This is kind of long – these are all the May deals I thought were interesting. I whittled out some of the guy-oriented books and some of the mystery/inspirational. I’ll do it on a weekly basis after this.

Major deal = $$$ money.
NYT bestselling author of WHAT THE DEAD KNOW and ANOTHER THING TO FALL Laura Lippman’s next three novels, to Carrie Feron at William Morrow, in a major deal, for publication in 2010, 2011, and 2012, by Vicky Bijur of the Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

Social commentary…with puppets?
Penny Blubaugh’s WHEN PUPPETS ARE OUTLAWED, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE PUPPETS, in which a troupe of puppeteers, including a member of a royal Faerie family and a teenaged runaway, stage elaborate illegal shows blending magic and social commentary, to Jill Santopolo at Laura Geringer Books, by Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency (world).

Whenever I hear ‘Neverland’, I think of Michael Jackson. Not a good pairing with a YA.
Dan Elconin’s NEVERLAND, a modern and gritty retelling of the story of Peter Pan, where Peter is the antagonist and Hook is a friend to Ricky, to Anica Rissi at Simon Pulse, with Michael del Rosario editing, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2009, by Gretchen Stelter at Baker’s Mark Literary Agency (World).

Margaret Erhart’s THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE GRAND CANYON, about one woman’s awakening and the dark, small town secret she uncovers, set in the backdrop of the 1950’s Grand Canyon, to Signe Pike at Plume, for publication in Summer 2009, by Malaga Baldi at Malaga Baldi.

Sarah Hoyt writing as Elise Hyatt’s DIPPED, STRIPPED, DEAD, in which a single mother tries to make a living from refinishing and reselling used furniture; she expects neither murder nor adventure and most certainly not romance, yet all three will result from a discovery made in a dumpster full of discarded furniture, to Ginjer Buchanan of Berkley Prime Crime, in a nice deal, by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.

More vampires.
P.N. Elrod’s DARK ROAD RISING, a new Vampire Files novel set in 1930s gangland Chicago, to Ginjer Buchanan of Ace, in a nice deal, by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency.

‘Fiery’ is a pre-requisite for heiresses, it seems.
Damian Tarnopolsky’s GOYA’S DOG, a satirical novel about the attempts of a dissolute English painter to win over the Arts Establishment and the heart of a fiery heiress, to David Adams at MacAdam/Cage, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2009, by Martha Magor at Anne McDermid Associates (US).

Maybe she goes to meet a senator in the bathroom at the airport.
Starr Amborse’s BAD HABITS, in which a woman tangles with the Secret Service and the equally intimidating Washington, D.C. social scene, discovering political blackmail and her own wild side in the process, to Abby Zidle at Pocket, for publication in Fall 2009, by Kevan Lyon at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency (World).

STAND IN GROOM author Kaye Dacus’s MENU FOR ROMANCE and A CASE FOR LOVE, again to Becky Germany of Barbour, by Chip MacGregor at MacGregor Literary.

This sounds interesting (and rather horrifying).
Rene Gutteridge’s LISTEN, in which a friendly, upper-class suburban town is turned upside down when the citizens’ private conversations are posted on a website for all to read, to Jan Stob at Tyndale, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Janet Kobobel Grant at Books & Such Literary Agency.

Significant deal for this one. It sounds very Jodi Picoult.
Pushcart Prize and Missouri Review Editor’s Prize winner Valerie Laken’s DREAM HOUSE, a tale of race, class and the power of home, telling the story of a fixer-upper house — once the site of a domestic homicide — that unites a recently paroled murderer, a young couple with a crumbling relationship, and a man still grappling with events of a night long ago, to Claire Wachtel at Harper, in a significant deal, in a pre-empt, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Agency.

I can’t tell if this is urban fantasy or epic fantasy. I suppose fantasy worlds have Hell, too.
Lucy Snyder’s SPELLBENT, the story of a young mage who must face angry wizard councils, demons, and hell itself to rescue her lover and mentor, to Liz Scheier at Del Rey, in a three-book deal, by Robert Fleck at Professional Media Services (World).

I heard lots of good things about her first book, but the cover was pretty awful.
DIVORCED, DESPERATE AND DELICIOUS author Christie Craig’s three new humorous romantic suspense novels, to Chris Keeslar at Dorchester, by Kim Lionetti at BookEnds.

