Evidence of Spring Break is everywhere as college students head off to the beach and elementary schools go quiet. At the agency, we find ourselves sneaking covert glances outside our office’s expansive windows – the extended hours of sunlight as alluring as a Siren’s call and daydreams of sitting oceanside with a fruity drink in hand interrupting our email marathons. Even though we aren’t school-age anymore, we still have something in common with those lucky Spring Breakers – a complete adoration of Young Adult Fiction.

In this issue, agent Lucienne Diver weighs in on the universal appeal of the powerful YA genre, and we also have a very special interview with Lauren Baratz-Logsted , her husband Greg Logsted and their 9 year old daughter Jackie – all published authors at TKA! Lauren and Greg will be the guest authors this Thursday in our online chat room, sharing their experiences as YA writers.

This past month, we were fortunate to have two new titles on The New York Times bestseller list from Gena Showalter and Nalini Singh, and we welcomed NYT bestselling author Rob Thurman to our client roster! We continue to be so proud of our Nalini and Gena's continued success, and are so excited to be able to continue to add new, talented writers to the TKA family.

Spring brings new life and a wealth of new possiblities. At TKA we are primed and ready to take advantage of the season. So, if you are landlocked like us, go outside! Find a hammock, swing or balcony and take advantage of those extra sunlit hours. Just remember to have your favorite book in one hand and one of those lovely fruity concoctions in the other. Happy Reading!

In a special three part interview, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, her husband Greg and their daughter Jackie talk about co-authoring the magical SISTERS EIGHT series. Lauren is the author of more than a dozen books, including YA and adult titles. Greg's sophmore YA book, ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH will be released this June.

TKA: Your new series, THE SISTERS EIGHT, is the result of a family brainstorming session. How did the three of you come up with this concept, and what is the series about?

LAUREN BARATZ-LOGSTED: THE SISTERS EIGHT series is targeted toward the 6-10 age group. The idea came to us when a blizzard stranded us for 10 days in Colorado, back in December 2008, with no TV and no other children around. Looking for something to do that would be novel – all puns intended – I asked Jackie what sort of book she’d like if we wrote one together. Being an only child, she wanted a book about eight sisters. Before we knew it, the three of us were brainstorming the whole series about the Huit sisters, octuplets, whose parents go missing one New Year’s Eve, after which the resourceful girls must each find her own power and gift in order to discover what happened to Mom and Dad while keeping the greater world from realizing eight little girls are living home alone. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has created a wonderful site for the series at www.sisterseight.com.

TKA: How does your family approach the act of writing THE SISTERS EIGHT books? Who does what and how?
LAUREN: I’m “The Pen,” meaning I do all the actual writing, but we brainstorm each book as well as long-range view for the entire nine-book series together. I’ll write a chapter during the day and then at night they’ll tell me what I got right, what I got wrong, and we all figure out what needs to happen next. We have also been known to go out for editorial breakfasts and lunches – more brainstorming! – that typically result in me arriving back home with my purse crammed with notes scribbled on paper napkins which I then have to decipher.

TKA: As a mom, how did it feel to see your daughter become a published author at 8 years old?
LAUREN: Wonderful. She’s an amazing girl. She’s nine now and she’s always hijacking either my or her father’s computer so she can work on her own solo novels. Honestly, she’ll outsell both Greg and me someday, at which time I plan to hit her up for a loan.

TKA: In September, you have a new YA title coming out, CRAZY BEAUTIFUL. Briefly, what is it about, and how did you come up with the idea?
LAUREN: CRAZY BEAUTIFUL is a contemporary re-visioning of Beauty & the Beast told in he-said/she-said fashion about a boy with hooks for hands and a gorgeous girl who meet on their first day at a new school. The idea came to me after seeing Beauty & the Beast on Broadway. It’s always been one of my favorite fairytales – perhaps because it’s the only one where the male lead is more than just a pretty Ken doll; there’s a real bite to the role – and I began playing with the idea of how rumor and other people’s views on us based on our physical appearance shapes how we are treated, then shaping how we react as a result.

TKA: From the outset, when writing YA do you think about a moral to your story? What are the differences and similarities in the lessons you hope to impart on readers of THE SISTERS EIGHT series versus CRAZY BEAUTIFUL, a novel aimed at an older YA crowd?
LAUREN: Every book I write, no matter what the age group, explores some theme I deem worthy of exploration. In the case of THE SISTERS EIGHT, because of the super-young age group, it’s a more simple dual theme: each Huit sister has to learn to stand on her own; and each sister – not to mention the sisters as a unit – need to learn how and when to rely on the help of others. For CRAZY BEAUTIFUL, as answered in part to the previous question, it’s a much more complex theme involving how physical appearance shapes perception which in turn shapes experience and behavior. But no matter what the theme, no matter how simple or complex that theme might be, the first job is to entertain the reader.

