| Big Month |
[Apr. 29th, 2008|07:36 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
May is the biggest month so far for the JJ Literary Agency, in terms of the number of titles being published.
In hardback: THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE WAVES by Stephen Hunt (HarperCollins Voyager), his follow-up to THE COURT OF THE AIR.
In large-format paperback: KETHANI from Eric Brown (Solaris), his novel of an alien presence on Earth.
In paperback: THE GRIN OF THE DARK by Ramsey Campbell (Virgin Books/Random House), his first mainstream UK publication for several years. And NIGHT OF KNIVES by Ian Cameron Esslemont (Bantam UK), following last year's successful hardback, with a HUGE Malaz novel, RETURN OF THE CRIMSON GUARD, to follow in August.
So SF, Fantasy and Horror, covering the main remit of the agency in full. I raise a glass to all the authors and their respective publishers.
Cheers! |
|
|
| Eating in Lincoln |
[Apr. 23rd, 2008|01:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
Your Lincoln restaurant critic ate in the Indian Restaurant Saffron in Eastgate last night, and can thoroughly recommend it. Extremely good food, well presented and served by staff who obviously enjoy their work and add to the experience.
I've tried to get a good meal out every month since I moved here last July, and all the restaurants I've visited - all in the Uphill area, near the cathedral and castle - have been very good. The Grille restaurant at the White Hart Hotel, and Fourteen and Thailand No 1 in Bailgate stand out.
Yum yum... |
|
|
| Agents |
[Apr. 21st, 2008|04:21 pm] |
Here's a snippet from an interview with veteran New York literary agent Nat Sobel, which had me nodding agreement vigorously:
"I think what is evolving today for agents is that they need to be the first line editors for their authors. Judith and I really love the editing process. We have spent years editing nearly every novel we've ever agented. We did that long before we began to discover how little editing was going on in the publishing houses. But today agents need to be far more proactive in almost every other area of the publishing process. We have to be the marketing directors for many of our books. We have to involve ourselves in looking at the jacket design, the jacket copy, the catalogue copy. We have to be very proactive in how we help direct the writer to help sell his or her book. Those are things you never thought about in agenting when I first came into it. You made the deal, you negotiated the contract, and that was it—the publisher took over."
Editors involve me in all areas of the book. They can't build a little walled fiefdom in which agents are not welcome in the 21st century, though some try. The agent in 2008 must have an overview of all aspects leading up to and on through publication of his or her clients' books.
The whole interview is here, and makes fascinating reading: http://pw.org/content/agents_amp_editors_qampa_agent_nat_sobel |
|
|
| |
[Apr. 18th, 2008|09:12 am] |
Here is the cover for RETURN OF THE CRIMSON GUARD, Ian Cameron Esslemont's first major Malaz novel, which Bantam UK publish in August. It's of a size with Steven Erikson's Malaz novels (they created the world jointly) and there's one scene that will leave those fans who have read all of Steve's novels (like me) open mouthed. |
|
|
| Iain Banks in Lincoln |
[Apr. 17th, 2008|10:01 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
Just a reminder that Iain Banks will be in Lincoln on Monday May 12, taking part in the Book Festival - I'm interviewing him at 8p.m. Should be fun! Be there or be a drone.
You can get tickets via the Festival website: www.lincolnbookfestival.co.uk |
|
|
| Eastercon |
[Mar. 25th, 2008|12:07 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
Had a great time at Orbital, saw many friends and agency clients (often sharing the same space in the same body!) and I'm delighted that Ian McDonald won the BSFA Best Novel Award for BRASYL, of course. More members than any previous Eastercon, apparently. The last I heard was around 1300. Wonderful.
Haven't had the chance to chat with Neil Gaiman for too many years. One of the good guys. We probably said 'Do you remember...?' a bit too often!
Onwards to Bradford next year. Be good to see Tim Powers, who is an old chum, on his first UK trip - and it's about time Jon Courtenay Grimwood was an Eastercon guest!
I'll see you in the bar... |
|
|
| flash fiction |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|11:31 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
Novelist and JJLA client Ian Hocking has just set up this flash fiction site:
http://ianhocking.com/2008/02/flash-fiction.html
It's a weekly podcast of about one minute featuring a piece of flash fiction. |
|
|
| Clarke Award shortlist |
[Mar. 10th, 2008|11:21 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  infuriated | ] |
I have a record of taking issue with Arthur C Clarke Award shortlists, and sometimes the winner. See that word, 'winner'. You'd assume it implied the judges thought it was the best SF novel of the year, wouldn't you?. But according to the Award administrator, Tom Hunter: "In many ways the Award isn't so much about picking the 'best' book of the year (although we are still very good at that too) and is more about pushing at the edges of our genre. "
To call that 'moving the goalposts' would be like calling the Hiroshima explosion a bit of a bang.
