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Adult Division News
October 2020
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Dear Friends,

We hope you have found time to rest and recuperate this summer. Though the industry is still working virtually, this fall is shaping up to be busier than ever.

Our team at Transatlantic continues to grow, with agents spread out across North America representing a range of bestselling authors for multiple genres. We are pleased to announce that Devon Halliday, based in Ohio, has come on-board as Literary Agent. Devon has prior experience in agenting (Writers House, Susanna Lea Associates), and scouting (Sanford J. Greenburger, Maria B. Campbell Associates), and is actively building her client list of primarily American fiction and nonfiction authors. We also welcome Chelene Knight, based in Vancouver, an award-winning author, prior managing editor and author consultant, who joins as Associate Agent and is actively building a client list of influential media and cultural figures, fiction writers and memoirists. Please reach out to say hello to Devon and Chelene anytime, we're sure you will be hearing about their exciting new clients and book deals very soon.  
 
We also wish Stephanie Sinclair all the best in her new at position at the CookeMcDermid Agency. With her departure, Evan Brown is now representing our Page Two authors (catalogue here) and assisting Samantha Haywood with Drawn & Quarterly. If you have any questions or requests regarding international rights, please remember to contact rights@transatlanticagency.com or individual agents about their titles. 

Speaking of our titles, our Adult Lit Fall 2020 International Rights catalogue is now available! With the Frankfurt Book Fair going completely virtual this year, we are eager to arrange meetings with more of you throughout the Fall.  Please contact Laura Cameron to make appointments with the team.

Award season is in full swing and our authors are garnering tremendous praise. Special shout outs to Shani Mootoo for her Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist nomination for her stunning new novel POLAR VORTEX and our D&Q client, Seth, for his impressive graphic novel CLYDES FANS, the first time a graphic novel has been longlisted for the Giller Prize!
 
And if you haven't watched the highly praised film I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS yet on Netflix, please do and tell us what you think! Here is a chat between Iain Reid and Charlie Kaufman for fun quick viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moElww7EGSY
 
And now to the full newsletter for our latest deals and awards news. Looking forward to hearing from you as always!
 
Stay well friends,

New Deal Announcements
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEALS 

Fiction

Canada English and US English rights to bestselling author and former newspaper editor Katherine Ashenburg's HER TURN, a mature rom-com in the vein of Nora Ephron, about Liz, a divorced newspaper editor, whose tidy life is up-ended when an essay submission for her newspaper column comes in from the woman who had an affair and later married Liz's ex-husband, sold to Lynn Henry at Knopf Canada and Sara Nelson at HarperCollins for July 2021 publication, by Samantha Haywood.

 Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley jointly writing as Maggie Knox's THE HOLIDAY SWAP, a rom-com about identical twin women who temporarily switch lives in the days leading up to Christmas and find unexpected personal and professional fulfillment along the way, to Margo Lipschultz at Putnam, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Carolyn Forde (for Karma Brown) and Samantha Haywood (for Marissa Stapley). Rights also to Deborah Sun de la Cruz at Penguin Canada and Kimberley Atkins at Hodder & Stoughton (UK).
TV/Film: dana.spector@caa.com

Author of Drunk Mom and GuyJowita Bydlowska's POSSESSED, in which a sexually troubled young woman travels to a haunted quarantine island on a quest of romantic obsession, and self-discovery, to Julie Mannell at Dundurn Press, for publication in spring 2021, by Samantha Haywood (world).



ilise carter World rights to beauty/pop culture journalist, high-glam burlesque MC and producer, sideshow performer, and former cosmetics industry executive Ilise S. Carter's THE RED MENACE: HOW LIPSTICK CHANGED THE FACE OF AMERICAN HISTORY, an engaging and entertaining narrative nonfiction microhistory of one of the world's most iconic accessories; a chronicle of power, identity, and culture all in one convenient tube, to Jake Bonar at Globe Pequot's Prometheus Books for publication in 2021. Contact: Timothy Travaglini

Canada English rights to DAUGHTERS OF THE DEER, by Danielle Daniel, the story of Marie, daughter of the Weskarini Deer Clan, forced to marry Pierre, a French settler, as part of France's colonization of North America and their daughter, Jeanne, born two-spirited into a settler culture, sold at auction to Anne Collins at Random House Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, by Samantha Haywood.