TKA: You’ve written several general fiction titles, as well as young adult. How do you approach the challenge of changing your voice to suit different markets?
LAUREN: I’m a chameleon writer. Even among the three YA novels I’ve done – ANGEL’S CHOICE, SECRETS OF MY SUBURBAN LIFE, CRAZY BEAUTIFUL – and the one tween, ME, IN BETWEEN – no two books have similar-sounding narrators. I like it that way. I realize it goes against industry wisdom that dictates you should brand yourself as a specific type of writer, but for me writing in different voices for nearly every age group imaginable is what keeps me fresh.

TKA: Previously, you worked as a bookseller for more than a decade before becoming an author. How did that uniquely prepare you for a career as a writer?
LAUREN: The bookstore I worked in, Klein’s of Westport, was at the time the largest independent bookstore in the northeast. We had no computer – just our brains! – which uniquely prepared me in that I have an encyclopedic knowledge of the publishing world from 1983-1994 and not a bad grasp of the past 15 years since after leaving the bookstore I worked as a Publishers Weekly reviewer, a freelance editor and a sort-of librarian.

PART TWO:

TKA: What has been the most enjoyable part of co-writing THE SISTERS EIGHT series with your wife and daughter?
GREG LOGSTED: For me it’s been watching the enjoyment our daughter Jackie gets out of everything. When the advanced copies came in the mail it was like Christmas was here all over again. I’ve also enjoyed the illustrations by Lisa K Weber. The book really came alive with the illustrations

TKA: Does your family have plans for any other joint projects beyond this series?
GREG: Why not? This has been a blast. We never seem to have a lack of ideas but sometimes we do seem to suffer through a lack of time.

TKA: You first solo novel, SOMETHING HAPPENED (November 2008), tackled the sticky

subject of a questionable teacher-student relationship. How did you come up with that concept, and how has it been received by your readership?
GREG: For a while it seemed like every time I opened the paper or turned on the TV there was a story about some teacher involved with a thirteen-year-old boy. I thought it would be interesting to write about what drove these two people together.
I think it’s been received quite; well, at least I haven’t heard anything negative.

TKA: What is your upcoming release, ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH (June 2009) about?
GREG: It’s about another thirteen-year-old boy. Cody Saron speaks five languages, is an expert in self-defense and has traveled the world with his farther, an undercover CIA agent. But when an assignment goes terribly wrong Cody is sent to his aunt’s house in Connecticut to hide out until his father can patch everything together again. Cody figures that with everything he knows and has experienced, going to junior high school in some small town will be easy. He quickly finds out that going to junior high and trying to fit will be his toughest assignment yet.

TKA: Where did you get the inspiration for Cody’s story?
GREG: Actually, I came up with the title ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH first. I thought it had something really catchy about it. So I built a book around the title.

TKA: Both main characters in ALIBI JUNIOR HIGH and SOMETHING HAPPENED are 13-year-old boys with very different lives. Do you prefer writing light-hearted material or delving into more controversial topics?
GREG: I like them both. I enjoy doing different things – it keeps everything fresh.

TKA: Have any people, places or situations from your own childhood crept into your novels? If so, how?
GREG: Oh sure. To me that’s part of the fun. Friends that I’ve grown up with who have read the books always comment on one thing or another that they recognized. But I’ve never had to fight off the sexual advances of a teacher and while my dad did work for the government, he was an interior office designer – no guns involved there!

TKA: As a relatively new author, was there a part of the publishing process that truly surprised you? As a result of your experience, what is one piece of advice you’d like to pass along to other newbies?
GREG: I was exposed to a lot through my wife’s writing so I kind of knew what to expect. I guess what surprised me was the degree of concentration involved in going over a final draft. I want every word, sentence and paragraph to be as perfect as I can make it. I keep going over and over stuff. It can be exhausting. Also promoting your book is another art in and by itself, one that I’m still trying to get the knack of. It’s a big part of the whole package.

For newbies…Just write every day. That’s the big one.

PART THREE:

TKA: What is the coolest thing about being an author?
JACKIE LOGSTED: I get to help Mommy and Daddy make up all these different things. I also like doing book-signings! I have a special pen for them. It’s light-blue glass and it has a flower attached to the end.

TKA: What is the most important lesson you want other kids to learn by reading THE SISTERS EIGHT series?
JACKIE: That a kid my age could help write a book!

TKA: If you could have a secret magical talent like one of the sisters, what would it be and why?
JACKIE: I would like to read minds because then I could see what everyone else is thinking. [Jackie’s mom here: I hope she never gets this power – she’s too smart as it is!]