Here is the shortlist:
The Red Men
Matthew de Abaitua - Snow Books
The H-Bomb Girl
Stephen Baxter - Faber & Faber
The Carhullan Army
Sarah Hall - Faber & Faber
The Raw Shark Texts
Steven Hall - Canongate
The Execution Channel
Ken MacLeod - Orbit
Black Man
Richard Morgan - Gollancz
And here are more of Tom's thoughts:
"Featuring visions as diverse as a dystopian Cumbria and a future Hackney, time-travel adventures in 1960's Liverpool and an alternate world British Isles in the throes of terrorist attack, through to tech-noir thrillers and a trawl through subconscious worlds where memories fall prey to metaphysical sharks, the Clarke Award has never been so close to home and relevant to the British literary scene.
"The Clarke Award has always been about pushing at the speculative edges of its genre. It's one possible map amongst many, never the whole territory, and this year's shortlist stands as both the perfect introduction to the state of modern science fiction writing as well as a first tantalising glimpse of possible futures to come."
Well, I'd disagree with just about all of that. And this is, without doubt, the most insular Clarke shortlist ever.
I'll fly my colours from the mast: as far as I'm concerned, Ian McDonald's BRASYL is the best SF novel of 2007. I'm not involved in it, in any way, I say this personally. And I don't always expect my favourite to win. However, for that and some other titles that are wonderful SF novels not to even be shortlisted is ludicrous. But they are not set in the UK, so apparently they don't have relevance 'to the British literary scene'. Oh deary, deary me.
So farewell then, Arthur C Clarke Award. |
|
|
| New deal for Stephen Hunt |
[Mar. 7th, 2008|10:47 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
John Jarrold has concluded a second, three-book World Rights deal for UK fantasy author Stephen Hunt with Sarah Hodgson of HarperCollins Voyager, for a good five-figure sum.
Hunt’s first book with Voyager, THE COURT OF THE AIR, was published in April 2007 to universal praise, and the following paperback was Waterstones’ Fantasy Book of the Month last September, as well as being stocked in supermarkets, unusually for a new fantasy author. It was also one of only ten novels (written in a wide variety of languages) selected for presentation by the world's main publishers on February 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival - the world's largest film festival, and the only Fantasy or SF novel on the list. His next novel, THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE WAVES, is coming from Voyager in May, and a two-book deal for US rights with Tor was recently announced. The book has also sold in territories across Europe and the Far East.
‘I’m delighted that we have been able to confirm another three-book deal, and both Stephen and I know how hard and enthusiastically Sarah Hodgson has worked to this end,’ said John Jarrold.
Sarah Hodgson said: ‘Stephen Hunt is a hugely talented and inventive writer and we’re thrilled to have signed him up to Voyager list for three more novels.’
All three of the new books will be set in the same world as THE COURT OF THE AIR and THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE WAVES. |
|
|
| Carling Cup |
[Feb. 24th, 2008|06:00 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | ecstatic | ] |
Come on, you Spurs!
I go back to the Danny Blanchflower days, the double team of 1961, so it's good to see Spurs lift a trophy again. |
|
|
| Spider's Bride review |
[Feb. 23rd, 2008|10:51 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
Just seen this review for Debbie Gallagher's debut novel THE SPIDER'S BRIDE, published by Prime in the US at the end of last year, and available from Amazon:
A nameless modern woman steps outside of her home and finds a severed finger on doorstep. Naturally curious, she picks it up. A small grey spider climbs on her shoulder, bites her ear, and she finds herself taken to the Hedge, a timeless, enchanted dimension inhabited by fairytale creatures and talking animals: moths, grasshoppers, and birds along with more traditional fairies. She's to be the bride of the Winter King, who is the titular spider. He needs to marry and ultimately sacrifice a mortal woman to secure his reign. Paralyzed by the spider’s poison, she is the unwitting participant of this grisly ceremony, until she is kidnapped by the Prince of Spider's ne'er do well brother, The Hunter. But not before her hand is lopped off.
At the same time, Richard Dadd in 19th Century England alternates between his life as a mad painter and as the servant of the Hedge's wicked and lovely fairy doyenne known as the Beloved. In his guise as her consort, he wields an axe of iron and does her bidding. Dadd struggles between the two worlds, not certain which one is real. His story is a tragic one, and has genuine poignancy.
