Monday, May 14, 2012

Hild publishing deal!

I'm delighted to announce that Hild will be published in 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It will be a big fat fall read, a perfect match for applewood fires and a snifter of Armagnac...

FSG is one of the last old school literary publishers in the US. Their list positively bulges with Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award winners. I'm absolutely thrilled that Hild will be in their company. Thanks to my fabulous new agent, Stephanie Cabot of the Gernert Company, my editor there will be Sean McDonald. Sean edited Stay and Always, so I know the book will be in the best shape possible before it's released into the wild.

You can read the announcement in Publishers Weekly ("...steeped in the beauty and bruality of a different age...")

It's difficult to encapsulate a 200,000-word novel in a single paragraph, but here's my first stab at it:

Seventh century Britain is in transition. Small kingdoms are dissolving and merging. Edwin of Northumbria plots to become overking of the Angles using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, and belief. Into this world of war and wyrd is born Hild, king's niece: a child with a glittering mind, powerful curiosity, and will of adamant. Edwin is cunning and ruthless, but Hild is matchless. She carves herself a place as his advisor, a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early medieval age. But kings don't trust anyone, even nieces. And at this level, the stakes are life and death.
I think it describes one layer of the book reasonably well, it's just that there are just so many others...

The day the deal was done, I emailed half a dozen friends to say, Drop everything and come to the pub! Jennifer Durham took these pictures:
I start sensibly enough
But happiness is thirsty work...
And by the end, I am wild with joy
There's a lot to do. But it will be exciting work, in the service of a project I've been labouring over, on some level, for over ten years. It's the best thing I've ever written. I can't wait to put it in your hands.

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Posted by Nicola Griffith at 5:16 AM

54 comments:

  1. I am so thrilled for you. What fun it's been being a part-time fly on the wall during your process. Thank you for sharing.
    Hild sounds absolutely wonderful. I can't wait for the release. Congratulations on your labour of love!!
    Barrett

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    1. Jeanne, I'll still be talking about my process over at Gemæcca.

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  3. Excellent news. I'll look forward to reading this.
    Rich

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  4. Oh REALLY.

    OH REALLY.

    That is fantastic news, not least of which because, well, of where I work. Yes. Yes inDEED.

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  5. Hild with FSG? For Sure Good, that news is. Looking forward to it.

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  6. What effing fabulous news! Congratulations! I was hoping this was what you were sitting on. I live vicariously through you!

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  7. Congratulations . Perhaps you will now reach the wider audience I feel your talent and effort deserves.

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  8. What fabulous news; I can't wait to read it.

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  9. Springer, Elaine, Anon, Lisa: I am truly delighted by this. Really, really pleased.

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  10. Congratulations, Nicola! What marvellous news! I've been following your blog for years and am really excited and looking forward to a perfectly timed autumn read. So much so I'm already jumping ahead of myself and thinking I'll likely be sad to finish it, and how long will it take till the next one? You're creating greedy readers. Many, many thanks.

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    1. Thank you. But the thing about a book this size is you can finish it, then immediately start it again from the beginning because it's so huge you won't get all the details the first time round. Meanwhile I'll be working hard--and swiftly--on more Hildish goodness.

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  12. Very happy for your good news. No less, of course, than you deserve. Wishing you all the best.

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  13. Yes!! Congratulations, Nicola. You ROCK!!

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  14. Lovely news, Nicola. Congratulations! And many happy celebrations of the book's successes-to-come.

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  15. Jennifer, right now I smile :)

    Wendy oh, yep. I'm going to be celebrating endlessly for then next eighteen months. And then continually after that!

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  16. FANTASTIC! ...for US as your readers! But delightful for you nonetheless! Thanks for launching Hild, and heartfelt congratulations.

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  17. Congratulations! We are all so excited about Hild, and I am terribly pleased to know FSG is taking it on. Wonderful news, and an opening, I feel,for many whose interest in historic detail by experiencing "The Borgias", etc.,to the literary delights of deeper exploration. This brings to mind Manda Scott's transition to historical novels, which I had a hard time staying with because of her change in style to one without contractions. Your writing style is much more about stealth penetralia and depth of production. Waiting for this book is now like waiting through the salad courses for the bombe!

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  18. Thanks. I most definitely use contractions :) Oh, I can't wait to get this thing into readers' hands!

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  19. Congratulations! This is wonderful news, and I can now add another book to my "eagerly anticipated" reading list.

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  20. Very very happy for you and for Kelley too and thrilled that FSG is there for Hild. More of your fabulousness to be released into the world - you make it a better place NG. (And you're both looking great!)

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  21. Congratulations! Wonderful news indeed, but just the beginning.

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  22. Hallelujah! My hot hands (always hot in Florida) are awaiting the arrival of Hild. Wonder if she will meet up with Aud some place? I just realized I've read and loved 6 of your books so far. I can hardly wait. love, Cork

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    1. Cork, sounds like a fun piece of pseudonymous fanfic :)

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    2. Something to do in your spare time!

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  23. Deep congratulations, Nicola and can't wait to buy my copy!

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  24. Congratulations and excited anticipatory gratitude for the gift of another alien world and barely known events about to be made immediate and engrossing by a secular abbess of our own time.

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    1. The nine-year old me would have thrilled at the thought of being an abbess.

      Have you ever read "Souls" by Joanna Russ?

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  25. Congratulations. I look forward to reading your book.

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  26. Congratulations! This book sounds absolutely amazing. I will pre-order it as soon as it's listed and then watch my mailbox closely. I hope you continue to celebrate this while you keep working on it :)

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  27. EC, great! I'll certainly announce it the moment pre-ordering is available. But it'll be a while...

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  28. YAY! so happy for you. (And can't wait to read this!)
    best,
    Lee

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  29. So excited for you, Nicola! Congratulations!! :)

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  30. Lee, Alisha, thank you. I'm still grinning...

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  31. Fantastic news! Congratulations! I can't wait to read it.

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  32. It inspires me see how years of effort becomes a finished wonder. How excellent to know your book is headed to my shelf not "some day" but SOON.

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    1. Let's hope it works as well for the next one :)

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  33. YAY!!!!!

    I can't wait to read it. Many congratulations...and thank you in advance for continuing to create such jaw-droppingly, spine-tinglingly brilliant books.

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    1. I thank the universe every day for being lucky enough to be in the position to do this. I've found my Thing. I am happy.

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  34. Replies

    1. Thank you. The publishing mills are cranking as fast as they can :)

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