GWENDA BOND

Book Deal News (!!!)

 And now it can be told:

Strange Chemistry are thrilled to announce a two book deal with Gwenda Bond, concluded between Amanda Rutter and Jennifer Laughran, of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. The first book, Blackwood, will be one of the imprint’s September 2012 launch titles, with the second following in 2013.

 

More info at the Strange Chemistry website. You could say I'm over the moon.

ETA: YOU GUYS, I am overwhelmed by all the congratulatory notes. Each and every one makes me tear up. You are all the best.

See also: io9's great round-up of the first THREE announced Strange Chemistry books; so excited to be in such good company. SQUEE.

All The (Well, Some Of The) Things

Yes, MIA, I know. I know. May, you are the Enemy of Sanity. But you're almost over now, so ha. If I survive, I win.

At any rate, here are some things:

• My latest Heroes & Heartbreakers post was about how much I love reading scenes in romances: "Readerly Kinks: A Closer Look at Characters, Well, Reading." (I'm surprised at the lack of examples of this in contemporaries, but there must be some out there, right?)
  
  
• I reviewed Erin Morgenstern's (wonderful) The Night Circus for Publishers Marketplace's BEA Buzz Books coverage (account required). All the buzz books reviews were excerpted in the free daily lunch newsletter (which you should subscribe to, if you don't already). And I'm told that non-PM subscribers can access all the BEA content through their handy, dandy app. Go forth and appreciate the amazing Sarah Weinman's hard work (and her colleagues' too, of course).
  
  
• Speaking of which, if you're attending BEA, I did many, many pieces for the Show Daily. I had some really fun assignments this year, including interviews with Anne Enright, Dava Sobel, Alma Katsu, and Charlaine Harris--all lovely to talk to. Whenever I have time during an interview , I ask what people have been reading. Charlaine Harris had just finished Pat Rothfuss's The Wise Man's Fear and Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News? So she obviously has great taste. Looks like the Show Daily content will be on the PW site this year.
  
  
• There are still plenty of stories to come in the Subterranean issue; the schedule is more or less weekly, but with breaks so it's not over too quickly. There's a review posted this week. And catch up on any stories you've missed thus far.
  
  
• Wiscon! Yes, it's here. Now I remember why I tend to skip actually attending BEA. Here's my Schedule of Things:
  
  • Reading: ...And Other Circuses (Sat, 4:00–5:15 pm Conference 2) Richard Butner, Christopher Rowe, Genevieve Valentine, and moi. I will be the nervous one with the ink-barely-dry first pages of the circus book. (Unless I chicken out and read from the creepy island book instead. But the tradition is to read something new, and our reading has circus in the title, so I'll endeavor to be brave.)  
  • Panel: The Trials, Joys and Tribulations of Tiptree Jury Duty (Sat, 10:30–11:45 pm Senate A) Alexis Lothian, Gwenda Bond, Karen Joy Fowler, Geoff Ryman, Sheree Renée Thomas. (No, I actually can't explain what I was thinking when I agreed to a 10:30 PM panel, but it should be fun given the other participants.)
  • Panel: Fringe: How Is Olivia Dunham So Awesome? (Sun, 2:30–3:45 pm Senate B) Joanna Lowenstein, Gwenda Bond, Mely, Xakara, Amy Thompson.
   See you in Madison!

Clean Living

I wrote the category feature on health for this week's PW. There were some very interesting books in the crop, especially Melanie Thernstrom's The Pain Chronicles, a big literary mix of history, personal narrative, and research, and Harriet Brown's Brave Girl Eating, a mother's memoir about employing a somewhat controversial new approach to treating her daughter's anorexia.

Anyway, it's always fun learning about what's going on in a different part of the publishing sandbox. And my editor left a message this morning that me and a few other regular feature writers have been added to the masthead this week. Fancy.

Crafty

My latest PW feature is in this week's issue, all about what's going on in the category of craft and hobby books.

This was a fun one to do -- the main piece explores the influence the extremely active online crafting community (knitters, sewers, cross-stitchers, beautiful paper doll makers of the world unite!) is exerting on the market, and what new books are coming up. (And it discusses Adrienne Martini's Sweater Quest, which is already out.) There are also a few related sidebars, including three short questions with Amy Sedaris, who has a suitably twisted craft book coming out this fall.