The various denizens of the Hedge align themselves with different factions—one seeking to extend the Prince of Spider's unnatural reign, another wishing change—as the missing Hunter and Bride wander through the Hedge and beyond.
If the plot sounds a wee bit madcap, its telling is completely moon-mad. Ms. Gallagher's fairyland is a tricky place, with its own logic. The Hedge is a place of savage whimsy, a portmanteau world that is part Beatrix Potter on opium part Lewis Carroll at his most absurd. Speaking ladybirds and butterflies exist alongside walking corpses and murderous dolls. The Bride witnesses everything through her fevered haze and tries to make sense as she realizes that she is pawn in incomprehensible war.
Ms. Gallagher writes with a poetic exuberance. She throws the reader in the middle of her kaleidoscopic landscape and doesn't pause to explain. This dizzying approach contributes to the sheer alien quality of the Hedge. Many of her point of view characters aren’t human—her evocation of the cold motivations of fairy creatures is highly reminiscent of Sylvia Townsend Warner's brilliant short story collection Kingdoms of Elfin. The two human characters—Richard and the Bride—are mad and fevered. Ms. Gallagher changes tones and scenes with a real facility. For instance, the repartee between the Bride and the Hunter is rip-roaringly funny, and there are moments of slapstick in the book. These mesh well with scenes of unsparing horror—Ms. Gallagher doesn't skimp on the blood letting.
The Spider's Bride is an accomplished first novel. It is quite unlike anything out there—a poetic, comedic, and horrific tale with a magic all its own. Ms. Gallagher turns the idyllic British fairyland of Andrew Lang and Charles Perrault on its head. I look forward to what she’ll do next. |
|
|
| Saxon |
[Feb. 15th, 2008|05:20 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
Just to say, re. the previous post, that my comparison was with my reaction to THE STAR FRACTION, not with the book itself! If you want me ro make a comparison, maybe Iain M Banks is closer. Big, wide-screen, witty, intelligent, with totally engaging characters and enormous invention, some of which is off-the-wall. |
|
|
| new client, brilliant new SF novel |
[Feb. 14th, 2008|10:47 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
The latest client of the John Jarrold Literary Agency is journalist Saxon Bullock.
Saxon Bullock has been working as a freelance writer since 2000, and has written for a variety of magazines and websites including SFX, DVD Review, Channel4.Com and Hotdog magazine.
He has just completed his first novel – an epic science fiction tour-de-force entitled THE HYPERNOVA GAMBIT.
‘Once in a while I see a novel that grabs me from the first page,’ said John Jarrold. ‘That was the case here, as it was when I read Ken MacLeod’s debut, THE STAR FRACTION, when I worked with Random House in the mid-90s. I knew within the first six pages that I wanted to publish Ken, and I was equally certain within six pages of starting Saxon’s novel that I wanted to represent him. I got that pricking of my thumbs that every editor and agent loves, and sees all too seldom! THE HYPERNOVA GAMBIT is a novel for which the phrase “wide-screen SF” might have been invented. Its characters, colour, pace and plotlines are truly wonderful, and Saxon’s prose sparkles with invention and wit. This is really special, and stands with any of the SF authors who have risen to the top of the genre in the last ten years.’ |
|
|
| |
[Feb. 10th, 2008|01:13 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | pleased | ] |
Just received the bookproof of Jaine Fenn's wonderful SF debut, PRINCIPLES OF ANGELS, which Gollancz publish in June! |
|
|
| major US deal for Robert Redick |
[Feb. 5th, 2008|11:03 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
PRESS RELEASE - US RIGHTS IN DEBUT FANTASY TRILOGY SOLD TO DEL REY FOR SIX-FIGURE SUM
Susan Howe, Rights Director at Orion, has sold US rights in a debut fantasy trilogy by US author Robert V S Redick to Random House’s Del Rey imprint in New York for a substantial six-figure sum in US dollars after a hard-fought auction negotiated by Editor-in-Chief Betsy Mitchell.
World rights in the trilogy, which opens with THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY (published in the UK on 1 February 2008), were acquired pre-emptively by Simon Spanton at Gollancz from John Jarrold in 2007.
‘Robert and I are both delighted about this wonderful deal,’ said John Jarrold. ‘Many congratulations to Susan and Del Rey – and most of all to Robert, of course, for writing such a terrific book, which will now receive high-profile publication is his own country!’
