a young gay man who, after the sudden death of his sisters, flees his father’s threats to send him to a conversion center by joining a street theater troupe; pitched as reminiscent of THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS in the way it blends the personal and the political to tell an epic story of forbidden love, to Caroline Bleeke at Flatiron Books, in a pre-empt, by Chris Clemans at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).

Author of A TIP FOR THE HANGMAN Allison Epstein’s LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD, a historical novel in which the arrival of a mysterious woman at the 19th-century Russian court divides the second son of the tsar and his lover, a captain in the imperial army, when one of them believes her to be a creature out of myth, setting all three on a collision course with revolution, again to Carolyn Williams at Doubleday, in a very nice deal, by Bridget Smith at JABberwocky Literary Agency (NA).

Young Adult Fiction

Author of SWEET & BITTER MAGIC Adrienne Tooley’s THE THIRD DAUGHTER and THE SECOND SON, pitched in the tradition of Three Dark Crowns and Girl, Serpent, Thorn, a dual PoV series featuring a crown under siege, an enchanted well of sadness, a ruthless antiheroine, and a slow-burning romance, to Jessica Anderson at Christy Ottaviano Books, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2023, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (world).

Jenna Miller’s OUT OF CHARACTER, a queer, fat-positive contemporary romance that follows a girl who escapes the stressors of the real world by roleplaying online in secret—but after falling for her roleplay bestie, she must decide if she can be honest about her double life, to Alyssa Miele at Quill Tree, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2023, by Michaela Whatnall at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (world).

Author of THE MYTHIC KODA ROSE Jennifer Nissley’s THE RULES OF US, pitched as the intersection between Becky Albertalli and Nina LaCour in a queer YA love story about longtime couple and best friends, who have dated throughout high school only to come out to each other on prom night, challenging their meticulously planned future as they try to disentangle their lives and identities, explore their sexualities, and learn not only a new way to be together, but how to be alone, to Liesa Abrams at Labyrinth Road, for publication in summer 2023, by Danielle Burby at Mad Woman Literary Agency (NA).

University of Cambridge student Sarah Underwood’s LIES WE SING TO THE SEA, pitched as a sapphic, feminist reclamation of the story of the hanged maids in THE ODYSSEY in a YA CIRCE, in which a failed oracle and a vengeful immortal must break the curse on their kingdom by killing its prince, to Stephanie Stein at Harper Teen, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2023, by Catherine Cho at Paper Literary (NA).

Dan Clay’s BECOMING A QUEEN, about a teenage boy who turns to drag performance to overcome his grief when tragedy strikes, to Mekisha Telfer at Roaring Brook Press, in a very nice deal, for publication in spring 2023, by Brent Taylor at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world).

LGBTQ+ romance and fantasy author Lauri Starling’s POISON FOREST, pitched as HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS meets Holly Black, featuring a mage who joins two teens with powerful abilities to track down the magic-stealing sorcerer who kidnapped her royal ex-girlfriend, braving a cursed forest and a betrayal that leaves them at the sorcerer’s nonexistent mercy, to MaryBeth Dalto-McCarthy at Sword and Silk, for publication in October 2022.

Screenwriter and NYT-bestselling coauthor of FIVE FEET APART and ALL THIS TIME Mikki Daughtry’s untitled lesbian love story, unfolding over two sets of lives, 100 years apart, to Stephanie Pitts at Putnam Children’s, in a pre-empt, for publication in fall 2023, by Liz Parker at Verve Talent & Literary (NA).

Non-Fiction

Men’s Health sex and relationship columnist Zachary Zane’s BOYSLUT: A MEMOIR-MANIFESTO, a series of essays told through a bisexual lens, exploring the author’s coming-of-age in a world riddled with harmful messages about sex and sexuality, moving toward a place of embrace and celebration unencumbered by shame, to Zachary Knoll at Abrams Image, at auction, by Katherine Latshaw at Folio Literary Management (world).

Prince Shakur’s WHEN THEY TELL YOU TO BE GOOD, a memoir that mines the author’s many eras of radicalization and self-realization through examinations of place, childhood, queer identity, and a history of uprisings, to Hanif Abdurraqib at Tin House Books, for publication in October 2022 (NA).

Author of A NIGHT AT THE SWEET GUM HEAD Martin Padgett’s PRIVATE MATTERS, an exploration of the 1986 Supreme Court case Bowers v. Hardwick, which Laurence Tribe lost in the Court’s ruling that allowed Georgia to prosecute private homosexual acts (and which was not overturned until 2003), showing how the case ignited the gay rights movement of the 1980s while upending the life of Michael Hardwick, to Amy Cherry at Norton, in an exclusive submission, for publication in summer 2023, by Beth Marshea at Ladderbird Literary Agency (world English).

