Short Takes
by John F. Baker -- Publishers Weekly, 3/14/2005
It's always good when one of our own is recognized, and here's word that PW's West Coast correspondent, Bridget Kinsella, has just had her first book preempted, by Kim Meisnerat Harmony. It's called, tentatively, Visiting Life, and deals with the world of women prison visitors—those mothers, wives and friends who can commune with their loved ones only through Plexiglas. Kinsella got to know this world through a friend who teaches writing in prison, and became close to a convicted murderer in the process. Meisner bought North American, first serial and audio from agent Amy Rennert.... Another recent deal by Rennert was the sale of a new book of stories by bestselling novelist/songwriter Jimmy Buffett to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, for world and audio rights.... Agent Georges Borchardt sold new books by a pair of celebrated clients to their previous publishers: a new novel by David Guterson to Robin Desser at Knopf—it's about an eco-terrorist who becomes a serial killer—and another closeup on WWII by George Lukacs, whose Five Days in London 1940was a bestseller for Yale U.P., which has now bought The Day Hitler Invaded Russia.... Last week we noted an upcoming SMP book on the Wichita serial killer, and now learn that New American Library already had one in the hopper before the killer was even caught, ready for publication this month. It's Nightmare in Wichita by local attorney Robert Beattie, and a local cop suggested that knowledge of its impending publication might have helped persuade accused BTK strangler Dennis Rader to show his hand.... The indefatigable Marly Rusoff has made several more sales, the most intriguing of which was a small humorous novel called Golfing with God by avid golfer Roland Merullo. It's about another avid golfer who dies and goes to heaven, and finds that, yes, there are hundreds of fine courses and the weather is always perfect; only trouble is, God needs some help with His (or sometimes Her) game. Chuck Adams at Algonquin got world English rights and will offer it as a lead title next winter.
