I received an awesome email today from Simon & Schuster with some fantastic news for YA fans.
Firstly, the Wicked series by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie has been acquired by Dreamworks for FILM RIGHTS. Brothers Aaron and Matthew Benay, who have written the script for Pixar and Warner Bros.' 1906 (2012 release), have signed on to write the Wicked adaptation based on their own pitch, with
The Gotham Group on board to produce. There’s no further info yet, but it’s really quite exciting and I’m sure they’ll do a fabulous job of bringing the book to the screen!!
Synopsis:Holly Cathers’ world shatters when her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Wrenched from her home in San Francisco, she is sent to Seattle to live with her relatives, Aunt Marie-Claire and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole. But as she struggles to settle into her new home, Holly’s sorrow and grief soon gives way to bewilderment at the strange incidents going on around her. Such as how any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true. Or the way a friend is injured after a freak attack from a vicious falcon. And then there’s the undeniable, magnetic attraction to a boy Holly barely knows.
Holly and her cousins, Amanda and Nicole, are about to be drawn into family feud spanning generations. And as they uncover a dark legacy of witches, secrets, and alliances, where ancient magic yields dangerous results, the girls learn of a shared destiny that is beyond their wildest imaginations...
Simon & Schuster have also aquired Dark Life by Kat Falls to add to their UK list (cover TBC). Described by the publicist, Dark Life "is thrilling, thought provoking and exciting". Sounds good, eh?
Synopsis:Ty has lived under the ocean for his entire life. Following global warming and the rise of the seas, his family joined an underwater community in hopes of living in the new frontier of the ocean floor. But When Ty meets Gemma, a girl from "topside", who is searching the seas for her brother, she quickly makes his life very complicated. Together Ty and Gemma face dangerous sea creatures and venture into the frontier town's rough underworld as they search for her missing brother. But the deeper they dig, the more attention they attract, and soon Ty and Gemma find themselves being hunted by a gang of outlaws who roam the underwater territories causing havoc, and who seem to have eerie abilities. But Ty has a secret of his own, living underwater for his entire life has meant he has also developed a "special" power. Can he keep it a secret from Gemma and his family or is it time for him to finally tell everyone the truth?
I love the sound of this book! I can't wait to read it!
About the author:Kat Falls grew up in Maryland and received a MFA in screenwriting at Northwestern University. Now she teaches at NU, where she is continually inspired by her students' creativity. Kat has had four screenplays optioned by independent producers and was hired to write a script for Disney Studios based on a pitch. Kat's leap into prose came by way of a writing exercise. Knowing that her 12-year-old son loved reading about the ocean, Wild West pioneers, and (of course) the X-Men, she combined his interests and created the premise for a story that kept her up nights plotting and world-building. One year later, her sci-fi adventure novel, Dark Life took 1st place in the sci-fi/fantasy category of the 2008 Crested Butte/Sandy writing contest. Kat lives in Illinois, USA, with her husband, theatre director Robert Falls, their three children, two cats, two guinea pigs and a snake named Poncho.
Dark Life by Kat Falls - Ty has lived under the ocean for his entire life. Following global warming and the rise of the seas, his family joined an underwater community in hopes of living in the new frontier of the ocean floor. But When Ty meets Gemma, a girl from "topside", who is searching the seas for her brother, she quickly makes his life very complicated. Together Ty and Gemma face dangerous sea creatures and venture into the frontier town's rough underworld as they search for her missing brother. But the deeper they dig, the more attention they attract, and soon Ty and Gemma find themselves being hunted by a gang of outlaws who roam the underwater territories causing havoc, and who seem to have eerie abilities. But Ty has a secret of his own, living underwater for his entire life has meant he has also developed a "special" power. Can he keep it a secret from Gemma and his family or is it time for him to finally tell everyone the truth? From Amazon UK
