Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

No particular standouts (funny, frightening, or otherwise) this week.

Russell Galen is consider to be the biggest agent in SFF, so his deals tend to catch the eye.
Whitley Strieber’s THE WHITE SHAMAN, in 2014, mankind deals with the aftermath of the catastrophe predicted by ancient peoples for the year 2012, to Bob Gleason at Tor, in a good deal, for publication in 2009, and HYBRIDS, a romantic thriller about a love affair between human and alien, also in a good deal, for publication in 2010.

I’m not sure if this is SFF or contemporary (curse you, vague book blurbs!).
Lisa Taddeo’s debut novel, BITCH, a brutal bite of women’s fiction that offers a terrifying look at relationships, their fragility, and the ego’s struggle to assert itself, with a lyrical and manipulative protagonist that readers will relate to against their will, to Claire Eddy at Tor, in a nice deal.

Lots of people seem to be interested in the restaurant scene lately.
Louisa Edwards’ CAN’T STAND THE HEAT, A culinary romance set among New York’s restaurant scene, to Rose Hilliard at St. Martin’s, plus three additional books in the series, for publication in fall 09.

Another twist on vampires. I’m hoping this is funny and not a serious book. Could be fun.
Alexandra Fogg’s THE VAMPIRE SUFFRAGETTE, the first in a series, set it 1920s NY, when creatures of the night of every kind are also being discriminated against — and one woman is going to do something about it, to Karen Marcus at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal.

This smells of a DaVinci Code spinoff.
Chloe Palov’s STONES OF FIRE, a thriller in which a museum photographer witnesses a brutal murder and the theft of an ancient Hebrew artifact, and she must team up with an ex-MI5 agent to stop a mercenary army from obtaining the ultimate weapon of destruction, to Natalee Rosenstein at Berkley, plus a sequel.

Historical fiction remains a hot commodity.
Michelle Cameron’s SHIRA OF ASHKELON, about the daughter of one illustrious rabbi and then wife of another, following three generations of the heroine’s family as they move from Falaise to Paris and then to Rothenberg, amidst the growing anti-semitism of 13th century Europe, to Maggie Crawford at Pocket, for publication in fall 2009.

Gonna chalk this one up to just-not-my-thing.
Love Finds You in Humble, Texas, Anita Higman’s latest, about a lonely woman who discovers the man of her dreams, only to find her sister is dating him, to Rachel Meisel at Summerside Press.

Yet another zombie novel.
Books three and four in YA novelist Dan Water’s GENERATION DEAD series, the saga of zombie teens (also known as living impaired) in a Connecticut high school who both are harassed and romantically sought after by their living classmates, to Arianne Lewin at Hyperion, in a good deal.

I’ve heard a lot of complaining about how adult traditional fantasy seems to be dead at the moment, but it looks like its alive and well in YA.
Author of A CURSE DARK AS GOLD Elizabeth Bunce’s STARCROSSED and LIAR’S MOON, a fantasy and its sequel about a teenage thief who pretends to be a rich runaway to escape a civil war, only to find herself ensconced in the heart of the rebellion — pitched as Tamora Pierce meets The Prince and the Pauper — to Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine, in a very nice deal.

Sounds cute. I’m a sucker for fairy tales.
Alex Bullen’s BUTTERFLIES, a modern fairy tale set in Manhattan about a teen girl, the ghost of her twin sister and three magical dresses, to Abigail McAden at Scholastic, for two books.

Jodi Picoult for teens?
Holly Nicole Hoxter’s debut, ON THE VERGE, in which a seventeen-year-old girl’s world is turned upside down when her mother’s suicide brings the older sister she never knew back into her life, and they have to work together to raise their 5-year-old autistic brother, to Jill Santopolo at Laura Geringer Books.