Publishing Deal - Kathy Reichs

You might think this belongs on my crime blog but no, it seems that Kathy Reichs is to write a teenage series starring the great-nephew of her lead character from her forensic crime series. From The Bookseller:

[Cornerstone] has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to three books in the Viral series.

Described as “young adult forensic thrillers with a touch of fantasy”, the Viral books will feature Tory Brennan, the 14-year-old great-nephew of Reichs’ adult series character, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

Tory is one of five teenagers living on an isolated island who, after a veterinary experiment goes wrong, are left with heightened powers of smell, sight and hearing, increased memory, and improved strength and speed. These powers are triggered by strong emotions and cannot be called upon at will.

The first title in the series will be published by Young Arrow in August 2010.

The Amanda Project: Invisible I - read online for free

I picked up the news via twitter that one of the books I'm waiting to read, The Amanda Project: Invisible I can be read online for free at the HarperTeen website.

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle are also available online, in full.

Trailer Thursday - New Moon (sort of)

I caught up with the latest edition of Film 2009 last night and Jonathan Ross reviews New Moon. Surprisingly he hasn't seen Twilight and he found New Moon a pleasant surprise. There's a clip from the film, a brief interview with the three leads and the director, and his review at about 1 minute into the show. This link should take you straight to it on iplayer. (Ross calls Pattinson and interesting looking, charismatic young actor).

Mark Kermode's review will be out tomorrow and he enjoyed Twilight...

Publishing Deal - Michelle Harrison

Yet another publishing deal has been announced, this time there's no mention of the M or T word(s). From The Bookseller (again):

Simon & Schuster Children's Books has bought another two books by Waterstone's Children’s Book Prize winner, Michelle Harrison, in a five-figure deal.

Harrison's debut novel, The Thirteen Treasures was a mystery adventure book for children aged 11 and over. Published by S&S in January this year, it won the 2009 Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize. The sequel, The Thirteen Curses, will be published in January 2010.

One of the novels in the new deal will be another title in the same series, entitled The Thirteen Wards. Harrison said it would be a "return to Elvesden Manor for a third fairy story". The second contracted title will be a paranormal stand-alone novel. Harrison called it, "something very new and different".

Waiting on Wednesday - My Love Lies Bleeding

My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey is due out on 4 January (UK) from Bloomsbury and they say it "is a teen vampire action story for fans of Stephanie Meyer and Buffy the Vampire Slayer".


The Drakes are rather different to your usual neighbours. They are vampires and some of the members of the family date back to the twelfth century. One of the children, Solange, is the only born female vampire known and, as such, she poses a direct threat to the vampire queen.

Her best friend Lucy is human, and when Solange is kidnapped Lucy and Solange’s brother, Nicholas, set out to save her. Lucy soon discovers that she would like to be more than just friends with Nicholas. But how does one go about dating a vampire?

Meanwhile, Solange finds an unlikely ally in Kieran, a vampire slayer on the hunt for his father’s killer . . .


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Publishing Deal - L A Weatherly

Yet more paranormal young adult fiction. Today's Bookseller has another deal which mentions Twilight/Meyer though L A Weatherly's series is about the "new vampires" - angels:

Usborne is entering the young adult market for the first time with a dark romantic fantasy by author L A Weatherly. Angel Heat, the first book in a planned trilogy will be published in October 2010 with the second book publishing in spring 2011, and the third in autumn 2011.

In the Angels trilogy angels are poisonous to people and feed off human energy. The books follow Alex, an angel killer, and Willow a half angel, with whom he falls in love.

Fiction director Megan Larkin [] said: "Angel Heat has obvious appeal to Stephenie Meyer fans, but even without vampire hysteria, we just loved this book. It's a classic love story with a cool contemporary setting."

Publishing Deal - Cate Tiernan

From today's Bookseller, news of an exciting 3-book deal for Cate Tiernan:

Everlasting Life is the first title in the Immortal Beloved series and will come out in autumn 2010. The series is about Nastasya who is immortal and who leads a dark existence, until she decides to change and "turn toward the light". The next two books in the series are as yet untitled.

