I know I’ve been gone for a while….but I have a good reason!
From PW Children’s Bookshelf: “Cheryl Klein at Scholastic’s Arthur A. Levine Books imprint has bought world rights, in a pre-empt, to author Varian Johnson’s middle-grade debut, Jackson Greene Steals the Election. Pitched as Ocean’s Eleven for middle-schoolers, the book stars an eighth-grade reformed con artist who has to get his old crew back together to stop the school bully from winning the all-powerful SGA Presidential election, while trying to win back his ex-best friend and first crush. Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger brokered the deal”
You all have no idea how excited I am to be working with Cheryl. Both Arthur and Cheryl are great editors and great people, and I am so glad that Jackson Greene found a home with them.
Of course, just because I’m dipping my toes into middle grade doesn’t mean I’m giving up on YA…but it’s good to shake things up a bit. To try something new. (And to be fair, I didn’t know this was a middle grade until Sara and Cheryl told me so.)
Aside from working on edits, I’ll be pretty busy this fall. I’ll be teaching a Highlights Whole Novel Writing Workshop for YA Fiction in October with Rita Williams-Garcia, Coe Booth, and Sara Crowe! Even though the deadline has passed, I know they’re open to taking a few more manuscripts–so if you’re interested, check it out.
I’ll also be speaking at a few other events, including the East Texas Book Festival in September and the NCTE-ALAN Workshop in November. I’ll post more info on those events soon.
Now, I’m off to get some work done. Because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you sell a book–you sit down and write another one.