The US deal follows translation deals for THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY in France, Germany, Poland, Russia and Spain.
ABOUT DEL REY:
Del Rey (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as a division of Ballantine Books under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, alternate history and manga. Ballantine Books is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, which is a publishing group of Random House, Inc, the U.S. publishing company of Random House, the trade book publishing division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading international media companies. |
|
|
| Robert Redick - RED WOLF CONSPIRACY review |
[Feb. 2nd, 2008|09:25 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  bouncy | ] |
Just had this review from SFREVU of my client Robert Redick's fantasy debut, published in the UK by Gollancz yesterday...
I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Red Wolf Conspiracy, ever since I first heard whisperings of it on the grapevine many months ago. Rumours of a fantasy adventure set aboard a colossal six hundred year old ship had me (unsurprisingly) rubbing my hands together in anticipation of this new work from American author Robert V.S. Redick, the first part of a trilogy called The Chathrand Voyage.
Redick impresses significantly in many areas of The Red Wolf Conspiracy but none more so than that of his imagined setting. The world he has conceived for his story stretches far beyond the on-stage action, and there is a genuine feeling here that you're in a truly multi-faceted story. By this I mean that Redick's world has the feeling of being shaded in, not just outlined. Just like real life, you may be looking in one direction, but you know that life is also going on behind you or two streets along or in another city or country or continent. The world of Redick's novel is vibrant and alive with happenstance and magic.
And so to the story itself – which indeed centres around an extraordinary ship, the I.M.S. Chathrand, an immense merchant vessel, perhaps equivalent to some kind of wind powered, fictional Titanic. The ship is an antique, albeit a hardy one still very much in use and it is interesting that in Redick's world there seem to have been few technological advances since Chathrand was commissioned some six hundred years earlier. Also interesting is the notion that the techniques of her manufacture have been lost over time, making both unique and legendary.
Almost as legendary is her captain, Nilus Rose, appointed – to the surprise of many, for his reputation leaves something to be desired – by the ship's owners for this particular voyage, the main purpose of which is to convey the Emperor's ambassador to a belligerent far flung state, where it is hoped that an arranged marriage (of some prince to the ambassador's daughter) will secure a lasting peace. Rose is gruff and taciturn, stern behind his long beard and given to beating the living daylights out of his crew for little or even no reason. He's also - it becomes clear - not entirely in his right mind.
The aforementioned ambassador is himself very much a flawed specimen. Accompanied by his vampish wife – an archetypal evil step-mother type – and his tom-boyish daughter, he is a man with a war-hero reputation, a hot temper and a weakness for being pampered. He is also, it seems, very much a puppet. Less willing and far more wily, is the young betrothed daughter, Thasha, one of Redick's main protagonists. She in contrast, displays a fierce streak of sassy independence, only rarely falling back into the brattish, spoilt little girl act that one might expect of her class. Indeed the concept of class and social rank is central to life on Chathrand, and at the bottom of the pile is the story's main protagonist, a boy with the wonderfully unlikely name of Pazel Pathkendle.
Redick has created an exceptionally likeable young man in Pazel. Honest and true, he is a boy who has, it seems, lost everything – family, home and prospects. Having escaped to sea when his city was captured by invaders, Pazel has since found employment as a tarboy on various vessels and buffeted on the waves of fate, now finds himself aboard Chatrand. His background is auspicious however – his father an infamous traitor and his mother apparently a witch. Pazel himself is "infected" with a particularly useful kind of magic, but, as all good magics in fiction should, this one has its costs as well as it's benefits. Pazel and Thasha are unlikely allies given their social status, but together they begin to uncover the deliciously convoluted conspiracy from which the novel takes its name.
Redick gives us an extremely dense narrative which he handles with particular panache and a good deal of charm. There is a wonderful cast of secondary characters – talking rats, miniature people, ancient evils, mysterious benefactors, crookback witches and accompanying familiars, retainers both honest and treacherous, transdimensional sorcerers, water nymphs and mercenaries and virtually everyone who we come across is harbouring some sort of secret deceit or secondary motive. The result is hugely impressive - a concoction rich in subtext and subterfuge and above all, adventure, and high seas adventure at that, which I'll gladly wager is the very best kind.
Published by Gollancz in a high profile release, The Red Wolf Conspiracy is a genre novel which merits the considerable attention it is already drawing.
Highly recommended. |
|
|
| new deal! |
[Jan. 28th, 2008|04:34 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
John Jarrold has concluded a two-book World rights deal for new UK fantasy author Mark Charan Newton with Peter Lavery of Macmillan/Tor UK, for a good five-figure sum.
