One of the most rewarding experiences being connected to the writing world is seeing people you think are amazing and talented blow up and become wild successes. This year was an incredibly fruitful time for some of the writers I’m fondest of as both writers and human beings, and I’m delighted to point you to them!
Check these out…
I first met Sarah McCarry way back in 2010, when she was secretly writing her legendary blog The Rejectionist. I finagled a way to meet her in New York and we’ve been great friends ever since. In addition to publishing the awesome Guillotine chapbooks, she’s now the author of the wildly acclaimed trilogy All Our Pretty Songs, Dirty Wings, and now About a Girl.
All three books are incredible coming of age stories featuring intertwined characters in different times, with mythology weaving through. Sarah is one of the finest writers I know and even apart from the compelling narratives, the prose alone is worth the purchase.
Back in 2007, I was a literary agent on the hunt for new authors and Lisa Brackmann sent me one of the best query letters I’ve ever received. A few years and many revisions later, that book became Rock Paper Tiger and received a rave in the New York Times.
Following Hour of the Rat in 2013, Lisa has now completed a trilogy with Dragon Day. One of the most amazing qualities of Lisa’s books is the way she’s able to weave in seemingly disparate cultural threads, her deep on-the-ground knowledge of China, and a knack for realistic suspense into wildly compelling narratives.
I met Carmiel Banasky through Sarah McCarry a few years ago, and at the time she was putting the finishing touches on an intriguing literary novel. That novel, The Suicide of Claire Bishop found a publisher, rave reviews from everyone, and is now out for you to read.
The Suicide of Claire Bishop has the type of mind-bending plot you don’t often find in literary fiction. In the 1950s, a woman’s husband commissions a painting for her. The artist disturbingly depicts her suicide, and her life starts to unravel. In the 2000s, a man with schizophrenia comes across the painting and improbably thinks his ex-girlfriend is the artist, which is impossible unless she can time travel. Weaving all this together is some of the best prose I’ve come across in a long time.
Daniel José Older is one of the last authors I started working with before I left agenting. We went through many rounds of revisions on an incredible young adult novel set in a Brooklyn alive with Afro-Caribbean mythology, where graffiti paintings come alive and dark spirits are threatening.
Shadowshaper is another book that has received starred review after starred review after starred review, and it was so awesome to see it come to life after all the hard work that I saw Daniel put into it.
Anyone who hasn’t heard of Ransom Riggs’ wildly popular Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will likely do so in short order when the Tim Burton film adaptation comes out in March.
But in the meantime, you can content yourself with the third book in the series, Library of Souls. These innovative novels combine found photographs that are interwoven into a charming and spine-tingling alternate world.
Can’t believe I know these talented people! You can’t go wrong with their books.
Eight plus to thirteen dollars for the ebooks. Too rich for my blood. For which I’m sorry; several looked as interesting as you suggest, Nathan.
I am adding Carmiel Banasky to my to-be-read list. 🙂 Shadowshaper was amazing–one of those books that lingers in your mind long after you've finished it. And I will pretty much read anything that has Sarah McCarry's name on it. I'm part way through About a Girl and it is so good.
I have About A Girl on my Kindle, ready to read. I'll have to check out the others as well. Thanks for posting a terrific list, Nathan!
Time has flown! Thanks for these tips, Mr. B.
Wow. I remember when I first saw the query for Rock Paper Tiger come up on the blog, and was like "yay! Other Lisa is having success!" So cool to have seen some of the early stages and watch her books continue to sell.
And what?!?!?!?! That movie. Oh, I will definitely be going to see that.
Also, Nathan, can you please do a post about Amazon opening up its first physical bookstore yesterday? I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that as a reader and a writer.