Christine Ebbs, Publishing Executive at Penguin Random House Australia, has clinched a three-book deal for Australian and New Zealand rights in the BROKEN CYCLE fantasy trilogy by Australian bookseller and influencer Bronte-Marie Wesson. The agent was John Jarrold. The first book is due for publication early in 2026, with books two and three following at six-monthly intervals.
In November 2021, Bronte-Marie posted a video on TikTok describing the premise of THE BROKEN CYCLE series, which went viral, amassing 1.5 million views and 280,000 likes. She has a collective social following of 880,000 and has accrued 4.1 million views on a playlist documenting her progress writing the trilogy.
THE ASCENSION OF SOULS is the first book in the trilogy, a queer own-voices story that explores the last stand of a dying culture against a goliath empire, as well as the misfits who fall within the margins of history who try to grind an age old conflict to its end. A curse has trapped Loghar in an eternal war with their imperial neighbours, with central figures reincarnated in each generation to act out the tale. Luminara is a servant who has spent her whole life learning to go unseen, just another face amongst the hundreds who work in the kitchens. When her birthday celebrations coincide with that of the boy-king, the two strike up a serendipitous companionship that blooms into romance. Luminara finds herself pulled into a realm of prophecy that is as ancient as her homeland and as her lover begins to take up his mantle in the war, she is forced to take a stance against him or watch the world around her turn to ash.
THE ASCENSION OF SOULS will appeal to readers who loved The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.
Christine Ebbs said: “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Bronte-Marie onto the Penguin Random House list. With The Ascension of Souls they have created an incredible new world and a cast of characters I immediately fell in love with. I can’t wait to introduce the Broken Cycle trilogy to the world!”
Hazel Holmes at UCLan Publishing has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in three new novels by author and illustrator Curtis Jobling. The agent was John Jarrold.
WYRDWOOD is a standalone YA novel, and RED TIDE BLACK HEART books 1 and 2 open a middle-grade series.
Curtis Jobling is the creator and designer of numerous hit children’s animated shows, including the BAFTA-winning ‘Bob the Builder’, ‘Raa Raa the Noisy Lion’ and ‘Frankenstein’s Cat’.
Although renowned for his work in film & TV, Curtis’s first love has always been horror and fantasy for older audiences. His acclaimed best-selling series of epic fantasy novels, ‘Wereworld’, was published by Penguin worldwide, while his darkly comic young adult thrillers, ‘Haunt: Dead Scared’ and ‘Haunt: Dead Wrong’ were published by Simon & Schuster in the UK. His middle-grade novels, ‘Max Helsing & The Thirteenth Curse’ and ‘Max Helsing & The Beast of Bone Creek’ are published by Viking in the US and Orchard in the UK.
The ‘Wereworld’ series of novels has been developed into a major new animated show for NETFLIX, produced by Lime Pictures and Jellyfish Pictures. Curtis has remained actively involved throughout the production, adapting all six novels as lead writer and associate producer. Titled ‘Wolf King’, the series will be broadcast globally by NETFLIX in 2024.
Curtis says: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Hazel and her team at UCLan on these new titles. I’ve been looking to collaborate with UCLan for some time, and both of these properties are the perfect fit for this wonderful publishing house. Combining the themes of traditional fairy tales with the frights of contemporary folk horror, WYRDWOOD is Grimm Brothers meets Stranger Things, with a cast of characters that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Stephen King story. RED TIDE BLACK HEARTis an epic historical fantasy, featuring a teenage shieldmaiden, a Pictish boy-king and a host of Norse monsters. It’s The Norseman meets The Odyssey for monster-loving, middle-grade readers.’
Hannu Rajaniemi’s new novel, DARKOME, will be published by Gollancz on September 5 2024. Since SUMMERLAND, Hannu has also been building HelixNano, a biotech startup augmenting the immune system’s power to fight disease with mRNA. At the start of the pandemic, he and his team refocused the company’s efforts on COVID. Now they have launched a clinical trial for a next-generation COVID vaccine in designed to generate strong responses in immunosuppressed individuals. (https://www.einpresswire.com/article/697341469/helixnano-s-subsidiary-helixnano-australia-receives-hrec-approval-to-initiate-a-phase-1-clinical-trial). HelixNano is also developing novel cancer vaccines, and has raised ~$70M USD from some of the world’s top investors including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI.
Hannu was already thinking about biology in the context of science fiction as well, but the pandemic experience transformed his thinking, both in his writing, and in what HelixNano is developing. The unique result was DARKOME, a near-future biotech thriller where a young woman discovers how to hack her own — and everyone’s — biology. But such power comes at a cost, and there are those who will stop at nothing to possess her secret.