June 2021 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction

World Fantasy Award winner Emily Tesh‘s SOME DESPERATE GLORY, her debut novel, pitched as Vorkosigan meets GIDEON THE NINTH set in a world reminiscent of Mass Effect, in which a young soldier trains to avenge the murder of Earth at the hands of an all-powerful, reality-shaping alien weapon, before discovering she might have to take everything into her own hands, to Ruoxi Chen at Tor.com, in a good deal, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in for hardcover in fall 2022, by Kurestin Armada at Root Literary (NA).

Campiello Prize winner Viola Di Grado‘s BLUE HUNGER, an erotic novel tinged with Gothic horror and urban pop—a story of obsessive love between a young Italian woman who is mourning her twin brother and a young Chinese woman who shows her Shanghai’s illicit and abandoned side, to be translated from the Italian by recent NEA translation fellowship recipient Jamie Richards, to Callie Garnett at Bloomsbury, for publication in 2023, by Sandra Pareja at Massie & McQuilkin (NA).

Author of The Hotel Tito Ivana Bodrozic’s SONS, DAUGHTERS, the story of great complexity that depicts a wrenching love between a transgender man and a woman, a demanding love between a mother and a daughter; with all characters deeply marked and wounded by the patriarchy in each owns way; also a story of breaking through and liberation of the mind, family, society through one’s body, and about the power of narration, to Dan Simon at Seven Stories, for publication in fall 2023, by Diana Matulic at Corto Literary Agency (world English).

Claudia Cravens’s RED, a genre-bending queer feminist Western pitched as True Grit meets Sarah Waters, following a young woman’s transformation from forlorn orphan to successful prostitute to revenge-seeking gunfighter, exploring desire, loyalty, power, and chosen family, to Katy Nishimoto at Dial Press, in a major deal, at auction, by Alexa Stark at Trident Media Group (NA).

Winner of the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award and finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Trans Fiction Imogen Binnie’s NEVADA, previously published in 2013, following a terminally self-aware trans woman living in New York City who, when her life falls apart, embarks on an eventful cross-country road trip, to Jackson Howard at MCD/FSG, for publication in fall 2022, by Julia Masnik at Watkins Loomis (world).

Longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize Ashton Noone‘s SUBURBAN ANIMALS, an #OwnVoices queer suspense thriller, where a woman on the run from a violent ex finds herself thrust back into a troubling mystery that haunts the town of her youth, to Luisa Cruz Smith at Scarlet, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in spring 2022, by Penelope Burns at Gelfman Schneider/ICM (world).

Coeditor of literary journal The Hunger and author of two poetry books Erin Slaughter’s A MANUAL FOR HOW TO LOVE US, a debut story collection pitched as reminiscent of Alissa Nutting and Samantha Hunt, about the animalistic nature of women’s grief, which queers the domestic and honors the feral and fantastic ways women embrace their wild to claim control, to Emma Kupor at Harper Perennial, for publication in 2022, by Cassie Mannes Murray at Howland Literary (world).

Children’s Fiction

Terry Benton‘s ALEX WISE VS. THE END OF THE WORLD, in which a 12-year-old is reeling from his best friend abandoning him, after he told his friend that he’s gay, and must save his sister and the world when his sister is possessed by the spirit of one of the four horsemen—evil former gods from a parallel world determined to bring forth the apocalypse—all while learning to love himself and accept that he is enough just as he is, to Liesa Abrams at Labyrinth Road, in a significant deal, at auction, in a three-book deal, for publication in fall 2023, by Patrice Caldwell at New Leaf Literary & Media (world English).

Author of QUEER, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE and RAINBOW REVOLUTIONARIES Sarah Prager’s picture book KIND LIKE MARSHA: LEARNING FROM LGBTQ+ LEADERS, introducing young children to important and inspiring historical figures in the queer community, along with empowering them with strong attributes, such as kindness, resilience, thoughtfulness, and more, illustrated by Cheryl “Ras” Thuesday, to Julie Matysik at Running Press Kids, for publication in May 2022, by Carrie Howland at Howland Literary (world).

Veronica Park Anderson’s BLOOD CITY ROLLERS, pitched as a tween Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Roller Girl, a humorous and queer graphic novel following a talented ice skater recruited into an underground roller derby league as the “human jammer” on an otherwise all-vampire team who are hiding out in an abandoned mall, illustrated by Tatiana Hill, to Liesa Abrams at Labyrinth Road, for publication in summer 2023, by Mandy Hubbard at Emerald City Literary Agency for the author, and by Moe Ferrara at BookEnds for the illustrator (world English).

