Adult Newsletter: May 2018

Up And Coming For Submission

NON-FICTION

In the spring of 2009, hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, a mercurial figure who had blown through the color barriers to conquer the Anglo-Saxon world of high finance and become one of the richest men of color in the United States, was taken down in dramatic fashion by a fellow South Asian, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, “the Sheriff of Wall Street.”  Raj's rise and fall was an epic story, riveting the national media for months in the largest insider trading case of all time. His brother, Rengan Rajaratnam, knew his much older and astronomically richer sibling as a compilation of contradictions; a source of financial largess and an abuser, a brilliant investor and a careless criminal. Money gave Raj pleasure, petty cruelty gave him satisfaction, and he kept sucking his ambitious younger brother into the vortex of his abusive personality. As a result, Bharara, who had racked up an 85-0 record of convictions for insider training, decided to make little brother number 86. Rengan faced a criminal trial that financially ruined him, nearly physically destroyed him, and might have sent him to jail for years. Instead his ordeal ended with a singular verdict, one that not only vindicated him of the charges, but also finally enabled him to escape his brother’s wide shadow.  THE NUMBER by Rengan Rajaratnam is a wild ride through the adrenaline and money soaked world of multi-billion dollar hedge funds and the excesses of the people running them as they struggle to hit that ever increasing “Number” that enables them to walk away from it all.  Intertwined in the story is a breathless courtroom drama and a searing study of the toxic stew of resentment, love and money in an exceptional immigrant family.

When an aged and nearly catatonic Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was wheeled into a Sacramento courtroom in April 2018, law enforcement could barely contain their glee. This was exactly how cold cases were supposed to be solved. With beat-cop resolve, shoe-leather investigation, and airtight science. In an ingenious effort to solve the case, a detective uploaded crime scene DNA to GEDmatch, a hobbyist genealogy website. It worked, and the families and survivors of the Golden State Killer’s sadistic rape and murder spree of the 1970s and 1980s could finally rest easy. But what about the rest of us? In FRUIT OF THE POISONOUS BRANCH: HOW GENEALOGY CAUGHT THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER AND EXPOSED THE MORAL TANGLE OF CONSUMER DNA, crime writer Mardi Link investigates this new technological wilderness, and takes a critical look at the fringes of forensic science, just as tens of millions of regular people are willingly putting their DNA online. Most are looking for an Irish ancestor, to narrow their connection to the African continent, or to bolster their Mayflower Society application, not inform on a distant cousin. Criminals, however, should be worried. DeAngelo is not the only alleged murderer to be identified with family DNA. The Grim Sleeper, the Canal Killer, and the UK’s Cellophane Man, were identified similarly, although with accompanying court orders for those DNA profiles. Are these rapidly advancing capabilities hopeful or horrifying? And, can the law keep up? Mardi Link is a former newspaper reporter, the author of three true crime books including the New York Times bestseller, Wicked Takes the Witness Stand, and the writer and producer of the podcast, Up North Cold Case. She is an amateur genealogist who began charting her family tree in 2009, in order to solve a centuries-old murder, and recently shared the story of what she found on the Moth’s MainStage.

Pro sports can make for strange careers, but none are more bizarre than the unstable existence of an NFL placekicker. It is hands down the most insecure role in football if not all sports. Macho teammates think kickers are weak wannabe athletes in undersized pads, head coaches consider them an inconvenience all too prone to failure, and most legitimate agents don’t deem the position worthy of representation. Even a kicker’s own mind can undercut him, with one wrong thought sending him into a career-ending case of the “yips,” leaving him unable to ever kick straight again. The inevitably frustrating and disturbingly funny lot of a placekicker is brought to vividly witty light in THE POINT AFTER: MY ROLLERCOASTER LIFE AS A PLACEKICKER IN AND OUT OF THE NFL by Sean Conley. Conley doggedly chased the unicorn dream of being a pro kicker as it repeatedly turned into a nightmare. His pursuit saw him pinball through three NFL teams, discovering that just getting the chance to show off his talent was a daunting challenge. Along the way, he hired and fired a slick Brooklyn agent who favored gold chains and shiny pink tracksuits, fought through a string of “almost there” moments with contracts dangled and then yanked away, and did time in the NFL purgatory of the European League. His season spent kicking for the Scottish Claymores was the final straw, leading him to hang up his mismatched cleats. On the back of his savage disappointments, Conley discovered the pure, simple joy of family, and found a new passion and career in teaching yoga. A uniquely humorous and human story, THE POINT AFTER is ultimately a tale of personal redemption.

It was less than 24 hours after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that the seeds of what has become a national cry for gun control began to germinate. It began in Pine Trails Park, just two miles from the Parkland, Florida, school, where students spontaneously gathered to comfort one another after the six minutes of horror on Valentine’s Day, when Nikolas Cruz cut down 17 students and staff. It was there that they first voiced their determination to not become just another statistic and to demand from grownups more than prayers and condolences. Veteran journalist Neil Reisner was there from the beginning. A LITTLE CHILD WILL LEAD THEM, shows from the inside what the students endured, how they channeled their grief into anger even as they went to their friends’ funerals and how a unique constellation of factors – their community, their connections, their confidence – drew such diverse supporters as George and Amal Clooney and the current incarnation of the Grateful Dead. This children’s crusade led to a protest six weeks later that drew some 800,000 people to Washington, D.C., and sparked more than 800 sibling protests around the country and the world. Reisner goes on to evaluate this evolving movement, asking how long it will last as its leaders graduate and move on to college and the rest of their lives.

