From Publishers Lunch

Even with this economy, we can see that fiction (particularly romantic fiction) is still selling. - Lynda

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FICTION

Debut
Actor, television/film writer, and author of the NYT bestseller BOOTLEG, Damon Wayans's RED HATS, about a recently widowed woman who reclaims her life, to Malaika Adero at Atria, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm (World).

Adrienne McDonnell's debut THE DOCTOR AND THE DIVA, about a young, Harvard-educated obstetrician in Boston who imperils his promising career when he becomes attracted to one of his patients, a beautiful opera singer who has struggled for years to get pregnant -- inspired by the author's ancestor and based on family letters and memories of elderly relatives who have long been haunted by the secret, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, for publication in summer 2010, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (NA).

Women's/Romance
NYT bestselling author Beverly Barton next four romantic suspense novels, to John Scognamiglio of Kensington, by Richard Curtis of Richard Curtis Associatesiates.
rcurtis@curtisagency.com

Tessa Dare's next three historical romances (tentatively titled the Stud Club trilogy), in which a duke, a warrior, and a scoundrel are united by chance, divided by suspicion, and brought to their knees by love, to Kate Collins at Ballantine, for publication in 2010, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (world).

General/Other
NYT bestselling author of THE 19TH WIFE, David Ebershoff's new novel, again to Kate Medina at Random House, by Elaine Koster of the Elaine Koster Agency (world English, Germany, Spain, Korea, Japan).

Masha Hamilton's 31 HOURS, counting the hours preceding a terrorist attack in the New York City subway from the perspectives of characters who are connected to the looming tragedy including a Saudi graduate student, a highly idealistic, American student whom the student has recruited, the American's girlfriend, and his divorced parents who are brought back together in their search for their missing son, to Fred Ramey at Unbridled Books, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

Adam Langer's THE THIEVES OF MANHATTAN, about a fake memoir that reveals the theft of a priceless ancient manuscript from a most unusual library and the down-on-his-luck writer who becomes embroiled in what turns out to be an elaborate confidence game designed to scam the publishing world, to Cindy Spiegel at Spiegel & Grau, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

THE OUTCAST author Sadie Jones's SMALL WARS, to Terry Karten at Harper, in a very nice deal, for publication in January 2010, by Stephanie Cabot at The Gernert Company (US).

Tish Cohen's third novel, THE SATURDAY DAUGHTER, in which a sister and brother discover that the mother they thought abandoned them as children has actually been searching for them, and that their father, whose memory is decaying from Alzheimer's, had kidnapped them away years ago, to Jeanette Perez at Harper Perennial and Jennifer Lambert at Harper Canada, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (NA).

Author of MISTRESS SHAKESPEARE and THE LAST BOLEYN, Karen Harper's Kat Ashley novel, a novel in the form of a memoir by Katharine Ashley, Queen Elizabeth I's faithful governess and lady-in-waiting, to Rachel Kahan at Putnam, for publication in 2010, by Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency (NA.)

Children's: Middle grade
Jon Voelkel and Pamela Voelkel's JAGUAR STONES trilogy, beginning with MIDDLEWORLD, about a 14-year-old who follows his parents down to South America after they disappear on an archaeological dig, and begins a wild adventure through the Mayan underworld against a background of haunted temples, zombie armies and human sacrifice (a previously published edition already sold 10,000 copies), to Elizabeth Law at Egmont, for three books, at auction, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House.

Children's: Young Adult
Rachel Hartman's SERAPHINA, pitched "in the vein of Gail Carson Levine and Tamora Pierce," about a teenage girl coming of age in a world where dragons can take human form, set against a series of magical secrets, royal scandals, family loyalties, moving to Jim Thomas at Random House (originally sold to Atheneum), for two books, at auction, by Daniel Lazar at Writers House (world English).


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