Young Adult Fiction

Alyson Derrick and NYT-bestselling coauthor of FIVE FEET APART Rachael Lippincott‘s SHE GETS THE GIRL, a LGBTQ+ romance in which two college freshmen who are total opposites set out to help each other get the girls of their dreams to fall for them, but as they do they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling for each other, to Alexa Pastor at Simon & Schuster Children’s, for publication in spring 2022, by Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management (world).

Author of HOT DOG GIRL Jennifer Dugan’s MELT WITH YOU, a queer rom-com about two girls on a summer road trip in an ice cream truck, to Stephanie Pitts at Putnam Children’s, for publication in summer 2022, by Brooks Sherman, formerly at Janklow & Nesbit. Dugan is now represented by Sara Crowe at Pippin Properties (world English).

Author of A WICKED MAGIC Sasha Laurens’s YOUNGBLOOD, when a teen vampire transfers into an elite vampire boarding school, she is drawn into a dark conspiracy at the heart of Vampirdom, and she suddenly finds herself falling for her roommate, Kat’s childhood friend and the school’s only out student, to Ruta Rimas at Razorbill, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in summer 2022, by Stephanie Kim at New Leaf Literary & Media (world English).

Actress Asha Bromfield‘s SONGS OF IRIE, set in ’70s Jamaica in the midst of devastating political turmoil, following two girls who must navigate their opposing upbringings as they fall in love and choose between the futures decided for them and the futures they desire, to Sara Goodman at Wednesday Books, for publication in spring 2023, by Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management (NA).

Non-Fiction

Manuel Betancourt’s THE MALE GAZED, a narrative that uses film and television to examine queer men’s complex and often conflicted relationship with masculinity, mingling personal anecdotes with cultural history and gender theory to offer an exploration of desire, intimacy, and homoeroticism, to Alicia Kroell at Catapult, by Michael Bourret at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (NA).

Former radio host and Daily Show correspondent Frank DeCaro’s DISCO AT 50, a celebration of the musical phenomenon that brought LGBTQ and BIPOC cultures into the pop mainstream in its 1970s heyday and its continued influence on current music, to Ellen Nidy at Rizzoli USA, by Rica Allannic at David Black Literary Agency (world).

BBC journalist William Lee Adams’s WILD DANCES, a memoir of a queer, Vietnamese American boy from Georgia who survives an unconventional childhood to become the world’s most recognized Eurovision blogger, diving into notions of belonging, identity, how our origins and passions shape us, and the powerful joy, and surprising importance, of the song contest itself, to Alessandra Bastagli at Astra House, in a pre-empt, for publication in spring 2023, by Will Lippincott and Max Edwards at Aevitas Creative Management UK (world).

Queer Kid Stuff host, activist, and TED speaker Lindz Amer’s THE RADICAL NOTION OF QUEER JOY: THE IMPORTANCE OF TALKING TO KIDS ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY, a guidebook for progressive adults who want to create queer-positive spaces for today’s kids but don’t know how, to Sylvan Creekmore at St. Martin’s, for publication in fall 2022, by Claire Draper at The Bent Agency (world).

Global trans rights advocate, model, TV host, and producer Geena Rocero‘s OPEN THE LIGHT, about a young femme born in Manila who grew up to become the highest-earning and most successful trans pageant queen in the Philippines and ultimately one of the most visible and prolific trans women of color in the world, and the persistence, grit, and love that paved her road to self-acceptance, to Katy Nishimoto at Dial, at auction, by Jon Michael Darga at Aevitas Creative Management (world).

Author/illustrator of the 2020 YALSA finalist THE GREAT NIJINSKY Lynn Curlee‘s THE OTHER PANDEMIC: AN AIDS MEMOIR, an illustrated account of coming of age during the gay liberation movement in New York City and living through the AIDS pandemic, losing multiple friends and his life partner, to Yolanda Scott at Charlesbridge Teen, for publication in spring 2023, by Liz Nealon at Great Dog Literary (world).

Journalist Andrew Sampson‘s TOMMY SEXTON: COMIC GENIUS, QUEER REVOLUTIONARY, a biography of Newfoundland icon Tommy Sexton, a groundbreaking gay comedian and founding member of CODCO, to Bruce Walsh at House of Anansi, with Michelle MacAleese editing, for publication in fall 2023 (world).

 

June 2020 Book Deal Announcements

Adult

Emma Copley Eisenberg‘s debut BERNIE AND LEAH, told from the perspectives of two queer artists who leave Philadelphia for a life-changing ten day road trip, exploring artistic purpose, intimacy, and identity in a time of profound societal change, and FAT SWIM, a collection of stories new and previously published, to Alexis Washam at Hogarth, in a two-book deal, by Jin Auh at The Wylie Agency (NA).