From 1897 to 1922, seventeen expeditions from ten countries shipped out to Antarctica, the world’s southernmost continent, where wintertime temperatures average a bracing -49 F. It was the pre-Gore-Tex/Smartwool era, and the explorers were desperately short of, well, pretty much everything, wearing sealskins and surviving on stale biscuits and tea. Some expeditions were such full-blown, appalling disasters that they continue to hold a mythic prominence, such as Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed 1912 polar journey, or Ernest Shackleton’s aptly-named Nimrod debacle. Dozens of men died on these missions, others went insane, some killed themselves upon returning home. Many expeditions were scientific in nature, with men like Edward “Bill” Wilson and Charles “Silas” Wright tasked with recording natural phenomena, measuring ice sheets, mapping mountain ranges, and even discovering new species. These forgotten heroes of the age of exploration sparked a tradition of scientific inquiry that endures on the continent to this day. In EVERYTHING GETS WORSE: A SEASON IN ANTARCTICA John O’Connor tells dramatic and, at times, tragic tales of these explorer-scientists of yore. It also asks what they can teach us about Antarctica today. More to the point, while traveling to McMurdo Station, the logistical hub of the U.S. National Science Foundation in Antarctica, O’Connor ponders what these scientists can tell us about what’s been lost, and what, if anything, we might do about it.

When Mary Cunningham graduated Harvard Business School in 1979, little did she know how fast she would rise – and fall – in corporate America. She exploded onto the public stage when her name was romantically linked with Bill Agee, the ambitious CEO of auto parts maker Bendix Corp., Now her story has been revived in the wake of the #MeToo movement, as corporate leaders are being accused of sexual harassment, and politicians and entertainers are losing their jobs or their companies for repeated infidelities and disgusting behavior toward women. In YOU TOO? FROM MARY CUNNINGHAM TO #METOO, former Wall Street Journal editor and Ford PR executive Ron Iori will use the Cunningham-Agee story to illustrate how the mores and attitudes of society have changed. While we now talk in terms of transparency, in the 1980s boards were more passive, and office romance and bad behavior were discussed in hushed tones and discreet conversations. Back then, Cunningham was the headline, with accusations that she slept her way to the top. Today, it’s the men who are being accused by multiple victims of harassing behavior and other transgressions. As the #MeToo movement slows, is it possible we won’t really deal with the core issues? Have we learned our lesson or are we already backtracking? Will we honestly deal with the sensitive topics of sex and power? This book will explore those questions and more.

Twenty-one-year-old Kim Reed arrived in New York in 2000 with an acceptance to NYU’s graduate school of social work, $50,000 in student loans, and a desperate desire for more out of life than what the suburbs offered. Reluctant about the career path that she was financially locked into, and unsure about practically everything—including herself—she was adrift and alone, but determined. Unable to make ends meet on a social worker’s salary, Reed spends her nights moonlighting as a hostess and reservationist at the legendary Greenwich Village restaurant, Babbo, which thrusts her into the gritty and glamorous food industry. This randomly stumbled upon, supposedly temporary side-hustle resulted in her becoming the assistant to renowned restaurateur and TV personality Joe Bastianich—a role that would ultimately change her life forever. Spanning sixteen years, ALL ROADS LEAD TO KIM is Reed’s story of self-discovery and transformation forged in the throes of a job that bordered on the absurd and sublime.  It’s a series of hilarious and touching misadventures as Reed is thrown into the fast-paced world of a demanding, make-it-happen-at-all-costs celebrity restaurateur and TV star, learns to navigate Italian men and their cockamamie notion of fidelity, the sting of chronic disappointments of the heart, the looming threat of waning fertility that comes with age, and the awakening that arrives in realizing that if you can make the impossible possible for someone else, you can do the same for yourself. Set against the backdrop of the New York City restaurant scene alongside some of its most notorious figures, ALL ROADS LEAD TO KIM chronicles the humorous, poignant and at times heartbreaking lessons Reed learned along the way. 

You may have heard that “Age is just a number.” Well, it turns out that age is just a wrong number. As baby boomers move into their seventies, there is growing alarm at the prospect of being poured into a silver mold. But exciting new science is telling us, convincingly, to break that mold and rethink our capacity to grow as we age. AGE PIVOT: FIND YOUR WAY TO HEALTHY LONGEVITY is a book about how to change the way we approach aging. The pivot point for this transformational change is our individuality itself. To help readers navigate this shift, AGE PIVOT mobilizes exciting new science and behavioral insights to frame the inspirational stories of men and women, in the United States and around the world, who are finding their way to healthy longevity. As a successful veteran of the academic, business and global health sectors, Michael Birt has observed the profound demographic and technological changes that are reshaping human society. Now is the time to make a move. The entire world is growing older. We can recoil and retreat from the specter of the Gray Tsunami, a faceless wave of old people threatening the vitality and future of human society. Or, we can pivot toward an astonishing opportunity to harness our creativity and innovation to reimagine the personal experience of aging. AGE PIVOT shows readers how to find their way to a connected, active and productive life.

Tesla Motors has seemingly accomplished the impossible, creating the hottest global brand in an industry that has been stubbornly resistant to new startups and new technology. Between its celebrity CEO, environmental mission, high-tech aura and sexy vehicle designs, Tesla's feel-good image has made it the darling of the media and financial markets. But behind the triumphal mythology that dominates perceptions of the all-electric automaker lies a far more complicated story of hubris, deception, missed opportunities and tragedy. Author Edward Niedermeyer brings this story to life for the first time in LUDICROUS: THE RISE AND FALL OF TESLA MOTORS, combining new firsthand accounts from inside the company with deep analysis of the cultural, economic and technological trends that have made Tesla the phenomenon it is today. By deconstructing the factors that have shaped both Tesla's successes and its failures, LUDICROUS illuminates a timeless tale of tragic heroism while explaining the dynamics that will shape the ongoing struggle between Detroit and Silicon Valley over the future of mobility. 

Ernest Hemingway, Nobel Prize-winning author of some of America’s finest novels and short stories, was also one of history’s greatest adventurers. Known as much for his travels to exotic locales as for his prose, his gusto and charm created excitement wherever he went. In ERNEST’S WAY: AN INTERNATIONAL GUIDE TO HEMINGWAY’S TRAVELS, his great-granddaughter, Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, follows his path around the globe to the places he lived, wrote, fought, drank, fished, ran with the bulls, and in which he held court with Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many other influential writers, artists, and intellectuals of the 20th century.  Experience drinking white wine with peaches just as Hemingway and his first love, Agnes von Kurowsky, did at Biffi’s in Milan during the First World War. Dine at the oldest restaurant in the world, Madrid’s Sobrino de Botín, where Hemingway would eat a whole roast suckling pig and drink three bottles of vino rojo while working on The Sun Also Rises. Stroll the docks of Bimini where Hemingway boxed with locals, and troll for sailfish in the Gulf Stream between Havana and Key West when it was still the “Saint-Tropez of the poor.” Both guidebook and family history, it not only takes the reader through the famous landmarks of Hemingway’s Paris, but also provides a comprehensive travel manual for Hemingway’s lesser-known haunts, like London, where Hemingway and his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, were both correspondents during the Second World War, and China, where Hemingway and Gellhorn spent their 100-day honeymoon.