World English rights to Maggie Award finalist and debut author Gia de Cadenet's GETTING HIS GAME BACK, an interracial romance in which a charming barbershop owner tries to manage his depression while wooing the brilliant tech CEO he meets when she comes to his shop for a shape up, sold to Lexi Batsides and Anne Speyer at Ballantine, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Léonicka Valcius and Samantha Haywood
TV/Film rights: Dana Spector at CAA (dana.spector@caa.com) 
UK/AUS: Denise Cronin at PRH (decronin@prh.com). 
Translation: Léonicka Valcius at (leonicka@transatlanticagency.com)

Canada English rights to Krista FossHALF-LIFE, for readers of Miriam Toews, a riveting portrait of sisters and daughters navigating the murky tensions of physics and belief, memory and family bonds, sold to Kelly Joseph at McClelland & Stewart for spring 2021 publication, by Samantha Haywood




Television personality, beauty expert and bestselling novelist Chantel Guertin's INSTAMOM, a book club rom-com for fans of Sophie Kinsella and The Hating Game with a dash of You've Got Mail, about a proudly kid-free Instagram influencer who meets a smart and sexy man and instantly falls for him -- and then learns he's a single dad. Sold in a two book six figure pre-empt for Canada English rights to Bhavna Chauhan, Doubleday Canada, and sold at auction in a two book six figure deal to Esi Sogah at Kensington Publishing for World English (ex. Canada) for summer 2021 publication, by Samantha Haywood.

World rights to Jessica Hamilton's debut WHAT YOU NEVER KNEW, pitched in the vein of The Lovely Bones, featuring a woman who, upon learning of her sister's recent death in a fatal car accident and realizing she is the last surviving member of her family, returns to the small idyllic island where she grew up to mourn, but quickly realizes her childhood summers on the island were not at all how she remembered, told in alternating points of view between the ethereal sister and herself, to Crooked Lane. Contact Carloyn Forde

World English-language audio rights excluding US to Catherine Hernandez's second novel CROSSHAIRS, in which massive floods leading to rampant homelessness and devastation, and a government-sanctioned regime called the Boots seizes on its power to force communities of colour, the disabled, and the LGBTQ2S into labour camps in Toronto. A cautionary tale filled with fierce and vibrant characters, CROSSHAIRS explores the universal desire to love and be loved as your true self, sold to Jolise Beaton at Audible by Marilyn Biderman.


House of Anansi Press has acquired World rights to a one-of-a-kind debut Canadian novel by Pamela Korgemagi, a graduate of York University's creative writing program. THE HUNTER AND THE OLD WOMAN is the intertwined story of a cougar and a man that portrays the strength, vulnerability, and consciousness of two top predators. Not since Life of Pi have we encountered such transcendence or walked so fully in the footsteps of a big cat. A mesmerizing portrait of two animals united by a shared destiny and a classic in the making. Sold to Sarah MacLachlan at House of Anansi, with Michelle MacAleese editing, for publication in Fall 2021, by Samantha Haywood. For Rights inquiries, contact Rights Manager Sonya Lalli at sonya@anansi.ca

US and Canada (English) rights to Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Linden MacIntyre's THE WINTER WIVES, a contemporary novel that explores the complex and nuanced emotional web created by friends and lovers over their lifetimes, to Random House Canada Publisher Anne Collins in a two-book deal for publication in fall 2021 by Shaun Bradley.





