My Selection of Books On the Way....

From Publishers Lunch Weekly...

FICTION:

MYSTERY/CRIME...

Gayle Trent's KILLER SWEET TOOTH, the next novel in her Kindle bestselling cozy mystery series, moving to Lauren McKenna at Gallery, in a two-book deal, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group.

SI-FI/FANTASY...

Filmmaker David Goyer and author and TV writer Michael Cassutt's sci-fi adventure trilogy, HEAVEN'S SHADOW, HEAVEN'S WAR, and HEAVEN'S FALL, about teams of astronauts sent to intercept an object hurtling toward Earth -- which is filled with alien forces, to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace, for publication beginning in July 2011, by Simon Lipskar at Writers House.

GENERAL/OTHER...

Francine Pascal's SWEET VALLEY CONFIDENTIAL, following her iconic identical blonde twins and full cast of characters into adulthood, now in their late twenties and early thirties, "where the real world intrudes," to Dan Weiss at St. Martin's (who created the original series with Pascal when he was a book packager), with Hilary Rubin Teeman editing, for publication in early 2011.

UK...

Amor Towles's debut RULES OF CIVILITY, set in New York in 1938 and telling the story of a young woman of extraordinary ability and ignominious beginnings who, armed with little more than formidable intellect, bracing wit, and uncommonly good legs, embarks on a journey through the upper echelons of a city on the brink of dramatic change in search of a future far brighter than she's been told she has the right to expect, to Jocasta Hamilton at Hodder Sceptre and to Neri Pozza, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, by Cathryn Summerhayes and Laura Bonner on behalf of Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor, who will be auctioning North American rights next week.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...

Professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, and former corporate chair in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency at the RAND Corporation, Bruce Hoffman's ANONYMOUS SOLDIERS: The Jewish Underground, the British Army, and the Rise of Israel about the militant factions that drove the Jewish revolt against British rule in Palestine between 1944-1948, to Andrew Miller at Knopf, on exclusive submission, by Eric Lupfer at William Morris Endeavor (NA).

Washington D.C. editor for The Nation, New America fellow, and regular MSNBC commentator Christopher Hayes's SYSTEM FAIL: The Crisis of Authority, the Decline of the Meritocracy, and the Reformation to Come, revealing the origins, effects, and scope of the crisis of authority that is crippling American politics and society, exploring the poor performance of key institutions from Wall Street to Major League Baseball to the Big Three automakers and Congress, and offering a way forward to remedy what ails us, to Vanessa Mobley at Broadway, for publication in 2012, at auction, by Will Lippincott at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (NA).

MEMOIR...

MacArthur scholar and Georgetown physics and public policy professor Dr. Francis Slakey's TO THE LAST BREATH, pitched as Into Thin Air meets Three Cups of Tea, a memoir of the distinguished scientist's quest to summit the highest mountain on every continent and surf every ocean -- and how this pursuit challenged his fiercely ingrained scientific beliefs, inspired a new understanding of human interdependence, and deepened his humanity, to David Rosenthal and Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Rob Weisbach at Rob Weisbach Creative Management (NA).

Anna Goldsworthy's PIANO LESSONS, a memoir of the extraordinary teacher who brought a respect for life, a generous spirit, and a love of music into a nine-year-old's world, and gave her the courage to embrace the musical life as she discovers passion and ambition, confronts doubt and disappointment, and learns about much more than tone and technique -- a story for anyone who has ever loved a teacher, to Nichole Argyres at St. Martin's, by Sophy Williams at Black Inc. (NA; UK).

The Tennessee couple who adopted Michael Oher (subject of Michael Lewis's The Blind Side), Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy's book about the power of giving, to Steve Rubin at Holt, for publication in summer 2010.

SCIENCE...

Author of KLUGE and Director of the NYU Center for Child Language, Gary Marcus's GUITAR ZERO, pitched as in the tradition of THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC, Marcus becomes his own subject in the quest to create and map the neuromuscular aspects of musicianship, to Ginny Smith at the Penguin Press, for publication in 2011, by Daniel Greenberg of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.

Forbes senior reporter David Randall's DREAMLAND: Adventures in the Strange World of Sleep, an entertaining exploration into the rich, complex realm of sleep science, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (World English)

SPORTS...

Tennis Magazine executive editor Stephen Tignor's THE END OF THE EARTH: Borg, McEnroe, Connors, and the Final Days of Tennis' Golden Age, a chronicle of how a bunch of free-spirited but ferocious rivals took the sport farther from its gentlemanly roots than anyone thought possible and gave it a mystique that has never been equaled since, to David Hirshey at Harper, in a pre-empt, by Amy Rennert of the Amy Rennert Agency (World).

Wrap....