Across America, feminist witches are coming out of the broom closet—and all things occult are booming business. But this is no new 21st-century cultural phenomenon, just the latest chapter in a feminist mystical tradition as old as the New World. Though often derided as cranks and charlatans, women played influential roles in the fights for freedom and equality that define America—including all four waves of feminism. AN AMERICAN COVEN(ANT) seeks to restore these powerful women and the movements they led to their proper place in history by chronologically profiling five larger-than-life gurus instrumental to various American mystical traditions. These include Marie Laveau, "the Voodoo Queen" of New Orleans; Cora L.V. Scott, megastar 19th century Spiritualist medium; Madame Blavatsky, enigmatic Russian immigrant and co-founder of the Theosophical Society; Zsuzsanna Budapest, author, activist, lesbian witch, and founder of the Dianic, or feminist, Wiccan branch; and Marianne Williamson, former cabaret singer turned New Age spiritual sage and bestselling author. The book also weaves in author Lucile Scott’s modern-day occult experiences to explore how these women’s political and mystical legacies continue to mold today’s cadre of altar-building, crystal-carrying, Resistance-leading, fourth-wave feminist millennial witches looking to #HexThePatriarchy nationwide.

In the fall of 1960, author William Styron heard that an acquaintance, James Baldwin, needed a quiet spot away from Manhattan to write. Styron offered the writing studio behind his Connecticut farmhouse, and Baldwin spent most of the next eight months working there during the day, then joining Styron and his wife Rose for dinner and drinks, often until dawn. Styron was contemplating writing a novel about Nat Turner’s Rebellion, from Turner’s perspective, but was uncertain about whether he, as a white southerner, could legitimately give voice to a slave who led a bloody revolt. Baldwin urged Styron on. It was, he argued, an artist’s prerogative to tackle whatever subject he wants. But when The Confessions of Nat Turner came out, Baldwin offered a prescient take that, “Bill’s going to catch it from black and white” because he “is probing something very dangerous, deep and painful in the national psyche. I hope it starts a tremendous fight, so that people will learn what they really think about each other.” The novel did, in fact, launch a culture war that presaged our current debates about appropriation. Los Angeles Times editorial writer and author, Scott Martelle’s STYRON AND BALDWIN AND THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER is also a story of friendship, creativity, artistic freedom, the political repercussions of a provocative work of art, and the enduring racial tensions within America itself.

CRASHPROOF YOUR CAREER by Jon Davis gives an inside look at the realities of today’s labor marketplace. People are staying in their jobs for shorter periods of time.  Companies are showing little loyalty and are outsourcing more, and the freelance “gig” economy is exploding. New career categories are growing while others are disappearing. An executive recruiter, Davis has personally placed more than 4,000 people into roles ranging from million dollar physicians to $10/hour customer support agents. His experience spans multiple industries and highlights the rules of the job search and career planning for today’s professional. The old model of lifetime employment is gone.  The new reality is that people hold more jobs over their career. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), reports median employee tenure at 4.2 years. For young professionals, BLS predicts they will have more than 16 jobs in a lifetime. Most leave these job changes to chance, never feeling in control of their own career. With step-by-step clarity, Davis shows how to bring intentionality to career planning and job searches. To get ahead – and stay ahead – one needs to know how to play the game. This book shows the importance of personal branding, and introduces the Career Intelligence Formula to provide the reader long term success. CRASHPROOF YOUR CAREER will take readers from their first entry-level position all the way to the corner office – and even to their post-retirement vocation. It’s a book you can turn to when a fresh challenge looms and when it’s time to take the next step.

In June of 2015, bestselling author Molly Wizenberg experienced something unexpected: she discovered that her sexual orientation had changed. Three years ago, she didn’t even believe in sexual fluidity. Having written two memoirs about her courtship with and subsequent marriage to a great guy, this was, at best, inconvenient. Her first book was about growing up, the loss of her father, and meeting her husband. Her second was about that composer husband who would, in the course of a few short months, decide to open a restaurant and become a chef. She wrote about the struggle to accept the new shape their lives took, and, in many ways, to truly get to know the person she’d married. In her new memoir, THE FIXED STARS, she writes of how her marriage changed in a way she never thought it would, how she discovered things about herself she didn’t think possible, how she and her former husband remained a family while reformulating their relationship, and how she found new, unexpected love. It’s about parenthood and sexuality and identity, parts of us that say nothing and everything about who we are. It’s about letting go of the rules and customs and norms, and instead creating a life that is honest and fulfilling and nourishing for everyone involved. It’s about redefining love and family in a way that works. (Please note, Michael Bourret is the agent on this project.)

Movie characters can inspire us to be stronger, kinder and more fearless, empowering viewers to make real-world change. This is particularly true of onscreen women like Princess Leia, Hermione Granger, and Wonder Woman herself—bad-ass female creations who continue to impact audiences today. In I WANT TO BE LIKE HER: 12 FEMINIST FILM ICONS WHO HAVE RESHAPED THE WORLD, entertainment journalist and LA Times contributor Emily Zemler investigates how these seminal characters were initially realized and how they ushered in eventual change, both in the film industry and in our culture. Using interviews with actors, directors, screenwriters and fans, Zemler examines how each character has impacted the way Hollywood represents women and looks at pivotal moments of evolution in the industry, from Ridley Scott’s Alien, to box office powerhouse The Hunger Games, to the recent release of Black Panther, which featured several memorable and diverse female characters. The book will also explore the real-world impact of these characters, including how they have shown up in the recent women’s marches and the March for Our Lives. In a time when Hollywood is questioning how it should represent humanity in a more accurate, diverse, fair way, I WANT TO BE LIKE HER points to those who have helped guide us this far, reminding readers that when we see complex, uniquely interesting women on the big screen, we believe that whatever they can do, we can do too. (Please note, Michael Bourret is the agent on this project.)