We have a very special online chat planned this Thursday, March 19th at 9pm ET! Both Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Greg Logsted will be chatting online in our agency chat room. This amazingly talented family has a lot of advice to share with YOU about writing for the YA audience.! If you're a YA author or aspring to write for this market -- don't miss out on the opportunity to pick their brains on the latest trends or how to promote books to teens! We want to see you there (well virtually speaking)! And, of course, they'll be a trivia and an awesome book giveaway!

WHEN: Thursday, March 19th @ 9:00pm ET
WHERE: Click Here to Enter the TKA Chat Room *Your computer must be Java enabled.

Young at Heart

Young Adult…it’s not just for kids anymore. Think about it—who’s been reading “teen” fiction? Pre-teens, twenty-somethings, thirty and forty and eighty-somethings. Oh yeah, and teens too. The point is that we were all young once. We all remember what it’s like to be the new kid or the outcast or to fall in love. Childhood and puberty are universal. Young adult and middle-grade fiction doesn’t harken back to a simpler time. Its appeal is a more elemental and immediate time because we the future is less clear, the past is something we’re trying to shed like a snakeskin and THE MOMENT is all-consuming. It’s a powerful period and

something that many of us would love a “do-over” on, knowing what we know now. We get that with young adult fiction. I think that’s the appeal for teens and pre-teens as well…seeing how other people have lived through and dealt with the same things that you’re going through. Sure, we might not all have fallen in love with a vampire (as in the bestselling Twilight series) or discovered we’re wizards (like the infamous Harry Potter), but we’ve all had parental issues, we’ve all rebelled, been gossiped about, teased, gotten in and out of trouble, had to make some tough calls. We’ve all faced down a mountain troll or…no, on second thought that was just my brother-in-law with really bad bed head in a battle over the bathroom.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts survey, reading is up! Young adults, particularly in the 18 to 24 range, show the greatest increase (9%). Click here to see the full article. The January 12th Publishers Weekly reports that the juvenile category of fiction was strongest in 2008 with an increase of 6.2%. Those are some powerful numbers.

Still think you’re not the target audience? Have you ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Smallville? Veronica Mars? All shows where the main characters are or at least started out in high school, yet whose demographic averaged thirty somethings. (I’ve even caught my husband watching iCarly when our son isn’t around. Shhh, don’t tell him I told. He swears to me it’s to counter-act all the “dead people shows” I watch – CSI, Forensic Files, Criminal Minds, New Detectives….)

The point is that YA fiction is fun. It’s topical. It’s something to which we can all relate.

QUESTION: Share some good news! What is one thing you've heard recently industry-wise or done business-wise that has put a smile on your face?

PAMELA HARTY: My client Steven James, the author of the THE ROOK and THE PAWN just signed on with Endeavor Talent Agency to try to sell the film rights to THE PATRICK BOWERS SERIE., I love these books and I'm excited about what possibility might be in store for them down the road on the big screen!

LUCIENNE DIVER: The New Yorker reports a new perfume for those unrepentant book addicts out there (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/03/the-sweet-smell.html). Yes, it's true,

we don't need no stinkin' twelve step program. All we need is a perfume "supposed to evoke a first-edition English novel via “Russian and Moroccan leather bindings, worn cloth, and a hint of wood polish.” Now I know what to get my husband for his birthday!

Also new and noteworthy - reading is on the rise, according to a National Endowment for the Arts survey. Particularly strong is the increase in reading among young adults in the 18-24 demographic, all of which fits in nicely with the rise in popularity of YA fiction, which I'm talking about in this month's Knight Agency newsletter.

NEPHELE TEMPEST: I think the thing I’ve smiled about most business-wise this month was Nalini Singh’s new book hitting the NY Times best-seller list. :) Hard not to smile at that kind of news.

MELISSA JEGLINSKI: I'm excited that my client's thriller proposal was requested by so many editors. It's wonderful to see that there is still enthusiasm out there for real talent.

*Please remember that you can participate in Agents of the Roundtable. Send a question you would like our agents to tackle to info@knightagency.net, and we might feature it in an upcoming issue!

THE SISTERS EIGHT: GEORGIA'S GREATNESS
by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Greg Logsted and Jackie Logsted | Houghton Mifflin

March has arrived and it's Georgia's turn to discover her gift and power.But Georgia's gift shows up before her power, and instead of keeping it, Georgia sends it back. What?! Doesn't she realize that by doing so she could ruin the girls' chances of ever finding Mommy and Daddy? What if she never gets it back?Then, at school, a substitute teacher removes all thoughts of gifts and powers from Georgia or any of the other girls' minds. Ms. Serena is beautiful--as beautiful as Mommy. In fact she looks a lot like Mommy. And she's so nice, much nicer than the McG.But something isn't right about Serena. Could it be her beauty is only skin deep? Could she have something to do with the disappearance of Mommy and Daddy? And where is the McG anyway?