This could be interesting, despite the ‘fictional friend’ aspect.
Anchee Min’s next novel, PEARL OF CHINA, about the life of Pearl Buck told through the eyes of her fictional friend Willow, a Chinese girl, for publication in Spring 2010, and a memoir, THE COOKED SEED, a sequel to Red Azalea, following Min’s life as she emigrates from her native China and begins a life in America, following Anton Mueller to Bloomsbury (joining Bloomsbury UK, which has published her for a while), by Sandra Dijkstra at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

The title makes me think that it’s supposed to be quirky/humorous, but it’s hard to tell.
Charlotte Greig’s A GIRL’S GUIDE TO MODERN EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY, in which a Sussex University student reveling in the sexual freedom of 1970s university life turns to the great European philosophers when her most difficult decision looms, to Judith Gurewich at Other Press, in a nice deal, by George Lucas at Inkwell Management (NA).

What we really want to know about this one is “Will Johnny be on the cover?”
Johnny Depp’s brother, Daniel Depp’s LOSER’S TOWN, about a private investigator who’s called in when an A-list Hollywood actor starts receiving death threats, to Kate Lyall-Grant of Simon & Schuster UK, at auction, and Sarah Hochman at Simon & Schuster, in a pre-empt, by Donald Maass, on behalf of Meg Davis of MBA Literary Agents.

It’s all in the execution. A summer studying sweaters sounds torturous, but the pre-empt says that this one could be a hot book.
Nicole Dickson’s CASTING OFF, about an American textile anthropologist and her young daughter whose lives are transformed during a summer studying traditional fishermen’s sweaters on an island off the coast of Galway, to Claire Zion at NAL, in a pre-empt, by Alexandra Machinist at the Linda Chester Literary Agency (World).

This one sounds neat – a nice spin on urban fantasy. The question is, who do the vampires drink from if everyone is a monster?
D.D. Barant’s BLOOD OF MONSTERS, featuring an FBI profiler, who’s been yanked into an alternate universe where vampires, werewolves, and golems now comprise 99% of the population, to Monique Patterson of St. Martin’s, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, by Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency (world).

Lucy Dawson’s HIS OTHER LOVER, in which a woman discovers a capacity for deceit and manipulation, as she turns stalker to secretly destroy her rival, to Lucia Macro of Avon, for publication in Summer 2009, by Melissa Chinchillo at Fletcher & Parry.

Louise Gouge’s ENEMY SEAS, about a young patriot who must accompany her father to the savage wilderness of East Florida, far from the growing American revolution, to Melissa Endlich at Steeple Hill, in a nice deal, by Wendy Lawton at Books & Such Literary Agency (World).

Tattoos are the new vampire.
Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award winner Karen Olson’s two books in a brand new mystery series featuring a tattoo shop owner in Las Vegas, to Kristen Weber at NAL, by Jack Scovil at Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency (world).

Does this herald the return of Western Romances?
2007 Golden Heart Winner Elaine Levine’s RACHEL AND THE HIRED GUN, about the hard-edged men who settle in Defiance, WY, and the women who tame them, to Kate Duffy at Kensington, in a nice deal, for publication in January 2009.

Bronx Council on the Arts Literary Arts fellow Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s LEGACY, about a family of women, spanning five generations and detailing its journey, physical and spiritual, from a sugar plantation on Puerto Rico to modern-day New York City, to Toni Plummer at Thomas Dunne Books, for publication in 2009, by Susan Schulman at Susan Schulman Literary Agency (NA).

Hooray, medieval! Should we take bets on whether a Scotsman shows up?
Kris Kennedy’s untitled medieval romance featuring a dying prince, an ancient family legacy, and a mysterious buried treasure that will rock a kingdom and pit love against vengeance, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a two-book deal, by Barbara Poelle (World).

This blurb sounds overblown and confusing.
Los Angeles bureau chief of the NYT Jennifer Steinhauer and author of How To Cook Your Daughter: a Memoir Jessica Hendra’s THE BIG NOTHING, exposing a Los Angeles you have never read about before: the somewhat surreal stomping ground of the Beverly Hills adjacent crowd, who live somewhere east of Brentwood yet (of course) west of Silverlake, where a UCLA professor valiantly teaches poetry and sidesteps the ludicrous rules of the Stay at Home Exercisers at her daughter’s preschool while dealing with the unreasonably neurotic behavior of her actor husband, who is suffering through television’s annual funhouse ride: pilot season, to Elizabeth Beier at St. Martin’s, by Erin Malone and Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Agency.