An estimated 36 million U.S. children ages 5-18 will participate in organized sports this year, and standing next to these children are the parents who spend a great deal of energy, time and money to support their games. It’s easy to buy a pair of cleats, but it’s not so easy to talk to kids about winning and losing, trying and quitting, getting injured and staying fit, cheering for favorite teams and athletes, and most importantly, having fun. In this age of technology and screens, learning strategies for face-to-face communication with children has never been more important, and sports offer an opportunity to teach valuable life lessons. Dr. Adam Earnheardt’s HUDDLE UP: 10 CONVERSATIONS TO HAVE WITH YOUR KID ABOUT SPORTS is a guide to empower parents to have deeper, richer conversations with their children about the underlying values of competitive play. Dr. Earnheardt combines his own research on effective communication and experience as a father of four with interviews with more than 200 professional and amateur-level coaches and athletes, sports administrators, experts in the fields of communication, education, psychology and sociology, sports journalists and media personalities, fans and parents. In addition to writing and editing six academic books on communication and sports, Dr. Earnheardt writes a weekly column with a circulation of 38K, and has been cited as an expert by Men’s Health, Parade, Playboy, and Psychology Today. In HUDDLE UP he combines this deep expertise with a winning conversational voice to result in a book that needs to be in the duffel bag of every parent, coach, and caregiver who puts a kid on the field. (Please note, Sharon Pelletier is the agent on this project.)

It’s time to stop the battle with your body. Why? Because your body is here to support you making epic stuff in your life, and your worth is not based on your bathroom scale. Through her practice as a yoga and meditation teacher, public speaker, coach, writer, retreat leader, and founder of Awaken.yoga, Alexa Silvaggio has taught thousands of students all over the world this simple truth. In THE ONLY SCALE THAT MATTERS: HOW TO KICK PERFECTION TO THE CURB EVERY DAMN DAY, Silvaggio shares her step-by-step, no bullshit, crystal clear guide to loving yourself and your body in an actionable way, every day, no matter how bad or how great you’re feeling. From Ten to One, from deep dark crisis to owning your badassery, each number on this scale is a unique state between reactivity and awareness, fear and love. No one hits a one and cruises for life: this book offers optimal yoga, meditation, meals, journal exercises, and soulwork to cultivate a loving relationship with your bod no matter where you find yourself on any given day. Developed through nearly a decade of private teaching as well as work as a global ambassador for Lululemon, Gaiam, and the Travel Yogi, Silvaggio’s method also comes from a place of deep empathy, having swum through the crap as a professional dancer once living on 200 calories a day. This is the only scale you will ever need—a workbook that works if you work it—the one that defines your worth not by the size of your thighs, but by how much you love and live on purpose.  (Please note, Sharon Pelletier is the agent on this project.)

Reminiscent of Between the World and Me, The Argonauts, and the work of Claudia Rankine, Marcos Santiago Gonsalez’s PEDRO’S THEORY: ESSAYS is part memoir and part cultural criticism. A PhD candidate in English and Literature who has been published in Electric Literature and Catapult among others, his work examines questions of race, immigration, politics, sexuality, family, and masculinity through the lens of a first-generation gay man of color, son of an undocumented Mexican father and a Puerto Rican mother. There are many Pedros. One goes to a school where they take away his language, replace it with another. At home, he is afraid to find the words to explain the things they call him. Another crosses the desert, leaving behind a backpack. It contains no clues as to whether he successfully made it across the border and into a new life. A Cousin Pedro comes to visit, awakening feelings, alluding to feelings, that others are afraid to make plain. One goes missing so completely it’s as if he was never there to go missing at all. Another watches his father from afar, unable to ever find ways to close the gap. A Pedro keeps his distance from the other Pedros, in hopes the Meghans and the Johns will think he is one of them instead. One returns to a place he’s never been, to the place his father left, hoping to find him there. Many Pedros journey to many Promised Lands only to learn they may not be promising after all. (Please note, Lauren Abramo is the agent on this project.)

Rob Mitchell’s storied career in the book business touched on many bases—he was the owner of independent bookstores, the host of a weekly author interview program on a Boston area radio station, directed the annual Concord Festival of Authors, and for many years served as nonfiction book reviewer for the Boston Herald. But with EXTRA INNINGS: A SEASON OF SENIOR SOFTBALL, he truly hits one out of the park. EXTRA INNINGS tells the story of the Round Trippers, a team of highly competitive, over-50 softball players in the western suburbs of Boston as they navigate a season in the EMASS Senior Softball Association, for which Mitchell serves as Commissioner. It’s a soulful and searching look inside a group of aging softball players—a curmudgeon, a quiet guy, an extrovert, a recently widowed man, a rookie—all old men playing the game they love with people they love, knowing it will not last. On its surface, EXTRA INNINGS extols the continuing physical vitality of older athletes while celebrating the camaraderie of team sports, yet at a deeper level the book portrays the complexity of aging personalities and the challenges of male friendships, providing a counterbalance to popular culture’s often simplistic and clichéd image of aging. With the soul of a poet, Mitchell’s remarkable prose illuminates the place where The Boys of Summer meets The Bucket List. From opening day to the playoff push, you’ll be cheering for the Round Trippers all the way home. (Please note, John Rudolph is the agent on this project.)