Everyone I talked to for the piece was wonderful and made me wish I was able to make things without making terrible-looking things. I'm kind of flirting with the idea of getting a sewing machine, which would surely lead to some entertaining posts here. Like most fever dreams, I'm sure it will pass, and I'll go back to admiring things on Etsy.

Dept. of Unexpected Excellence

So yesterday I was home having a sick day and I got an email from my editor at PW to make a call to someone about some sort of award and, lo, when I called it turned out that it was the Executive Director of RWA letting me know that they are giving me this year's Veritas Media Award for the "Romancing the Recession" feature. Past recipients include Ron Charles and Mary Bly. There was major squealing.

Needless to say, I'm hugely honored.

(And Jennifer Crusie will also be at the awards ceremony, which will make it very hard not to fangirl.)

Unrelatedly: Saturday I'll be running a guest post from the DIVINE Margo Lanagan on her writing process as part of the blog tour for the paperback release of her devastatingly brilliant novel Tender Morsels.

Another unrelatedly: Just finished Karen Healey's debut YA novel, Guardian of the Dead, and am telling you TO PICK IT UP NOW DO NOT PASS GO.

Bonnet Rippers!

That just may be my favorite subhead I've ever come up with, just so you know, referencing--of course--the Amish romance trend.

My latest feature for Publishers Weekly, "Romancing the Recession," explores the health and diversity the romance category continues to enjoy during what are tough times for much of the rest of publishing.

Some Like It...

I wrote a piece on what's happening in the realm of erotica and erotic romance (paranormal doing well, just like in everything else) for this week's Publishers Weekly. More importantly, I think I may have hit a personal best with the sidebar headline "Some Like It Historical," especially since I always struggle with headlines. (See also: Boom and Busts!)

Check it out if you're so inclined.

Strange Love

I wrote this week's Publishers Weekly feature on trends in the romance category, focusing mainly on paranormal romance and urban fantasy. This was a fun one, for many reasons, but mainly because I got to interview so many wildly smart people who really and truly love what they're doing. 

I feel the ending might be controversial though:

Readers may wonder if there's any creature that won't eventually end up in the role of leading man. The answer is yes—there's a strong consensus against zombies. “Zombies are not sexy. Romances don't feature zombies,” says Tsang, laughing. “Zombies are rotting dead flesh who eat brains. When you say vampire, you think David Boreanaz. Until David Boreanaz becomes a zombie—no way.”

And I believe that Marjorie Liu has posted the entire interview I did with her, which makes me very happy, since I only had room to use a tiny portion of her responses. Also, I didn't get to mention Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books, which I highly recommend, so I'm doing it here.

Some things I learned: 

1. These are the hardest working writers in America. The longest pub schedule seems to be 8-10 months between books. Many, many people are on tighter schedules entirely. 

2. All the paranormal romance/urban fantasy editors I talked to clearly love their jobs, and, unusually, every single one recommended at least one book published by another house. 

3. Let's face it--romance is probably the most ghettoized, dismissed genre around and yet it's full of smart writers and editors doing extremely interesting things, AND without romance to buoy sales the rest of publishing would probably sink like a stone. Romance readers will visit other sections of the bookstore without a blink, read tons of books a month, and yet face constant disrespect. 

Feeling Crafty

I wrote the cover story for this week's Publishers Weekly, about what's going on with craft books.

A big chunk of the piece centers around Handmade Nation, the new companion book by Faythe Levine (with Cortney Heimerl) to her forthcoming indie documentary of the same name. This one was fun, and made me want to make stuff.

If only I were good at making stuff.

Boring Academic Blather

Quite a few of you gluttons for punishment out there have asked for copies of my critical thesis on the omniscient point of view (especially in YA, though there's some broader discussion too). Herewith, help yourself to this PDF of it.

I'd love any thoughts and reactions, either here or via e-mail. I'd also say enjoy, but this is an academic paper we're talking about here.

By the Way

I did a series of stories for Publishers Weekly about the mind-body-spirit category this week; my own favorite is the one headlined "Beyond Crystals and Chakras." Anyway, check them out, if you're so inclined.

PW Cover Story

So I put together this week's Publishers Weekly cover story, which focuses on some forthcoming LGBT titles mainly from university presses. It was great fun to do and it's a fascinating crop of books.