This week features some big names in epic fantasy and a gangsta chef. Really.

Not sure if this will be mainstream or fantasy (PM is mixed) but the rumor is that this went for a ridiculous amount of money.
NYT bestselling author Terry Goodkind’s contemporary thriller set in an American city, and two other novels, moving to Ivan Held at Putnam, in a joint venture with Berkley, with Susan Allison editing.

I have to admit that this sounds clever. Win!
Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough’s BARQUE CATS, like sailing ships of old, spaceships have cats but in space they are rare and valuable; what humans do not know is that the cats are plotting to take over the universe, to Sue Moe at Del Rey, in a good deal, in a two-book deal.

The Dabel Brothers are cleaning up: Jim Butcher, LKH, Patricia Briggs, and now Jordan.
Comic-book format editions of Robert Jordan’s bestselling 12-volume Wheel of Time series, to Dabel Brothers Publishing, for publication beginning in December 2008.

500 Blazes! Holy cow.
Stephanie Bond’s book for the 500th Blaze release, a single-author anthology, for publication in October 2009; and a story patterned after A Christmas Carol about a prickly woman who has an encounter with a coworker at an office Christmas party, then turns down his request to see her again and experiences “what if?” scenarios of Christmases past, present, and future, for publication in Christmas 2009, to Brenda Chin at Harlequin Blaze, in a three-book deal, by Kimberly Whalen.

Do they hahve wheird Vhictohrian nhames?
USA Today bestselling author Renee Bernard’s THE JADED, a series set in early Victorian London, with an exotic touch of India, that is part of a shared past experience; the men of The Jaded have a dark and tragic history that spawns a unique brotherhood perceived by their peers as simply a small secretive gentleman’s club; notoriously elusive, the men are haunted by dangerous shadows as they seek to recover their lives in England and further their fortunes, to Kate Seaver at Berkley.

Sounds like reincarnation or time travel.
Erin Grady writing as Erin Quinn’s HAUNTING BEAUTY, about a mysterious man determined to bring the one woman whose memory has haunted him back to Ireland where they must confront their history, rewrite the defining moments of their past and change the future in ways they both thought were impossible, to Kate Seaver at Berkley, for publication in August 2009, in a two-book deal, by Rachel Vater.

This pretty much describes a dozen paranormals out there.

Saskia Walker’s RAMPANT, a contemporary paranormal seduces with occult magic, sexual power, and a battle between two ancient covens, to Susan Swinwood at Harlequin Spice, in a two-book deal, by Roberta Brown.

Not romance, but it sounds like a Bubble Boy-type book and I have to admit, it sounds cute.
Iowa MFA graduate Peter Bognanni’s THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW, a humorous and heartwarming story about a young man raised by his grandmother in a geodesic dome and home-schooled on the teachings of the inventor and futurist Buckminster Fuller, who upon leaving the isolated existence he has always known discovers the joys of punk music and the heartbreak of first love, to Amy Einhorn at Amy Einhorn Books.

This concept already feels a little overplayed in YA. Maybe mediums are the new vampire.
Stacey Klemstein’s THE GHOST AND THE GOTH, in which a high school outcast who can see, hear and talk to the dead reluctantly agrees to help the ghost of a spoiled and shallow homecoming queen who just got run over by a bus of band geeks find her way to the “other side,” to Christian Trimmer at Hyperion, in a nice deal.

This is cute as heck, though I can’t see it happening in a regular classroom.
Kristin Walker’s debut MARRIAGE ED, about a senior in high school whose class is subjected to marriage training by the school board and is then forced to couple with her jerky jock nemesis, only to discover that she just might find romance after all, to Laura Schechter at Razorbill.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all.
Rap legend and soon-to-be reality show star Coolio’s COOKIN’ WITH COOLIO, offering 75 recipes built around comfort foods with a healthy twist, to Amy Tannenbaum at Atria, in a very nice deal, at auction.