In 1971, Cleveland Ohio, Robert White watched for a sign. A rhesus monkey lay before him, shaved neck with stitches still showing in a 360 degree zipper seam. One hundred monkey brains and research behind Russia’s Iron Curtain had all come down to this. At last, the eyelids fluttered, and Dr. White’s patient was awake and very much alive. Decapitated from its own shoulders, Monkey A had been reassembled on the headless torso of Monkey B. Known to his friends as Humble Bob and his enemies as Dr. Butcher, Robert White was a man in conflict. He founded Pope John Paul II's Committee on Bioethics, belonged to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and was nominated for a Nobel Prize—and yet sought permission to perform an untested head transplant on humans. Author and Medical Anthropologist Brandy Schillace’s MR. HUMBLE AND DR. BUTCHER: A MONKEY’S HEAD, THE POPE’S NEUROSCIENTIST, AND THE QUEST TO TRANSPLANT A SOUL, will tell the incredible and little-known story of the world’s first successful primate head transplant and where this boundary-bending technology leads us today. Based on film footage, personal archives, interviews, and White’s blood-soaked notebook, the narrative follows a competition every bit as determined as the space race, beginning with a Cold War contest to bestow life. MR. HUMBLE AND DR. BUTCHER examines the life-saving advances born of this latter day “Dr. Frankenstein”, but also explores a mystery that still begs solving: if you make a brain to live outside a body, what becomes of the self? Or as White puts it, “Can you transplant the human soul?” (Please note, Jessica Papin is the agent on this project.)

In the vein of Hope Jahren’s Lab Girl and EO Wilson’s Naturalist, Meg Lowman’s THE GIRL WHO LOVED PISTILS, is a making of a scientist memoir from a pioneering “arbornaut’” whose explorations of the tree canopy—what Dr. Lowman calls the eighth continent—have revolutionized our understanding of the teeming, vibrant, incredible ecosystems that exist above our head.  But before Meg was an icon, the Sylvia Earle of the canopy, she was a geek-girl, bird-watcher, leaf-collector, petal-presser and inveterate tree-climber. She parlayed her passion for the natural world into trailblazing career in science, where more often than not she was the sole woman on any given expedition.  (And certainly the only single mother, with two young children in tow.) From the jerry-rigged “slingshot” she created to first propel herself into the treetops, to the hidden universes she discovered therein, to the adventures that have brought her to study trees from Australia to Ethiopia, the Amazon to the Western Ghats of India, Lowman reveals the wonders that few ground-dwellers have ever seen.   Wonders, that are—across the planet—under grave threat.  Inspiring, rousing, vivid and surprising, Lowman’s narrative will deliver readers to a verdant, seldom glimpsed world, one that we can each play a role in preserving. Margaret D. Lowman, Ph.D. a.k.a. “Canopy Meg” www.canopymeg.com is an American biologist, educator, ecologist, writer, editor, and public speaker. She is currently Director of Global Initiatives, Lindsay Chair of Botany, & Senior Scientist in Plant Conservation at the California Academy of Sciences. Nicknamed the “Real-Life Lorax” by National Geographic and “Einstein of the Treetops” by the i, Meg Lowman pioneered the science of canopy ecology.  Her motto is “no child left indoors.” (Please note, Jessica Papin is the agent on this project.)

Nelson Simon stumbled into a trip as a last-minute crew member on a mission to transport a Norwegian schooner from Brooklyn to Bermuda. He pictured it as a week in the Caribbean with a gourmet chef, some down time on a tropical island, then a quick flight home. What did it matter that he had practically no sailing experience? The eight other crew members had plenty - they just needed an extra pair of hands. The ship was Anne Kristine, the oldest continuously sailing vessel in the world. The time was October 1991. The trip began as promised, with a brilliant sun, a crisp breeze and water as far as the eye could see. The breeze turned to gusts, gusts to a gale, the gale to Grace. They had sailed into the path of Hurricane Grace, the southern end of what came to be known as the “Perfect Storm.” Soon, surrounded by an Atlantic storm of historic proportions, the crew was forced to battle 100-mile-per-hour winds and 30-foot waves, trying to find a way to survive. In THE ACCIDENTAL SAILOR, Simon recounts with harrowing detail an unlikely tale that begins with a friendly invitation and ends in the dead of night with a Coast Guard helicopter above, an angry sea below, and the hope of a rescue in the space between. Along the way he considers the nature of life and death, accident and fate, and those moments on the brink, when we feel most alive. THE ACCIDENTAL SAILOR is a first-person tour de force that is both a gripping story of survival and an exploration of the choices we make and where those choices land us. ((Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)

Flies may be the most successful group of animals on Earth. Their numbers are exceeded only by ants, and in diversity they are poised to dethrone beetles, with 1,600 new species being discovered yearly. WINGED VICTORY, by ethologist and critically acclaimed author Jonathan Balcombe, presents a glittering extravaganza of the improbable, audacious, and miraculous ways that flies get on in a world that otherwise only seems to be run by humans. Flies’ astonishing constellation of lifestyles finds them inhabiting deserts, oceans, polar regions, even petroleum deposits. The cheese skipper is named for its maggots’ role in ripening a type of sheep’s milk cheese produced for centuries in Sardinia. Notoriously, these paragons of parasitism also invade the bodies of countless hosts. Much to our chagrin, it is flies, most notably mosquitoes, that have opted enthusiastically for another form of parasitism: stealing blood, with consequences ranging from annoying to dire. But we have much to thank flies for. Without their janitorial services we would soon be awash with organic waste, and disease, and squalor would run rampant. Fly pollinators are crucial to global food supplies, and as members of food webs, flies are indispensable as consumer and consumed. Even forensics gets a fly boost; the presence of their larvae has helped solve hundreds of murder cases and exonerated many falsely accused. Drawing on biology, history, culture, and personal experiences, this book inspires wonder at the diversity, complexity, and success of flies, and raises awareness that our very existence hinges on a network of interacting species. (Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)

FICTION

Molly Radford was only five when her mother died at the hands of Thomas Red, head of a global empire of cutthroat, bloodthirsty pirates. The Reds and the Radfords have been fighting for control of the seas for generations, and her mother Mary Rose was the most legendary pirate captain of all time. After twenty years of hiding, Molly, the most wanted woman on earth, is heading back out to sea on a quest to find out the truth about her mysterious past—with the Reds hot on her tail, ready to take her dead or alive. Molly’s swordfighting skills are the stuff of legend, but she almost meets her match in a barfight with the savvy, street smart Hurricane Jane. The two form a shaky alliance as they assemble a crew of female pirates from around the world with a wide variety of special—and deadly—skills. Together they’ll take on adventure on the high seas, dicey politics on land, love, loss, giant squid, epic storms, deadly battles, lots of booze—and the Reds—as they clamor through port after port amassing supplies and stories of Mary Rose’s glory to help Captain Molly Radford piece together her past. Melissa Pappas’s THE LEGEND OF MOLLY RADFORD: VOYAGE OF THE MARY ROSE is an epic adventure of swordfights, self-discovery, friendship, and intrigue for anyone who needs more badass lady pirates in their life. Please note, Lauren Abramo is the agent on this project.)

