First, I want to congratulate my girl Lauren, who just made a two-book deal with Berkley Heat. In fact, I'm so excited and proud that I'm gonna bust out the dance monkey on her behalf. This is a first over here on "Try some; it's good." I'm pretty possessive of my monkey, but I think this occasion calls for something special. Don't you?

You want to touch my monkey? You know you do. But no! I will not let you. Well, maybe just this once.

Anyway, make sure you stop by Lauren's blog to show her the adulation she rightly deserves. She's got a kick-ass project called Battlefront that will make a great stocking stuffer around Christmastime next year.

So big love to her for bringing the latest sale to the luminous Laura Bradford. Why, that sounds like a segue, you might say. Indeed it is, my perceptive friends.

Marissa Scott passed on some news, and I just have to brag. See, when it comes to my agent, I don't have a humble bone in my body. And I still can't believe she reps me. She's the tightest, brightest, best-dog-in-the-fight-est-- damn, I gotta move on before I bust out with a cover of Wind Beneath My Wings.

Laura is more than an agent. She's an editor, a friend, and always willing to listen or deal with whatever issue I'm having. I could search for ten years and never find anybody who rocks my literary world like she does. She's a rocket, I'm telling you, and her judgment is money in the bank.

But don't take my word for it. How about the Publishers Weekly Top Deal Makers of 2007? Let's take a look at the top five, shall we?

Roberta Brown
Natasha Kern
Deidre Knight
Laura Bradford
Pam Ahearn

Oh yeah. You read that right. Laura is a rainmaker, a rock star, and the wave of the future. In honor of her rock star status, I've adapted a little ditty for her (with apologies to Kelis and anyone who gets this stuck in their head after reading this).

[Repeat x2]
My agent brings all the authors to the yard,
And they're like
she's better than ours,
Damn right she's better than yours,
She could teach them,
But she'd have to charge

I know you want it,
The thing that makes her,
What the pubs go crazy for.
They lose their minds,
The way we sign,
I think it's time

[Chorus x2]
La la-la la la,
Warm it up.
Lala-lalala,
The pubs are waiting

My agent brings all the authors to the yard,
And they're like
she's better than ours,
Damn right she's better than yours,
she could teach them,
But she'd have to charge

Here's to Laura and Lauren. You two are the best evuh.

Labels: the squee heard round the world

The wait is over!

Laura and I pitched an urban fantasy series a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure y'all remember me mentioning Good Touch from time to time. It's along the lines of Patricia Briggs, but with my own voice / twist on the genre. Anne Sowards, my editor for the Jax books, compared me to Ms. Briggs. Of course, she also compared me to Jim Butcher, and I nearly melted into a puddle of boneless goo. They're two of my favorite authors!

On Friday, Anne offered for my urban fantasy series on pre-empt -- three book deal! She and Laura did some negotiating and they've worked out an amazing deal. We've officially accepted the offer now, so I'm free to squee about it.

SQUEE!

I love working with Anne. She's brilliant, gifted, visionary, and she has a marvelous way of making my books better without dismantling them. This is a dream come true. So I'll be writing two series for Ace simultaneously. I'm still dazed, to be honest.

A little more information -- there are no shifters or vamps in this series. Magic exists, but it's ritual based, not point and shoot. Demons can be summoned and pacts are made, but by and large, mankind is responsible for all the evils in the world in one way or another. There are Gifted humans, who possess powers like TK, telepathy, pyrokinesis, clairaudience, clairvoyance, and psychometry. The heroine of the series, Corine Solomon, possesses the latter, which is the ability to read objects with a touch. Hence, this is called the Touch series.

I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself, so I want you to come party with me. To share my good fortune, I'm giving away a $25 Amazon gift certificate just for the hell of it. Show me some comment love up in here, and you might get something back. You also won't want to miss contests I'm running on the Bradford Bunch and in my author loop, Action and Attitude. If you haven't already joined that, you should do so now, or you'll miss the September contest.

If you're having a hard time assimilating this much awesome, I'll break it down. Pre-empt. Three-book deal. Ann is writing two series for Ace.

Come on, y'all. Party with me!

Labels: the squee heard round the world, writing

I'm still in Cozumel, and I have a bunch of email to catch up on when I get home. But this is too good to keep to myself. I couldn't wait. Official cover -- it's been approved and Deena is in the process of plastering it all over my website. Isn't it awesome? I've been gazing at it with awed admiration for the last two weeks, and the wonder still hasn't worn off. That's my book. Seriously, right? Grimspace releases on Feb 26, 2008.

And here's what people are saying about it:

"A tightly written, edge of your seat read with intense characterization - plus one pounding, hot SF plot."
--Linnea Sinclair, RITA Award Winning Author of GABRIEL'S GHOST and GAMES OF COMMAND


"An irresistible blend of action and attitude. Sirantha Jax doesn't just leap off the page -- she storms out, kicking, cursing, and mouthing off. No wonder her pilot falls in love with her; readers will too."
--Sharon Shinn, William L.Crawford Award Winning Author of ARCHANGEL and READER AND RAELYNX


"A terrific first novel full of page-turning action, delightful characters and a wry twist of humor. Romance may be in the air. Bullets, ugly beasties, and really nasty bad guys definitely are. Skip lunch - buy this book!"
--Mike Shepherd, national bestselling author of the Kris Longknife series


"Grimspace is an exciting, evocative and suspenseful science fiction romance, reminding me of Firefly and Serenity. Characters and a world you'll think about long after the book is done. Fascinating!"
--Robin D. Owens, award-winning author of HeartMate


"An unflinching tale of survival, redemption, and serious ass-kicking. Jax's brutal eloquence will twist your heart when you least expect it."
--Jeri Smith-Ready, award-winning author of EYES OF CROW

Don't you wish you could run out and buy it right now?

Labels: cover goodness, the squee heard round the world, writing

Are you ready?

I've joined the ranks of the luminaries who write for Ace, such as LKH and Patricia Briggs. Today we finalized a two-book deal with Anne Sowards, who will edit my books. I hear she's an amazing editor, and I'm thrilled.

Ace was the first choice for my agent and me, and we did it! Laura, to quote Dionne, "is a right rainmaker." That's the gospel truth. I signed with her at the end of March. Not even two months later, I have a deal with a major NY publisher, and FALLING (which will likely be retitled before it goes to press) hits the stores in March. It feels like a huge coup getting a book published in NY in under a year! Sirantha Jax #2, currently just a gleam in my eye, comes out September '08.

Ace has me on the fast track, and suddenly I need to think about editorial notes and cover art. Cover art! I have deadlines. I'll be on Publisher's Marketplace soon, but you heard it here first. Go on and yell about it. Goodness knows I am.

Labels: the squee heard round the world