THE ACCIDENTAL HUMAN
by Dakota Cassidy | Penguin Group

Immortality bites new from the author of Accidentally Deadand The Accidental Werewolf. Wanda Schwartz is raking in the dough selling Bobbie-Sue Cosmeticsand shes a pro at recruiting new saleswomen. So, shes shocked when a man comes to one of her in-home partiesa very hot man. Heath Jefferson is sure to put some extra spin into a lot of womens color wheels. When Wanda is diagnosed with a terminal illness, it doesnt have to be a death sentence. With a werewolf and a vampire for best friends, she has options that most ordinary people wouldnt. As Wanda ponders what to do about her mortality, Heath reveals he has secrets, and one of them is that his former bloodlust has turned into an old-fashioned lustfor Wanda. And hes already given up too much to lose the love of his lifetimes.

HIGHWAY TO HELL: GIRL VS. EVIL SERIES
by Rosemary Clement-Moore | Dell Publishing

Maggie Quinn was expecting to find plenty of trouble with Lisa over Spring Break. Give a girl a bikini, a beachfront hotel, and an absent boyfriend, and it’s as good as a road map to the dark side. But Maggie doesn’t have to go looking for trouble. Trouble has started looking for her. One dead cow and a punctured gas tank later, she and Lisa are stuck in Dulcina, Texas—a town so small that it has anowner. And lately life in this small town hasn’t been all that peaceful. An eerie predator is stalking the ranchland. Everyone in town has a theory, but not even Maggie’s psychic mojo can provide any answers. And the longer the girls are stranded, the more obvious it becomes that something is seriously wrong. Only no one—not even Maggie’s closest ally—wants to admit that they could have been forced on a detour down the highway to hell.

THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE
by David Cristofano | Grand Central Publishing

When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed an act of violence so brutal that it changed their lives forever. The federal government lured them into the Witness Protection Program with the promise of safety, and they went gratefully. But the program took Melody's name, her home, her innocence, and, ultimately, her family. She's been May Adams, Karen Smith, Anne Johnson, and countless others--everyone but the one person she longs to be: herself. So when the feds spirit her off to begin yet another new life in another town, she's stunned when a man confronts her and calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the mafioso sent to hunt her down, knows her, the real her, and it's a dangerous thrill that Melody can't resist. He's insistent that she's just a pawn in the government's war against the Bovaro family. But can she trust her life and her identity to this vicious stranger whose acts of violence are legendary?

THE VAMPIRE'S CLAIM
by Joey Hill | Penguin Group

The daughter of two vampires, Lady Daniela is considered aristocracy in the vampire world. Still, she has to fight for what she wants especially since what she wants is to depose a brutal territory overlord. For that she'll need the help of Devlin, a handsome, brave human who inflames her desire far more than any man or beast. Even though she could easily lay her claim and take Dev on as a fully marked servant, she resists the urge especially since Dev is still tormented by something in his past. But when her enemy makes an unexpected appearance, Dev surprises them both by yielding completely to his feelings for Danny and showing her the devotion of a true servant until she decides to take his freedom without asking.

CHECKERED PAST
by Abby Gaines | Harlequin

NASCAR team owner Chad Matheson is most comfortable when he's in control. But his control took a time-out during a few days in Las Vegas—and he impulsively wed hotel heiress Brianna Hudson. The marriage lasted only one night, though, before they both had second thoughts….Two years later Brianna holds the keys to a much-needed sponsorship for Chad's team, and Chad is determined to keep things between them strictly business. But he knows he's fighting a losing battle. Because where Brianna is concerned, the atmosphere is anything but professional. And the last thing he needs is anyone finding out that, legally, they're still Mr. and Mrs.!

ANIMAL ATTRACTION
by Charlene Teglia | St. Martin's Press

Chandra Walker has a secret hidden in her genes--she's a rare female werewolf. Now that her all-male pack has located her, it's her destiny to sample each man's pleasures and choose a mate from among them--a mate who will become pack leader. Soon the strongest alphas are competing to bring Chandra the most ecstasy, but only one man will claim her.

THE VAMPIRE'S BRIDE
by Gena Showalter | Harlequin

He is Layel, king of the vampires, a master seducer no woman can deny. But since a rogue horde of dragons killed his beloved over two centuries ago, Layel has existed only for vengeance…until he meets Delilah.Wary of love, the beautiful Amazon wants nothing to do with the tormented vampire. Yet there's no denying their consuming desire every time he nears her.Neither trusts the other—nor can they survive alone. For in an impossible game of the gods' devising, they've been trapped on an island, about to face the ultimate challenge: surrender to the passion that will bind them forever…or be doomed to an eternity apart.