The first book is titled NIGHTS OF VILLJAMUR, and will be published early in 2009. An impending Ice Age looms over all other events in the book, which include the death of an Emperor and his daughter’s return to claim the throne, a crime noir plot that involves the city’s Councillors in high-profile murders and a cocky womaniser who is acting as dance tutor to the new Empress’s sister…it will appeal to the readers of both George R R Martin and Scott Lynch.
‘I’m delighted for Mark,’ said John Jarrold. ‘He was one of my first clients when I started up the agency back in 2004, and this is really the fulfilment of a great deal of thought and hard work on his part. And this is the first deal I’ve done with Peter Lavery, who I have known for twenty years – and who is one of the UK’s best and most respected editors in any form of publishing.’
Mark Charan Newton is 26 years old, and lives in Nottingham. He previously worked as an SF buyer in an Ottakar’s bookstore. |
|
|
| FANTASY NOVEL SHORT-LISTED FOR 2008 BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL |
[Jan. 24th, 2008|04:06 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
PRESS RELEASE – LONDON & BERLIN – 24th January 2008. Ten novels (written in a wide variety of languages) have been selected for presentation by the world's main publishers on February 12th 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival - the world's largest film festival with 200,000 movie and TV professionals attending. One fantasy and science fiction book made the cut, Stephen Hunt’s epic fantasy tale, The Court of the Air.
Organised by the Berlin International Film Festival in cooperation with the Frankfurt Book Fair for the third time, the Breakfast & Books section of the film fair enables representatives from publishing houses, literary agents and producers to meet for a pitching session, followed by breakfast together. Producers interested in the film rights can discuss matters on location with right holders.
Renowned publishers from around the globe, such as HarperCollins, Random House, Diogenes, Grasset & Fasquelle, and Suhrkamp, will present ten titles, which have been picked on the strength of their potential for the screen.
The selection for 2008 covers a range of themes and genres from terrorism thriller to fantasy, from coming-of-age parable to period drama – to help ensure there will be something for every producer and every budget.
The only genre fantasy and science fiction novel to be short-listed is Stephen Hunt's The Court of the Air, an epic fantasy adventure set in a society with parallels to 18th/19th century England.
The Guardian said of this fantasy book, "The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London where grim, steam-driven machines work beside citizens with magical powers. The Court of the Air is aimed at young adults, but the depth and complexity of Hunt's vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages."
The Times called Hunt's novel, "An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels." while SFX magazine said of it, "Hunt can take his place alongside such eminent Magratheans as JRR Tolkien, Mervyn Peake and China Mieville. Creating a fully-realised other-world which feels new and different, yet cohesive and believable is half the battle in a fantasy novel, and it is a battle Hunt wins with honours... Hunt's world is so rich and colourful it keeps you engrossed ... It's a confident audacious novel."
Since autumn 2005, the Berlinale (aka the Berlin International Film Festival) and the Frankfurt Book Fair, two of Germany’s largest cultural and economic affairs, have collaborated on creating a forum for film producers and publishers at both these huge events, and in doing so to promote contacts and long-term synergies between the worlds of literature and film.
The novels short-listed from the many thousands of submitted works are:
1. The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt, HarperCollins Publishers, Great Britain
2. The Girl with the Nine Fingers by Laia Fàbregas, Netherlands
3. Baptism by Max Kinnings, Great Britain
4. The Weekend (Das Wochenende) by Bernhard Schlink, Switzerland
5. My Traitor by Sorj Chalandon, France
6. The Lady from Buenos Aires by John Lantigua, Germany
7. Catalina by Markus Orths, Germany
8. Zephyr by Albert Ostermeier, Germany
9. Through Thick and Thin by Shirley Corlett, Germany
10. The Messenger by Markus Zusak, Germany
More on Stephen Hunt's works can be found at the author's official site, www.StephenHunt.net
Contact John Jarrold for further information by e-mail at j.jarrold@btinternet.com |
|
|
| New websites for agency clients |
[Jan. 11th, 2008|01:50 pm] |
Two JJLA debut novelists now have their own brand-new websites:
Philip Palmer, author of SF novel DEBATABLE SPACE, published by Orbit UK/US in January 2008, at http://www.philippalmer.net
Robert V S Redick, author of Fantasy novel THE RED WOLF CONSPIRACY, published by Gollancz UK in February 2008, at http://redwolfconspiracy.com/
Check ‘em out! |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jjarrold's journal