[Hodder & Stoughton] said the book would appeal to all the Stephanie Meyer fans. “They’ll absolutely love this and there is a point of difference - she is not a vampire, but she is immortal and a very likable girl.”

Review: Never Bite a Boy on the First Date by Tamara Summers

Never Bite a Boy on the First Date by Tamara Summers (October 2009, HarperCollins e-books, ISBN: 9780061949722)

First Line:

Prologue

If you were dying...

Review: Kira November has been sixteen for a year and a half now and she wasn't originally called Kira. Her old life ended in a hit and run accident and her new life as a vampire began when she was saved by her new family.

As Kira is very new to being a vampire, she makes mistakes and the family has had to move town a couple of times. It's not surprising then, that when one of her new school colleagues is found dead, killed by a vampire, that suspicion falls on her. She has a week to prove it wasn't her before being locked up in a padded coffin for a few hundred years.

Kira has to investigate and she thinks the killer is one of three boys that have caught her attention by their suspicious behaviour. She has to get close to them and see what she can find out.

I really enjoyed reading Never Bite a Boy on the First Date. It's light and funny and Kira is a likeable lead character (and a fan of Buffy and Veronica Mars). Her sleuthing duties involve more romance than detection and the identity of the killer was well concealed until the very end. I did think it ended a bit abruptly and would have liked another chapter. Some of the vampire traits such as not having a reflection and inability to be in sunlight are given a different twist and the applying make-up problem is very amusing. The only thing I was surprised with is that Kira can't tell another vampire without checking their pulse (or lack of). Maybe she doesn't have super hearing to go with the super strength.

I read that the author would bring Kira back if there was enough call for it and I for one would love to see her return, along with her extended, bizarre vampire family and new boyfriend.

Cover: I love the cartoon-style cover and think it fits well with the light-hearted story.

TSS: The week in summary (15)

This week I've finished Never Bite a Boy on the First Date by Tamara Summers (ebook)(review to follow) and Strange Days Indeed by Francis Wheen (non-fiction book about the paranoid 1970s). I'm currently part-way through Beautiful Dead: Arizona by Eden Maguire, Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough (ebook) and Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink and the audio book of The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason (euro crime).

Activity on the blog in the last week:

Wednesday - 'Waiting on Wednesday' post for Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.

Thursday - the book trailer for Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz; plus how you can read Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by L J Smith, online for free.

Friday - new publishing deals for Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) and Andy Mulligan.

Sunday - my newly acquired library loot.

Library Loot (22)

Only one book from the library this week, Pastworld by Ian Beck, but it's one I've mentioned a few times before and been looking forward to:

Pastworld. A city within a city. A city for excursions and outings. Pastworld is a theme park with a difference, where travellers can travel back in time for a brush with an authentic Victorian past. But what if the Jack the Ripper figure stopped play-acting and really started killing people? For Caleb, a tourist from the present day, his visit goes terribly wrong when his father is kidnapped and he finds himself accused of murder. Then Caleb meets Eva Rose, a Pastworld inhabitant who has no idea the modern world exists. Both Caleb and Eva have roles to play in the murderer's diabolical plans - roles that reveal disturbing truths about their origins.

I've got a prize in transit from Penguin so hopefully that'll come next week.

Publishing Deals - Handler/Snicket & Mulligan

A couple of publishing deals have been announced this week.

From Publishers Weekly:

Daniel Handler, who had a long and successful run with his Lemony Snicket-penned A Series of Unfortunate Events series at HarperCollins, is moving to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in a five-book deal announced late Wednesday afternoon. Under the agreement, Handler will write four Lemony Snicket titles in a new series, with the first due out in 2012. Before that series hits, LBYR will release a Handler young adult novel in 2011 that will feature full-color illustrations by Maira Kalman.

and from Publishers Lunch:

Author of RIBBLESTROP, Andy Mulligan's TRASH, a "nail-biter" about children who survive, against the odds, with a set of instincts and skills that just keep them breathing, pitched as a read for all ages, to David Fickling Books, at auction in the UK, and then in a pre-empt for the US, for simultaneous publication in fall 2010.