Canada English rights to arresting debut ONCE MORE WITH FEELING by Sophie McCreesh, a smart, raunchy novel reminiscent of FleabagNormal People and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, about a young artist named Jane as she navigates her closest relationships while struggling with her own self doubt and isolation, sold to Kiara Kent at Doubleday for Fall 2021 publication, by Samantha Haywood.



World rights to Jean Meltzer's #OwnVoices rom-com, THE MATZAH BALL, about a chronically ill nice Jewish girl with a secret career as a bestselling Christmas romance novelist whose agent and publisher force her to write the first Hanukkah romance, sending her for inspiration to the Matzah Ball, a high-end, fancy shmancy Jewish celebration run by her summer camp arch-enemy, to Emily Ohanjanians at Mira, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2021, by Carolyn Forde and Marilyn Biderman
Rights: Reka.Rush@harpercollins.com 
Film and Television: Jasmine Lake Lakej@unitedtalent.com and Addison Duffy DuffyA@unitedtalent.com

From the internationally bestselling author of FOE, and NY Times bestseller I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, recently adapted as a feature film by Charlie Kaufman for Netflix, comes Iain Reid's new novel, WE SPREAD. A mind-bending, genre-defying work of fiction, WE SPREAD is a work of philosophical suspense that questions our understanding of aging, existence, and conformity. Rights sold to Alison Callahan, Vice President and Executive Editor, Scout Press, a division of Simon &Schuster US, Suzanne Baboneau, Managing Director, Adult Publishing Division, Simon & Schuster UK, and Nita Pronovost, Vice President and Editorial Director, Simon & Schuster Canada, (world English) by Samantha Haywood. Translation: samantha@transatlanticagency.com

World audio rights to the first two books in author Sarah Richards' Styvie Savard series sold to Jolise Beaton at Audible in a deal by Samantha Haywood. The first in the series, CHINA WHITE, is a smart, propulsive, female-driven crime thriller set in the underbelly of Vancouver in which Styvie Savard, a disgraced ex-police officer, forms an unlikely alliance with Dharma/Ashleigh, a pregnant teenage cult member, and together they expose an opioid drug ring.

Canada English rights to LUCKY by Marissa Stapley, the irresistible story of a female con artist on the run from the law with a winning lottery ticket in her back pocket that she cannot cash. For fans of Thelma & Louise, Catch Me If You Can and Outer Banks, sold to Nita Pronovost at Simon & Schuster Canada for 2021 publication by Samantha Haywood.






Non-Fiction

US rights to investigative journalist who covered the case and trial for VICE Sarah Berman's DON'T CALL IT A CULT, an account of the secretive NXIVM organization and its founder Keith Raniere, exploring how an expensive self-help training program grew into an international enterprise involving a shocking "sorority" that branded, blackmailed, and enslaved female followers, to Steerforth for simultaneous publication with Viking Canada in March 2021. Contact: Carolyn Forde 



English-language rights in Canada to international women's rights advocate, Toufah Jallow's extraordinary life story, TOUFAH: THE PAGEANT, THE PRESIDENT, AND THE WOMAN WHO INSPIRED AN AFRICAN #METOO MOVEMENT by Toufah Jallow with Kim Pittaway, in which Toufah flees her native Gambia after being raped by Yahya Jammeh, a notorious dictator who had sponsored a national pageant and offered her a scholarship to the university of her choice. Toufah became determined to give voice to countless victims of sexual violence in Africa. Kim Pittaway (also a client of the Transatlantic Agency) is an award-winning journalist and editor, and the current Executive Director of the MFA Program in Creative Nonfiction at the University of King's College, Halifax. Sold in an exclusive submission to Anne Collins, Publisher, Random Knopf Group, Penguin Random House Canada, for publication in the fall of 2021, by Marilyn Biderman.