Renowned medical researcher Amari Richards is working on a world-changing new drug: Novazatin alters patients’ brain chemistry to replace their painful dreams with pleasant, prefabricated ones where they are safe from fear and trauma. Novazatin is aimed at those struggling with PTSD—but Amari is secretly relying on it to control her own dreams and visit her young son who died a few years ago. Her marriage fell apart with Malik’s death and her relationship with her parents and sisters is strained as well, so these dreams are all she has. Then news breaks of an epidemic overtaking the globe: teenagers are manifesting unusual rashes and respiratory distress, and dying faster than doctors can figure it out. The symptoms seem similar to what Malik suffered through—she never really accepted his diagnosis of lung cancer in one so young—and so Amari throws herself into researching the cause. At the same time, she’s drawn to a coworker, Kwame Banks, who’s equally focused on finding an explanation—when he’s not focused on Amari, that is. As they draw closer to the horrible truth behind the epidemic, Amari finds herself coming back to life, and for the first time begins to envision a future with her son’s memory staying where it belongs: in her memory. From Nicole Blades, the celebrated author of The Thunder Beneath Us and Have You Met Nora – novels praised by Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist among others—comes WASTED ON THE YOUNG, a novel that is at once a searing indictment of power and corruption and a heart-tearing, heart-restoring story of grief, brokenness, and a love that reaches beyond. (Please note, Sharon Pelletier is the agent on this project.)

As a current congressional Chief of Staff and a fifteen-year Capitol Hill veteran, Josh Rogin has met with Kings and Prime Ministers, received classified briefings in undisclosed locations, faced down the F.B.I. and had his personal information hacked by the Russians. With RUN, MOLLY, Rogin uses his insider knowledge of Washington and the corridors of power to create a remarkable political thriller. Molly ‘Oppo’ Oppenheimer is the best Democratic political consultant in the country. She makes enemies for a living. You want to stay off her list? Then don’t run against her candidate. But when the 42-year-old single mother and amateur marathon runner stumbles upon a corpse by the Potomac River, Molly’s own secrets boomerang, and she ends up with a gun at her head. The F.B.I. links the body to National Security Advisor, Quincy Roosevelt, the war hero, descendant of political royalty and the love of Molly’s life. But they haven't spoken in five years, not since Quincy’s wife fired Molly for their affair. Quincy and Molly reunite determined to defeat the F.B.I.’s witch-hunt. But in the darkest corners of the Internet, Molly uncovers a connection between Quincy and Russia. If the opposition research is correct, everything she knows is a lie, and she is an accessory to the scandal of the century. Molly is forced to choose between her heart and her conscience in a decision that could change America forever. A Manchurian Candidate for the Trump era, RUN, MOLLY reverberates with the real-life headlines on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Within the cutthroat politics reminiscent of House of Cards comes a novel with the mystery and suspense of Tana French and the political intrigue of Brad Meltzer. (Please note, John Rudolph is the agent on this project.)

Recovering alcoholic Marshall Mears loses his wife Britt and finds himself on the verge of suicide, willing to do anything to end the pain—except the one thing that can save him. Following an altercation with his estranged older brother Zack and overwhelmed by the grief of losing Britt, Marshall relapses into alcoholic oblivion, reawakening the beast that has lurked on the edges of his consciousness, the one from childhood that inhabits his worst nightmares. Simultaneously neglected and tormented by his family—his vicious father, callous mother, and anxious brother—and overwhelmed by the violence and chaos of growing up in 1970s Brooklyn, young Marshall became fascinated with murder, madness, and death. To cope, he turned to drugs and alcohol. Then the monster appeared and Britt, his best friend since childhood and one example of true love, was all that kept the demons in check. But now she’s dead, and with bottle in hand and the tragedies of his past alive all around him, Marshall must choose between the tempting oblivion of alcohol and facing the truth about himself that he has refused to confront. MONSTERS LIVING AMONG US by debut author Michael Eon is a poignant exploration of the forces and relationships that shape our identities, perceptions, and ultimately, our lives. (Please note, Mike Hoogland is the agent on this project.)

Two brothers have never forgiven each other for the role one of them played in the accidental death of the other’s beloved wife.  Yet, through the ashes of tragedy, their daughters formed an unlikely bond.  Now both twenty-one, one daughter is wound tight with ambition to become a doctor while the other dances from one destructive choice to the next.  But that fateful summer, a night of drinking leads to a betrayal neither thought possible.  Faced with an unwanted pregnancy, both fathers and daughters confront long-buried resentments and heartbreaking truths.  As the months tick down, all must decide what can be endured for the people they love most.  Told from multiple perspectives, BURNING ORCHARDS by Mackenzie Melvin is an ultimately uplifting narrative about choice, courage, and empowerment.  Melvin’s memorable debut should resonate with readers who enjoyed The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo. (Please note, Ann Leslie Tuttle is the agent on this project.)

When a chance encounter brings two unlikely lovers into contact on a beautiful Caribbean beach, the attraction between the British soldier and American artist is stunning and immediate. But their peaceful vacation takes a dangerous turn as they’re caught up in a bloodthirsty fight with an organization that sells human organs on the black market.  To survive, the pair will have to place their faith in the new, yet powerful connection that’s building between them. A connection that is the only thing strong enough to see them through to the light of day.   Blending high stakes with an equally intense romance, BEFORE THE DAWN by Allison Patrick is the first in a new series about the men and women who belong to a secret international organization tackling the deadliest of covert operations.  Writing in the vein of NYT bestselling authors Linda Howard and Lora Leigh, Allison Patrick is the pseudonym for a national bestselling author who has written over 30 romances. (Please note, Ann Leslie Tuttle is the agent on this project.)

