Big News for Juno Books

Yeah, I know; third post today. But this is big news and I wanted it on top. Juno Books, my favorite small press, is going to become an imprint of Pocket Books.

New York, New York (January 19, 2009) – Louise Burke, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Pocket Books, has announced a new co-publishing agreement with Juno Books, best known for contemporary fantasy novels that emphasize strong female protagonists in richly imagined contexts. Juno will become an imprint of Pocket Books, publishing one title per month with the first release, AMAZON INK by Lori Devoti, slated for June 2009.

Lori Devoti is occasionally seen commenting here, so this is very exciting for her. Congratulations to Juno Books and all her authors! Please read the rest of the details at the Juno Editorial blog.

Editor Paula Guran Weighs In

Paula Guran, editor of Juno Books, weighed in on the Bell Bridge Books discussion with a bit of a lesson on the whys and hows of when books get stocked on the shelves of the chain bookstores. To read it, check out the comments thread of the Bell Bridge Books showcase. Thanks for stopping by, Paula!

Debut Showcase: Seaborn by Chris Howard

SEABORN (Amazon USA, UK, Canada)
by Chris Howard (website, blog)
Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback
Excerpt - read it! hear it! (additional formats available at Juno site)

Blurb:

All Life began in the ocean.
The tides, the salt, the rolling waves are in our souls.
The sea will always have the power to call us home.

There is a world deep under the sea, a kingdom that has endured thousands of years without the modern world knowing it exists. Those who dwell there are Thalassogenêis: SEABORN

Kassandra is the Seaborn king's granddaughter--the one he wishes he'd killed when he'd had the chance. She comes from the sea, but she has spent her whole life in exile on the surface, learning to control strange and frightening powers she barely understands. But now she's ready to declare war on the murderous king.

Corina Lairsey is a scuba-diving Californian who has freed herself from a controlling relationship...andfinds herself in another. Only this time, Aleximor, an ancient Seaborn sorcerer, is literally inside her head and wearing her body. Corina must strive for control of her self, fighting against time as Aleximor trades pieces of her life away in exchange for power over the path between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Aleximor wants revenge for his 400-year imprisonment and his dangerous machinations threaten to destroy both young women and the world of the Seaborn.

This novel is getting a lot of attention. Juno books has been gathering some momentum lately with both this novel and with Personal Demons. And that's only considering their most recent debuts. Juno also got this book into the hands of reviewers early, so I have a copy and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Here is the book trailer:

Personal Demons by Stacia Kane

Personal Demons (Amazon UK)
by Stacia Kane (aka December Quinn) (blog)
Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback
Excerpt

Blurb:
Megan promises listeners to her new radio call-in show that she'll "slay their personal demons," and they believe her. So do the personal demons. Although she doesn't know it, Megan is the only human without a personal demon on her shoulder. This, coupled with her psychic abilities, makes her a valuable weapon for any demon "family" that can gain her allegiance. It also makes her a serious threat -- not just to the personal demons, but to a soul-sucker known as The Accuser who has an old score to settle. Megan and her allies -- a demon lover who both protects and seduces her with devilish intensity, a witch with poor social skills, and three cockney guard demons -- have to deal not only The Accuser, the personal demons, and the ghosts of Megan's past, but a reporter who threatens to destroy Megan's career.

I knew it! I knew I first read about this novel on Miss Snark's last hook contest! Here's the hook! And here's the opening that Miss Snark critiqued. It worked for Miss Snark and apparently it worked for Paula Guran of Juno Books as well. It's fabulous to see an author from that contest do well. I was also delighted to find that this author is someone else I know of from Absolute Write. She has published in other genres as December Quinn, and as far as I can tell, this is her first mainstream fantasy. This cover is a new look for Juno Books, and I find it quite effective. Scooper did a review of it last month and she really enjoyed it.

House of Whispers by Margaret Lucke

HOUSE OF WHISPERS (Amazon USA)
by Margaret Lucke (website)
Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback
Excerpt

Blurb:
Claire Scanlan is launching a new life and a new career in real estate. She has a chance to sell a spectacular house but, as the site of a mass murder, the property is not attracting buyers. When Ben Grant, the handsome brother of one of the murder victims, shows her the empty house Claire experiences strange sensations that are both fascinating and repellent. Claire is also fascinated (and not at all repelled) by Ben Grant. But if Claire accepts her new-found paranormal power as real, she must also accept the responsibility for solving a bloody crime--even though Ben seems to be a prime suspect.

Paula Guran, the editor of Juno Books, wrote to me about this novel back in October. The author is actually not a debut novelist, but her last novel (she's written nonfiction since then) was long ago and in another genre, and was nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Mystery Novel. This novel has garnered some respectable blurbs.

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti

CLOCKWORK HEART (Amazon USA, Canada)
by Dru Pagliassotti (website, magazine)
Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback
Excerpt

Blurb:
Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus, a courier privileged to travel freely across city's sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she cannot outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entangled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on Ondinium's governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in the lowest sector of the city. Both hide dangerous secrets, in the city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart...

Yes, you read that right; the author has a fantasy/horror magazine called The Harrow, which she has run for ten years. She also has a list of short stories published. This story sounds very imaginative. I like how the name of the city sounds like an element from the periodic table of the elements. And I love that cover.

Apricot Brandy by Lynn Cesar

Apricot Brandy by Lynn Cesar
Juno Books
Mass market paperback
Excerpt
Blurb:

Deep in ancient Darkness where seed and spore and root and sleepless worm commingle -- Xibalba awaits. To the ancient god, human life has become a disease destroying the earth and the now-demonic Xibalba is coming to feed on the good and the evil alike, to scour humankind from the face of the earth...

Returning to the family homestead after her father's suicide, Karen Fox finds herself haunted by her past and bound by rage and guilt to a place she despises. Her lover, Susan, shows up help Karen confront her past, but she, too, is overwhelmed by malevolent powers that have seeded the earth with evil. Only Karen, ex-con Kyle, an ancient Guatemalan bruja named Quetzal, and an army of ghosts Quetzal commands stand between Xibalba and the annihilation of us all.

This appears to be a fascinating journey into Central American mythology--a setting we don't see much in fantasy. I'll get a chance to read it because Juno books sent me a review copy, so expect to see my thoughts on it posted here soon.