Return to Camelot
Between the scheming, jealous spats and love triangles, Arthurian England shares much in common with a modern high school—that's the concept behind Meg Cabot's Avalon High (HarperCollins, 2005). Transfer student Elaine "Ellie" Harrison realizes her new classmates—class president A. William Wagner, his cheerleader girlfriend, Jennifer, and football hottie Lance—may be modern-day reincarnations of the Camelot crew. The Disney Channel has just optioned the novel's dramatic rights for production company Jaffe/Braunstein Films Ltd. (CBS's Elvis). Disney may be banking on its success with Cabot's Princess Diaries(HarperCollins), the inspiration for the 2001 movie starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews (a former Guinevere herself). Brandt & Hochman's Bill Contardi negotiated on behalf of Laura Langlie, who reps Cabot for lit.
Body of Influence
Can a murder case be built without the body or any other physical evidence? That's the question at the heart of Michael Glasgow and Phyllis Gobbell's An Unfinished Canvas: The Mysterious Disappearance of Artist Janet March, on submission to publishers and producers. Sure to appeal to Court TV junkies, the manuscript explores the 1996 disappearance of a mother of two from her Nashville home and the subsequent finger-pointing at her attorney husband, Perry—who was convicted of the killing just last week. Glasgow and Gobbell are represented by Martin Literary Management's Sharlene Martin. APA's Steve Fisher is Martin's coagent for film rights.
Lesson for Living
Set in 1964 Mississippi, Freshwater Road(Penguin, 2005), the debut novel by actress Denise Nicholas (TV's In the Heat of the Night), depicts the experiences of 19-year-old African-American college student Celeste Tyree as she leaves behind a white boyfriend and a race-conscious father to register black voters in Pineyville. The Detroit native comes to a new emotional and racial consciousness as she encounters abject poverty and hatred previously unknown to her as a Northerner. Pat Palleschi brought the book to the attention of her husband, Canyon Road's Garry Hart, who had worked with Chas.JohnsonProductions; they collectively optioned the rights. Nicholas, who is repped by William Reiss of the John Hawkins Agency for lit, negotiated the deal herself.
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