Devoted stay-at-home mother and former aspiring artist Jillian Kensington has spent the past two decades supporting her philandering Classics professor husband, Lawrence. When their son leaves for college, Lawrence leaves, too--for one of his much younger teaching assistants. As her 40th birthday approaches, Jillian finds herself suddenly alone and in shock, holding the shattered fragments of a life she’s worked hard to convince herself was perfect after getting pregnant and dropping out of school at 19 to marry the father of her child. When her estranged best friend from childhood appears out of nowhere to whisk a grieving Jillian back to the small mountain town where they grew up, Jillian realizes she has a choice to make: Remain in a fever dream of denial and victimhood, or wake up and create a new life for herself as a woman and as an artist. With further help from a high school boyfriend she hasn’t seen in twenty years and a bitter, Desert Storm veteran, Jillian ventures into unfamiliar emotional territory. The sometimes mythically harrowing journey forces her to confront the dark underworld of her marriage and the ways in which she long ago abandoned the people and things that matter most. Loosely inspired by the writings of Homer and other ancient Greek storytellers, THE JILLIAD by MFA instructor Nicole McInnes (in her adult debut) is a commercial novel about the choices we make, the consequences of those choices, and—if we’re lucky—the chance we get to create something authentic and new from the broken pieces of our former selves. (Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)

Forty-ish hipster dad Jake is jolted from a comfortable life in the politically progressive, urban, and notably self-satisfied community of Greenwood, raising his two daughters, playing guitar in a band, and working not that hard at his not-so-interesting job, when his ultra-competent wife Lisa announces suddenly that she wants a divorce. An initially amicable split and joint custody arrangement for the children swerves sharply off course when Jake becomes involved with Samara, a beautiful millennial who is not only married, but proudly polyamorous. Lives intertwine as the story unfolds from multiple points of view. Jake’s divorce lawyer’s teenage daughter babysits for him and it doesn’t end well. A pious Christian judge who deeply resents her assignment to family court presides over a custody trial in which Lisa claims that Jake exposed their seven-year-old daughter Charlie to inappropriate sexual conduct. A surprise witness is subpoenaed; an unexpected confrontation ensues. And all over Greenwood—at the coffee shop, the yoga studio, .and the basketball court—choruses of friends and neighbors gossip, dissect, and weigh in. Funny, poignant and incisive, EVERY OTHER WEEKEND is a debut novel from Margaret Klaw, a prominent divorce lawyer, blogger and author. Like Tom Perrotta’s compelling urban dramas, it is a contemporary commercial novel with a heated twist. (Please note, Stacey Glick is the agent on this project.)

Rights Round Up

Audible acquired audio rights to YOUR DESTINATION IS ON THE LEFT by Lauren Spieller, RUIN by Samantha Towle, BRAVE by Tammara Webber, LOVE AGAIN by Kelly Elliott, and BAD MOMMY and ATHEISTS WHO KNEEL AND PRAY by Tarryn Fisher. Audio rights to TROUBLE BREWING by Suzanne Baltsar went to Brilliance. Listen Up has rights to THE BLACK WIDOWER by Michael Fleeman.

Film rights to MORTAL PURSUIT by Michael Prescott were optioned by Sergio Mimica Gezzan. BARBED WIRE HEART by Tess Sharpe was optioned by Warner Brothers with Margot Robbie and Dan Lin producing. Miramax optioned film rights to DEATH IN THE AIR by Kate Winkler Dawson, with Lauren Whitney producing. Film rights to BORN EVIL by Adrian Havill were optioned by Garrison Dean LLC and KET Entertainment, with Paul Hogan and Kathy Egan producing. CAPTIVE IN THE DARK by CJ Roberts was optioned by Helix Media Group, with Andrew Prendergast producing. Mustache Agency optioned film rights to THE PROGRAM by Suzanne Young.

Pegasus acquired Turkish rights to I HAVE LOST MY WAY by Gayle Forman, Euromedia acquired Czech rights, Cicero  acquired Hungarian rights, Presenca acquired Portuguese rights, Ikar acquired Slovak rights, and Urano acquired Spanish rights. Epica acquired Romanian rights to Colleen Hoover’s HOPELESS, and Lindhart & Ringhof acquired Danish rights, while Bokabeitan acquired Icelandic rights to the NEVER NEVER trilogy by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher. Czech rights to Samantha Young’s PLAY ON were sold to Euromedia, Ikar acquired Slovak rights, while Hungarian rights for OUT OF THE SHALLOWS went to Konyvmolykepzo. French rights for GRIST MILL ROAD by Christopher J. Yates went to Le Cherche-Midi, and UK rights went to Headline. Amy Morin’s 13 THINGS MENTALLY STRONG PARENTS DON’T DO was sold for simplified Chinese publication to CITIC Press, and her 13 THINGS MENTALLY STRONG PEOPLE DON’T DO was sold for Lithuanian publication to Alma Littera. FALLEN TOO FAR, NEVER TOO FAR, and FOREVER TOO FAR by Abbi Glines will be published in Croatian by 24 SATA, and SWEET LITTLE THING, SWEET LITTLE LIES, and SWEET LITTLE MEMORIES will be published in Dutch by Karakter. Jacqueline Carey’s KUSHIEL’S CHOSEN will be published in Hungarian by Konyvmolykepzo. AST acquired Russian rights for HIDEAWAY by Penelope Douglas. UK rights to QUEER VOICES: A GLOBAL ANTHOLOGY edited by Mona Eltahawy and Zeyad Salem were sold to Zed Books.  Amy Gentry’s LAST WOMAN STANDING sold for German publication to C. Bertelsmann. A DIFFERENT BLUE by Amy Harmon will be published in Polish by Helion. John Hemingway’s STRANGE TRIBE will be published in Italian by Marlin. Schalgi acquired Hebrew rights to GUS by Kim Holden. Raine Miller’s THE PASSION OF DARIUS sold to Suma for Spanish publication. IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma went to Eksmo for Russian publication. Czech rights for THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE and THE FRATERNITY OF THE STONE by David Morrell went to Alpress. JA Redmerski’s KILLING SARAI and REVIVING IZABEL was sold for French publication to Bragelonne. Adel acquired Hebrew rights to Madeline Sheehan’s UNDENIABLE and UNBEAUTIFULLY. Newton Compton acquired Italian rights to Samantha Towle’s UNDER HER. Tammara Webber’s BRAVE was sold for Portuguese publication to Verus. Kuraldisi acquired Turkish rights to DAN-SHA-RI by Hideko Yamashita. THE WALL OF WINNIPEG AND ME and KULTI by Mariana Zapata will be published in Polish by Niezwykle. Sara Zarr’s GEM & DIXIE was sold for Russian publication to Ripol.