Laura Blackett and Brooklyn College MFA graduate Eve Gleichman’s THE VERY NICE BOX, following a hardworking, heartbroken product engineer who works for a fashionable furniture company where corporate change lands her under the purview of a young, charismatic boss who seems determined to get close to her at all costs, pitched as for fans of ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE and SEVERANCE, to Pilar Garcia-Brown at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, at auction, for publication in spring 2021, by Faye Bender at The Book Group (NA).

Neil Cochrane’s I WILL GO TO THE BANK BY THE WOOD, centering queer and trans characters; pitched as a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, to Laura Stanfill at Forest Avenue Press, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2022 (world).

*Ruoxi Chen has acquired Nghi Vo’s THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL, a magical reimagining of THE GREAT GATSBY told through the eyes of a queer, Asian-American Jordan Baker as the American immigrant narrative that GATSBY always should have been. The two-book deal, for North American rights, was brokered by Diana Fox at Fox Literary.

Winner of Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction Joe Okonkwo’s KISS THE SCARS ON THE BACK OF MY NECK, a debut short story collection populated by complicated characters, male and female, who find themselves at the intersection of Black and gay identities, illustrating the challenges they face, and the price they pay, to live authentic lives, to Michael Nava at Amble, in an exclusive submission, for publication in spring 2021, by Malaga Baldi at Malaga Baldi (world English).

Next Generation Indie Book Award-winning journalist and editor Artem Mozgovoy’s SPRING IN SIBERIA, pitched as similar to AMERICANAH, WHAT BELONGS TO YOU, and ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS, in which a gay Russian journalist struggles to escape Putin’s post-communist order to persecute gay people—only to end up facing the great American wall, to Kate Gale at Red Hen Press, by Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group (world).

Northwestern MFA graduate Allison Epstein‘s A TIP FOR THE HANGMAN, about the life and death of Christopher Marlowe, in which the young poet is approached by the Queen’s spymaster with an offer that will catapult him to both glory and doom, pitched as Shakespeare in Love meets Sarah Waters, to Carolyn Williams at Doubleday, in a very nice deal, for publication in spring 2021, by Bridget Smith at JABberwocky Literary Agency (NA).

Children’s/Middle Grade

Nina Varela’s JUNIPER HARVEY AND THE VANISHING KINGDOM, a contemporary fantasy about a 12-year-girl whose magical artistic abilities set off a chase through parallel worlds, all while juggling new friendships and her first queer crush, to Alexandra Hightower at Little, Brown Children’s, in a good deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2022, by Patrice Caldwell at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency (NA).

Graphic Novel

Katie Fricas’s CHECKED OUT, in which a queer cartoonist and library worker launches forth into a search for love on Craigslist, artistic validation in New York City, and the perfect book, to Tracy Hurren at Drawn & Quarterly, by Mackenzie Brady Watson at Stuart Krichevsky Agency (world English).

Young Adult

Claire Winn’s CITY OF SHATTERED LIGHT, a high-stakes adventure pitched as a queer, female-led Guardians of the Galaxy meets Escape from New York, in which an heiress flees her controlling father to prevent her sister’s mind from being wiped, but must ally with a gunslinging smuggler to outwit a monstrous AI and save the heiress’s sister and their city, to Mari Kesselring and Kelsy Thompson at Flux, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Cortney Radocaj at Belcastro Agency (world).

Debut novelist Jennifer Nissley‘s THE MYTHIC KODA ROSE, pitched for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson, featuring a queer teen exploring the enigmatic legacy left behind by her rock star father and suddenly navigating an emotionally charged bond with his mercurial ex-girlfriend, to Liesa Abrams at Simon & Schuster Children’s, for publication in summer 2021, by Danielle Burby at Nelson Literary Agency (NA).

Author of HOT DOG GIRL and VERONA COMICS Jennifer Dugan‘s SOME GIRLS DO, about an openly gay track star who falls for a closeted, bisexual local beauty queen with a penchant for fixing up old cars, to Stephanie Pitts at Putnam Children’s, in an exclusive submission, for publication in summer 2021, by Brooks Sherman at Janklow & Nesbit (world English).

Brian Zepka’s THE TEMPERATURE OF ME AND YOU, a humorous love story with a sci-fi bent, about a 16-year-old hopeless romantic and the undeniably cute boy who walks into the Dairy Queen where the hero works and changes everything, showing how first love is truly out of this world, to Brittany Rubiano at Disney, with Augusta Harris editing, for publication in 2021, by Liz Parker at Verve Talent & Literary (world).

Phil Stamper’s THE VALEDICTORIANS, the first entry in a rom-com duology following four queer teens during an unforgettable summer; as senior year approaches—with the real world looming just beyond—these lifelong friends try to stay close when their futures seem to be forcing them apart, to Mary Kate Castellani at Bloomsbury Children’s, in a two-book deal, for publication in winter 2022, by Brent Taylor at TriadaUS Literary Agency (world English).

*(c) Tor.com Publishing