Elmore Gets ‘Justified'
With season two of FX's Justified, based on Elmore Leonard's sharp-shooting Kentucky U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, having just wrapped, the author is returning to the character for the novel Raylan. Editor David Highfill at HarperCollins bought North American rights from Jeff Posternak at the Wylie Agency, and the book is scheduled for February 2012, to coincide with season three of the cable show. Givens has appeared in two of Leonard's previous novels, 1993's Pronto and 1995's Riding the Rap, but the show's pilot is largely based on the short story, "Fire in the Hole." While Leonard worked on Raylan independently of the show, he did, at the request of the show's creators, send pages from the work to the set and, as a result, a version of one character from the novel features prominently in season two.
Crane's a 'Hater' for Feiwel
Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends bought North American rights to Caprice Crane's debut YA novel, How to Be a Hater, from Alanna Ramirez at Trident Media Group. Crane, who wrote the first season of the CW's 90210 and such adult novels as With a Little Luck (Bantam), follows a teenage girl who finds popularity is not all its cracked up to be after reinventing herself when she switches schools and cribs advice from the diary of her older, cooler sister. Ramirez said the book was sold as "Mean Girls meets Revenge of the Nerds with a comic book twist"; publication is scheduled for spring/summer 2013.
Blogger Lands at FSG
Sarah Burnes at the Gernert Company sold Snarkmarket blogger Robin Sloan's debut novel, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, at auction to Sean McDonald at FSG. McDonald bought North American rights to the book, about a bookseller who, while working the nightshift at a San Francisco indie meets a cast of eccentric characters. Mr. Penumbra first appeared as a self-published short story in the Kindle store in 2009. Gernert has also sold the book in Brazil, Germany, Greece, and Italy.
Living Single, and Mormon, at Hyperion
Hyperion's Christine Pride pre-empted North American rights to Nicole Hardy's memoir, Fallen, which is expanded from a Modern Love column the author wrote about being a devout Mormon who, in her 30s, enters the dating pool, as a virgin, with gusto. Agent Susan Golomb brokered the deal and Hyperion is calling the book a cross between Eat, Pray, Love and Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Fallen is slated for Voice's winter 2013 list.
Briefs
Jackson Galaxy, the cat behavioralist star of Animal Planet's My Cat from Hell, sold world rights to a memoir about his relationship with a damaged feline to Sara Carder at Tarcher. Joy Tutela at David Black did the deal and said the book will also include tips on understanding the needs of cats.
In a two-book deal, Trish Todd at Simon & Schuster bought the debut novel by former Houghton Mifflin editor Wendy Francis, Three Good Things. Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen represented Francis, and the novel follows two adult sisters as they confront and overcome various hurdles in their lives.