Linden MacIntyre US and Canada (English) rights to Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Linden MacIntyre's untitled nonfiction about the life of British Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Hugh Tudor, a key figure in the Irish War of Independence who spent some of his later life hiding in Canada, to Random House Canada Publisher Anne Collins in a two-book deal for publication in 2023 by Shaun Bradley



Writer and journalist Harrison Mooney's powerful memoir of race, religion and displacement amid an interracial adoption, THE BOY WHO SAW WHAT WASN'T THERE is a jaw-dropping account of religious brainwashing and intergenerational trauma, for readers of Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat and Negroland by Margo Jefferson, sold at auction to Patrick Crean of Patrick Crean Editions at HarperCollins Canada (Canada English rights) for 2022 publication by Samantha Haywood.

Stacey May Fowles North American rights to GOOD MOM ON PAPER edited by Jen Sookfong Lee and Stacey May Fowles, a collection of honest reflections on what motherhood means to creators, exploring the conflict between fulfilling our own dreams and providing support to those we love the most; the beauty and the challenge of raising good people while also being good to ourselves; and, most importantly, critiquing the systems, beliefs, and institutions that make these choices so very hard in the first place, to Hazel Millar at Book*hug Press, by Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood.

One of the leading international experts on the subject of aging, Laura Tamblyn Watts guides us through the multitude of thorny issues the sandwich generation is confronting now with their aging parents. With practical solutions for emotional conundrums, awkward dilemmas, legal issues, intractable family issues and mental-health issues, Tamblyn Watt's energetic approach--"It's 3AM and your mother calls. Someone has broken into her house and stolen her bananas. Again."---let's readers have the urgent help they need, without adding more anxiety to their lives. World English rights sold to Olivia Peluso at The Experiment. The deal was arranged by Rob Firing and Samantha Haywood.


 Translation Deals

Fiction

Polish-language rights to multi-award winning, and best-selling author, Katherena Vermette's THE STRANGERS, which takes readers into the lives of the family of Phoenix, whom readers of THE BREAK will remember as a troubled and violent teenager: Phoenix's struggling mother, Elsie; her grandmother, Margaret, who regrets the life she didn't have; and her beloved younger sister, Cedar Sage. The parallels among the lives of Phoenix, Cedar Sage, Elsie, and Margaret demonstrate not only how trauma perpetuates through generations, but how blood memory connects family, and how recovery and hope remain possible, to Wielka Litera by Piotr Wawrzeńczykat at Book/lab on behalf of Marilyn Biderman.

Non-Fiction

WAG: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy by Zazie Todd has sold to Russia, Korea and Poland. Lots of happy dogs out there. Deals arranged by Fiona Kenshole.


Film and Television Deals

Independent Edge has optioned Karma Brown's internationally bestselling RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE. The deal was arranged by Jerry Kalajian at Intellectual Property Group on behalf of Carolyn Forde.

Riven Rock has optioned Karl Subban's HOW WE DID IT. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Forde.



Television rights to the debut international bestselling novel STILL MINE, the sequel STILL WATER and the recently released third novel in the thriller series, STILL HERE, by Amy Stuart (Gallery US and S&S Can) optioned by Erin Haskett of Lark Productions with Cobie Smulders to serve as Executive Producer, Lara Azzopardi (The Bold Type, God Friended Me) to adapt the project for TV and serve as Showrunner and Executive Producer, and Stuart to act as Co-Executive Producer. The deal was arranged by Samantha Haywood.

Awards and Citations

  THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU by Lauren CarterTHE STUDENT by Cary Fagan, and AGNES, MURDERESS by Sarah Leavitt are shortlisted for the 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Awards!

AGNES, MURDERESS by Sarah Leavitt wins the 2020 Alberta Book Publishing Award for Speculative Fiction!

Samra Habib has won a Lambda Award for WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HEREWE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE has also won Canada Reads! 

WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE by Samra Habib (Viking) was back on the Globe and Mail Canadian Nonfiction bestseller list and the Toronto Star Canadian Nonfiction bestseller list at #4! 

WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE by Samra Habib (Viking) keeps steady at #4 on the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star's Canadian Non-Fiction lists! Also on the lists on July 31st, July 24, and weeks before that. 

