So I was waiting until it became official before announcing, but since the announcement was posted today on PM and Egmont USA has drafted a release . . . I guess it’s official.
Egmont USA has taken my YA dystopian thriller, ASHES, and the other
two books in the trilogy (SHADOWS and MONSTERS). It was kind of a
whirlwind, along the lines of “and then the sun went supernova.” ASHES
will come out in hardcover in October, 2011.
And I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Here’s the deal memo from PM:
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March 16, 2010
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| Children’s: Young Adult |
Ilsa Bick’s ASHES, which begins when an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, killing the vast majority of the world population and zapping every electronic device. Everyone still alive has changed considerably — some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh), to Greg Ferguson at Egmont, in a significant deal, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
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And the release from Egmont:
EGMONT USA LANDS DYSTOPIAN THRILLER TRILOGY
IN FIRST PRE-EMPT DEAL
New York, NY — March 16, 2010 — In a six-figure, pre-Bologna acquisition, Greg Ferguson, Editor at Egmont USA, pre-empted World rights to Ashes, a Young Adult dystopian thriller by Ilsa J. Bick. Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency pitched and sold the trilogy as a cross between The Hunger Games and The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Egmont USA will publish Ashes in fall 2011.
“Along with the fully realized character and world she presents, Ilsa’s cinematic writing style had me completely hooked,” said Greg Ferguson. “It’s a ‘sleep with one eye open and double-check the locks’ type of novel.”
Ashes begins when an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, killing the vast majority of the world population and zapping every electronic device. Everyone still alive has changed considerably—some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh).
Among the few teens and children who are spared are Alex, a resourceful teen who was running from her own demons; Tom, who left the war in Afghanistan only to find something much worse at home, and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old girl whom the two must rescue. This improvised family will need to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive in this new chaotic world.
Now a full-time writer, Ilsa J. Bick is a former U.S. Air Force major and forensic psychiatrist. She is the author of numerous short stories, e-books, and novels. Her story, “The Key,” a supernatural murder-mystery about the Holocaust and reincarnation, was named distinguished in The Best American Mystery Stories, 2005 (edited by Joyce Carol Oates).
Egmont USA was established in 2007 with one mission in mind: to bring stories to life. From picture books to young adult novels, Egmont USA publishes works that engage, entertain, and enlighten children of all ages. Egmont USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Egmont UK and part of the Egmont Group, one of Europe’s largest children’s publishers. The company is headquartered in New York City.
Yowser. Now to pry my nails from the ceiling . . .
Yayy! I am telling people to follow you on Twitter. *cackles ominously*
O. M. G. O.o
The book sounds fantastic! Congratulations, can’t wait to read!
Thanks!
Ilsa – congratulations! I hope to pick up Draw the Dark soon…
And it’s amazing to realize that Jenn has ANOTHER doctor client! We should talk both shops sometime (I saw your post making reference to doing a surgery internship – I’m finishing my urology residency in June).
Ilene
Hey, thanks! DRAW won’t be out until the fall (October, I think).
Ooooh — urology . . . I remember doing rotations and thinking, “Ah, the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau . . .”
🙂
Yay!!!!
Great post, I would recommend that you make it a bit handier to bookmark this to some social media sites, throw up a big add to twitter button or something in a few places that are obvious. No sense in making it too much work to add your stuff. Also, I really like your comment layout here, is it the default setup for your theme or did you customize it?
Customized it. Thanks for the suggestions.
Sure.
I’m pleased! It’s nice to see someone very excited about what they do. Thank you.
I’m a reviewer for Library Journal and Linworth press…I’ve never made a comment before my review is published. However, I just thought I would sneak in a pre-pub….great! What do I have to do to get the proof copy of the next one. I’m hooked.
Thanks
Sue
Sue, first off, thank you for breaking your own rule ;-). I’m so pleased you enjoyed the book. As for getting your hands on a proof of the next, if you’re a reviewer, I presume that Egmont would be thrilled to get a copy to you when it’s to that stage. Tell you what: I’ll forward your contact info to them so they’ll have you in the database, okay?
Thanks again!
From the Very begging I was gripped by this book. I mean from the Very beginning! The author wrote the book so well it felt like I was right their in the mist of it. Everything was so well described espically the charracters. The action scens the sad scenes all layed out so well.
Me I LOVE action, survival, drama filled books. This book had all of those things in it. Also mysteries. I love that, so many questions yet it takes forever for them to be awnsered wich -sigh- I love. Writing is my thing. Right now I am working on a book. My planning is well… I pretty much write down the genral idea charcter names along with bios some side notes and things like that. I come up with things as I go. But the author of ASHES must have planned alot. To me the book was like a picture of a waterfall with beautiful flowers all around it. Except the picture has been cut into a puzzle and Ilsa put it back together so perfectly that when you look at it you go WOW! I got so connected to the charcters and nearly cried during the book, wait I did cry. Any way an EXCELLENT book.
😀 So glad you liked it! Sounds as if I did my job 😉