RECENT SALES

World rights to BUZZ KILL by David Sosnowski were sold to 47North/Amazon.

Stacey Glick sold World English rights for DADDY DAUGHTER HAIR FACTORY BOOK by Philippe Morgese to Countryman Press/W.W. Norton.

THE REIGN OF THE KINGFISHER by TJ Martinson went to Flatiron Books in a World rights deal by Sharon Pelletier.

Abrams bought World rights to THE TRAIN IS BEING HELD by Ismée Amiel Williams in a deal by Jim McCarthy.

North American rights to John Glatt’s THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR were sold to St. Martin’s Press.

Michael Gerhardt’s LINCOLN’S MENTORS went to Custom House in a World rights deal.

Stacey Glick sold UNTITLED AIR FRIYER COOKBOOK and INTERNATIONAL INSTANT POT by Urvashi Pitre to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in a World rights deal.

World rights to Lauren Spieller’s SHE’S THE WORST were sold to S&S Children’s in a deal by Jim McCarthy.

JACK KEROUAC IS DEAD TO ME by Gae Polisner were sold to St. Martin’s Press in a World rights deal by Jim McCarthy.

World rights to MY PLACE AT THE TABLE by Alexander Lobrano were sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

THE ROAD BETWEEN by Sean Easley was sold to S&S Children’s in a World rights deal by Jim McCarthy.

Andrew Hart’s THE NANNY went to Lake Union/Amazon in a World rights deal by Stacey Glick.

North American rights to THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SEX AND DEATH by Sara Faith Alterman sold to Grand Central in a deal by Stacey Glick.

Jessica Papin sold World rights to THE CANCER NEWS by Elaine Schattner, MD to Columbia University Press.

THE HAMPTONS KITCHEN by Hillary Davis and Stacy Dermont went to Countryman Press/W.W. Norton in a World rights deal.

Jacqueline Lipton’s LAW & AUTHORS was sold to University of California Press in a World rights deal.

World English rights to ADDING VALUE: Reclaiming Our Food, Our Health & Our Planet from the Ravages of a Cheap Commodity Economy by Bob Quinn and Liz Carlisle went to Island Press in a deal by Jessica Papin.

Jim McCarthy sold World rights to RULES FOR MAKING CAKES and a second untitled book by Remy Lai to Macmillan.

HOW TO HAVE IMPOSSIBLE CONVERSATIONS by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay went to Da Capo Press in a World rights deal.

Nicole Melleby’s CYPRESS & FIG TREES and UNTITLED BOOK 2 were sold to Algonquin Books for Young Readers for World rights by Jim McCarthy.

World rights to LUIS AND CLARK by Joy McCullough were sold to Atheneum Books for Young Readers in a deal by Jim McCarthy.

Amy Elizabeth Bishop sold World rights to Lisa Jhung’s RUNNING THAT DOESN’T SUCK to Running Press.

UN-AMERICAN by Andrew Seidel was sold to Sterling in a World rights deal.

George Zaidan’s INGREDIENTS was sold to Dutton in a World rights deal.

SERIAL GRILLER by Matt Moore went to Oxmoor House in a World rights deal by Stacey Glick.

Bloomsbury Sigma bought World English rights to WALKING WITH GOLIATH by Leah Garces in a deal by Stacey Glick.

North American rights to TEMPER by Layne Fargo went to Gallery in a deal by Sharon Pelletier.

Ann Leslie Tuttle sold World rights to Jeannette Monaco’s SURVIVAL INSTINCT, ADIRONDACK ATTACK, DEADLY SHADOWS, and DANGEROUS CONDITIONS to Harlequin.

Kelly Mullen-McWilliams’s AGNES AND THE END OF THE WORLD was sold to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in a World rights deal by Michael Bourret.

FIRST CUT and UNTITLED BOOK 2 by TJ Mitchell and Judy Melinek were sold to Hanover Square Press in a World rights deal by Jessica Papin.

Berkley bought World rights to UNTITLED BOOKS 1 & 2 by Kimmery Martin.

World English rights to LET THE RECORD SHOW: ACT UP and the Enduring Relationship of AIDS by Sarah Schulman went to Farrar, Straus & Giroux in a deal by Michael Bourret.

Ann Leslie Tuttle sold World rights to Debbie Herbert’s THE GIFTING OF CROWS and UNTITLED BOOK 2 to Thomas and Mercer/Amazon.

Jon Wipfli’s FRESH WATER FISH COOKBOOK was sold to Voyageur Press/Quarto in a World rights deal.

PACEY PACKER: UNICORN TRACKER Book 1 and 2 by J.C. Phillips were sold to Random House Children’s Books in a World rights deal by Michael Bourret.

Touchstone bought North American rights to UNREMEMBERED LIVES by Mary Doria Russell.

North American rights to THE MEMORY KEEPER by Jennifer Camiccia went to Aladdin/S&S in a deal by Stacey Glick.

Lauren Abramo sold World rights to Samantha Young’s FIGHT OR FLIGHT to Berkley.

Jacqueline Carey’s CASSIEL’S SERVANT was sold to Tor in a World rights deal.

TWO UNTITLED NOVELS by Colleen Hoover were sold to Atria in a World rights deal.

Alfred A. Knopf bought North American rights to MADHUR JAFFREY’S ESSENTIAL INDIAN INSTANT POT COOKBOOK by Madhur Jaffrey.

World rights to VOICE LESSONS by Rob Paulsen with Mike Fleeman went to Start Publishing in a deal by Amy Elizabeth Bishop.

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST by Mason Deaver went to Scholastic in a North American rights deal by Lauren Abramo.

Severn House bought World English rights to Claire Booth Chapman’s third HANK WORTH mystery in a deal by Jim McCarthy.