POLAR VORTEX by Shani Mootoo has been shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize! We are also pleased that CLYDE FANS by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly) appeared on the longlist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

LEAR'S SHADOW by Clare Holden Rothman is on shortlist for the Segal Award!


On August 7th, STILL HERE by Amy Stuart (Simon & Schuster) was #9 on the Globe and MailCanadian Fiction bestseller list, as well as #9 on the Toronto Star Canadian Fiction bestseller list! 





 
THE NORTH-WEST IS MY MOTHER by Jean Teillet is a finalist for The Law Society Prize!






On August 14th, FROM THE ASHES by Jesse Thistle (Simon & Schuster) was #2 on the Toronto Star's Canadian Non-Fiction bestseller list and #6 on the Original Non-Fiction list, as well as #2 on the Globe and Mail's Canadian Non-Fiction list and #6 on the Hardcover Non-Fiction list! 

FROM THE ASHES by Jesse Thistle (Simon & Schuster) was #7 on the Globe and Mail Hardcover Nonfiction list and #2 on their Canadian Nonfiction list as well as #7 on the Toronto Star Original Nonfiction List and #2 on their Canadian Nonfiction list!

Jesse Thistle and Cody Caetano are 2020 Indigenous Voices Awards Recipients! Jesse Thistle has won in the category of "Published Prose in English" for his number one nationally bestselling memoir, FROM THE ASHES: MY STORY OF BEING MÉTIS, HOMELESS, AND FINDING MY WAY (Simon & Schuster). Cody Caetano has won in the category of "Unpublished Prose in English" for an excerpt from his forthcoming memoir, HALF-BADS IN WHITE REGALIA (Hamish Hamilton).

Jesse Thistle and Zalika Reid-Benta win big at the 2020 Kobo Emerging Writers Prize! Jesse Thistle won in the category of nonfiction for his searing memoir FROM THE ASHES (Simon & Schuster).  Zalika Reid-Benta won in the category of fiction for her collection of interconnected short stories, FRYING PLANTAIN (Astoria/House of Anansi Press).

Reid-Benta also received the Danuta Gleed Literary Award for FRYING PLANTAIN. The Danuta Gleed recognizes he best first collection of published short fiction in the English language in Canada.

I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS by Iain Reid (Gallery Books) was included in Buzzfeed's roundup of "29 Thriller Novels So Twisty And Intriguing That People Read Them In One Sitting"!

I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS has hit #3 on the New York Times bestsellers list for print fiction! 

FOE by Iain Reid has been named MacEwan University's Book of the Year for 2020/21!

The trailer for I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS has been revealed!

The I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS film has received a score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. 
The reviews are coming in for the Charlie Kaufman-directed adaptation of the bestselling novel by Iain ReidI'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, and the critics are absolutely beside themselves! Here is an early selection:

"Another superb nightmare courtesy of Charlie Kaufman. ...surreal, disquieting... extraordinary drama." -The Guardian, 4 out of 5 stars

"Welcome to the horror of homecoming. ...magnificent, unsettling film..." -Telegraph UK, 5 out of 5 stars 

"Kaufman's Brilliant Existential Netflix Drama Defies Every Convention." -IndieWire

"I'm Thinking of Ending Things may ultimately withhold as much as it divulges, remaining open to interpretation, but like the thought lodged in Lucy's head, it lingers." -The HollywoodReporter
"I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a surreal, romantic tragedy; a shattered pattern of melting possibilities. It's one of the most unnerving films of the year." -CultureWhisper

"A surreal masterwork." -Slashfilm
 
Congratulations to Katherena Vermette, who has been awarded an inaugural literary arts fellowship to the Borchard Foundation Center on Literary Arts' retreat in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Congratulations, Katherena!




Congratulations to Leslie Vryenhoek, the winner of the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award: Suspense for her novel, WE ALL SHALL BE RECEIVED (Breakwater Books). Contact: Shaun Bradley.

 









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