Discovering things like snow and the term ‘pop’ for soda.
Lisa Patton’s WHISTLIN’ DIXIE IN A NOR’EASTER, in which a Southern belle, her ancient Yorkie, and her two young daughters leave their Memphis home to run an inn in Vermont, only to discover that there’s a truckload of things nobody told these Dixie girls about life up North, to Kathleen Gilligan at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal, by Holly Root at Waxman Literary Agency (NA).

This sounds like fun. I thought of Brangelina/Jennifer Aniston when I read this.
Irene Zutell’s WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE, after a 33 year old woman is abandoned by her husband for The Sexiest Woman Alive, she must reevaluate her life, while raising her five-year-old daughter and caring for her senile mom, to Jen Weiss at St. Martin’s, by Andrea Barzvi at ICM (NA).

I smell a zombie movie in the works.
Bride of Blackbeard author Brynn Chapman’s PROJECT MENDEL, in which two genetic stem cell scientists must flee the war-torn U.S., after their genetic enhancement vaccines cause amazing and horrific side effects in the nation’s military children, to Leanne Burroughs at Highland Press, by Lois Bennett.

Discovers the new world after breakfast?
Thomas Trofimuk’s COLUMBUS AT 4 A.M., where a man in a Spanish mental institution, convinced he is Christopher Columbus, unfolds a tale of adventure and passion that draws ever closer to the trauma that turned him away from the present, to Alison Callahan at Doubleday, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in fall 2009, by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists (US).

Sounds like a fun anthology.
Susan Krinard and Janet Mullany’s BESPELLING JANE, a star-studded anthology featuring the paranormal and Jane Austin created by Susan Krinard and Janet Mullany, headlining Mary Balogh, to Tracy Farrell of HQN, in a good deal, at auction, by Lucienne Diver of Spectrum Literary Agency.

The Lovely Bones meets Die Hard?
Laurie Notaro’s SPOOKY LITTLE GIRL, about a woman who is hit and killed by a bus shortly after being dumped by her fiance, and who returns to wreak havoc on all who have wronged her; and a collection of essays, to Bruce Tracy at Villard, by Jenny Bent at Trident Media Group (world English).

More Scotsmen. Hopefully no brogue.
Mary Wine’s THE COUNTERFEIT BRIDE, described as “Cinderella with kilts,” to Megan Records at Kensington Brava, in a three-book deal, by Barbara Poelle at Irene Goodman Agency.

Is this the same Laura Bradford as the agent Laura Bradford?
Laura Bradford writing as Elizabeth Lynn Casey’s SOUTHERN SEWING mystery series, to Emily Rapoport at Berkley Prime Crime, in a nice deal, in a three-book deal, by Jacky Sach at BookEnds (World).

This sounds really fun.
Author of Evil Genius and Genius Squad Catherine Jinks’s THE REFORMED VAMPRIE SUPPORT GROUP, an irreverent look at the blood-sucking life through the eyes of 15-year-old vampire, Nina Harrison, who’s been stuck for 51 years in a support group of hemo-addicts that has never had anything exciting happen to them — until one of them is murdered with a silver bullet, to Kathy Dawson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, for publication in April 2009, followed by The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group in 2010, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

Alexa Martin Pruit’s debut SKI SEASON, about a high school junior who comes undone following a disastrous collision of first love, performance anxiety, and envy, to Emily Schultz at Hyperion, by Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger (NA).

More evil tattoos.
Co-author of Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire Christopher Golden’s POISON INK, about five very different girls who decide to all get the same unique tattoo to honor their friendship, unaware that there’s dark magic in the ink, and dark intentions on the part of the tattoo artist, to Stephanie Lane at Delacorte.

I hear a lot of great things about the Vampire Academy books. Reviewer Jia likes them a lot.
NYT bestselling author of Frostbite Richelle Mead’s untitled fourth and fifth novels in the VAMPIRE ACADEMY series, about two best friends at a secret boarding school for vampire royalty, to Jessica Rothenberg at Razorbill, by Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World English).

Elizabeth Bear’s BLOOD AND IRON, adaptation of the first book in the author’s Promethean Age series, to Olivier Jalabert at Soliel Productions, for publication in January 2009, by Vincent Vichit-Vadakan at VVV Agency in association with Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

The comments were written by a friend of Jane who has promised to do this once a week because Jane keeps forgetting.