US author Maggie Sekella has joined the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
Her debut novel Duodenary is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as an adult, fantasy, sapphic romantic murder mystery. It’s a standalone novel set in a fantastical world of the author’s own making, though it follows the broad strokes of the original play, with themes including corrupt monarchy, were-creatures, metaphorical discussion of human nature, and a realistic depiction of horror and mystery within a medieval fantasy setting…
Evelyn, Hound of the Holy Crown, knows how to handle dangerous criminals, it’s her profession after all… Or rather, it used to be. A year after the investigator’s dishonourable discharge from the King’s ranks, she finds reason to believe her twin brother and incorrigible bard, Bastian, has gone missing, his last known whereabouts being the near-forgotten island of Illyria. What’s even worse, rumours of a murderer stalking that very island have reached Evie’s keen ears, and knowing her brother, he’s most likely involved. After a shipwreck nearly takes her life, the investigator finally finds herself upon Illyrian soil, having been pulled from the waves by a mysterious saviour. And so, the Hound’s hunt begins.
She meets…
Morgan, she is the tiny town’s esteemed Jarl, sole bartender and innkeeper, and she knows the lower streets of Illyria like the back of her hand. So when her people begin turning up dead, disembowelled, pieces stolen off their corpses, her top priority becomes finding the bastard responsible. Luckily for her, a professional investigator has just washed up on her shore, ready to sacrifice anything to bring their killer to justice, and find her brother alive.
And…
Lady Octavia Love, heir to the Love family, who has recently claimed her title as duchess of Illyria. Her brother, the former Duke Love, was found slain, assumed to be the murderer’s first victim on Illyrian soil. The lady has since locked herself within her estate, stating that she is in a period of mourning, and all outside visitors are forbidden from entering the property… including local authorities that wish to investigate her brother’s death.
The three protagonists’ lives become intertwined, in more ways than one.
Maggie says: “Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has been an important piece to me for quite a while, since I was fourteen, and cast as Sebastian in a school play. I found the story charming, the characters hilarious, but the conflict resolution… Something about that stood out to me, noticeable and niggling as a hangnail. A lecture by Shanta Lee Gander, the author of Black Metamorphoses, about the importance of reimaging older works, initially planted the seeds for this project in my subconscious. It’s not simply about pointing out that centuries-old works may in fact promote centuries-old ideals, but recognizing the purpose of the original, what made it important, what made it worth reading, watching, etc. and then helping it transition into a new age of new people with new ideals, and less secretive identities. This reimagining is for you, for us, anyone who has felt it is safer to keep your identity hidden from the world. We all deserve better than secrets and silence.”
John Jarrold said: “I’ve loved Shakespeare even longer than I’ve loved fantasy and SF. When I read this I was immediately entranced by the way Maggie used the original play and story brilliantly, while creating something new. The characters sing, the tale is wonderful and the events drew me in throughout. Romance, horror and mysteries suffuse the novel.”
Maggie is a New England-born author with one book, an anthology of short stories titled Eros Thanatos – an Anthology of Love and Loss, that she self-published through Kindle Direct in her senior year in high school, 2022. She has also won two Young Writers awards as well as a silver key for fiction from Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Her website is at: http://maggiesekellaauthor.com
Author Dani Raanan has joined the John Jarrold Literary Agency.
Her debut adult fantasy novel is THE CRAFTER’S WIFE, which will appeal to fans of SPINNING SILVER by Naomi Novik and THE SNOW SONG by Sally Gardner. It is inspired by the rich mythology of her Jewish culture.
24-year-old Shosha is married off by her witch-hunter father and a magic-fearing king to a man she knows by reputation only: the mysterious, arrogant Crafter. Long suspected of conducting illicit magical arts, the Crafter has many secrets the king wishes to employ. Shosha is tasked with uncovering these secrets, for she has a talent of her own: the ability to ‘sense’ magic – its flavour, its scent, its essence. If she fails, her family will surely face the block – but her success will come at the cost of her husband, whose head will hang from the palace gates. She and the Crafter begin a life of deception, a game of cat-and-mouse, each fighting for survival at the expense of the other and – against their wills – gradually getting to know each other. All the while watched by the Crafter’s animated collection of humanoids: his living, breathing army of golems.
THE CRAFTER’S WIFE is a standalone manuscript that encompasses the author’s love of science with her fascination with magic and Jewish mythology – primarily, with golems. Dani works as an editorial assistant for a science journal and lives under the tyrannical rule of a large cat in Leeds with her husband and two children.
John Jarrold said: “The wit, imagination and wonderful characters drew me in immediately, as did the truly outstanding feel for setting. There’s peril, romance and dark dealings. And the use of magic fascinates me. Welcome, Dani!”
