Posts Tagged ‘debut author’

Acquisition Announcement: THE BLACK HUNGER by Nicholas Pullen

Orbit is thrilled to have acquired The Black Hunger from debut author Nicholas Pullen, a spine-tingling and sprawling gothic journey into the heart of horror, perfect for fans of The Historian and The Terror.

Orbit UK Commissioning Editor Nadia Saward bought World English rights in two novels from Natasha Mihell at The Rights Factory, with Senior Editor Bradley Englert acquiring for Orbit US. Publication is planned for Autumn 2024.

A photo of Nicholas Pullen wearing a pink shirt and grey blazer

John Sackville will soon be dead. Shadows writhe in the corners of his London cell and the gnawing hunger is growing impossible to ignore. 

They will say he’s gone insane, but John knows he must write his last testament before it is too late.
 
It is a story steeped in history and myth, a journey from occult ruins in Scotland, to the barren wilderness of Russia where otherworldly creatures stalk the night, ending in the icy peaks of Tibet and Mongolia, where an ancient evil stirs. . .

Praise for The Black Hunger:

‘A terrifying gothic journey to the place where the very cruellest, hungriest creatures hide in the snow, and wear our faces. This is a magisterial debut’ Michael Rowe, author of Wild Fell

Acquiring editor Nadia Saward said: ‘Nicholas Pullen has crafted a gothic masterpiece that is at once an unsettling, sinister horror and a heartrending romance with a blistering end that still has me reeling. I can’t wait to terrify and bring readers to tears with The Black Hunger.’

Author Nicholas Pullen said: ‘In Orbit, The Black Hunger has found the perfect home, and in Nadia Saward and Bradley Englert it has found its perfect editors. I couldn’t be more excited to work with both Nadia and Bradley, and am profoundly grateful to Orbit for bringing The Black Hunger to the world. Here we go!’

Agent Natasha Mihell said: ‘The first time The Black Hunger gave me nightmares, I knew I had found something, and someone, special. Pullen’s erudite blend of the historical and the horrifying creates an enticingly rich, cosmically dark tale, shimmering with queer splendour. Captivating, adrenaline-inducing, and constructed with industrious care, The Black Hunger is one of those books you feel smarter for having read, and one that promises to linger in your mind long after you’ve finished reading it. An exceptional harnessing of madness—and one wild ride.’

US editor Bradly Englert said: ‘Great horror makes you care for the characters. The best kind of horror makes you love the characters and then haunts you as all of the terrifying events unfold. Nicholas Pullen has achieved both in The Black Hunger. It’s the kind of gothic horror that pulls you into the world of its characters before letting loose with full-tilt terror. As a diehard fan of horror, this is a novel that I love and one that readers are going to be obsessed with.’

About the author: Nicholas Pullen was born and raised in Toronto, and educated at Oxford and McGill. A writer since early childhood, Nicholas now fashions stories out of shadows, madness, and historical truths. Outside of writing, his professional life has been spent working toward Truth and Reconciliation in the Canadian Public Service, as a treaty negotiator with Indigenous Peoples. He speaks fluent French, is an enthusiastic amateur of the guitar and mandolin, and to relax, enjoys scuba diving on shipwrecks in Georgian Bay. Nicholas is a Canada Council for the Arts Grant Recipient and his short fiction has appeared in the Toronto Star (Famous Blue), the Copperfield Review (Hellulandsaga), and Anti-Heroin Chic (Relapse/Grindr). The Black Hunger is his first novel.

You can find Nicholas on Twitter at @thenajpullen, go say hello!

 

Acquisition Announcement: EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES

We’re thrilled to announce the acquisition of EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by Heather Fawcett, an utterly charming, cosy fairy tale with a heart-warming romance, set in a gorgeous, wintery Icelandic setting. Full of enchanting magic and mischievous faeries, this is The Ten Thousand Doors of January meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, with the whimsy of The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Nadia Saward acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a pre-empt from Rachel Clements at Abner Stein. Del Rey hold NA rights.

Photo of the author with light brunette hair, smiling at the camera

Professor Emily Wilde may not know how to make small talk at a dinner party—or be invited to one in the first place—but she’s managed to become one of the world’s most renowned dryadologists, a scholar of the Folk. Authoring the first comprehensive encyclopaedia of fairies will make her career, she needs only to complete the final chapter on the mysterious Hidden Ones who dwell in the arctic country of Ljosland.

But scholarly Emily is a fish out of water when she arrives in the beautiful, hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik. Almost entirely cut off from the outside world, the villagers rely on each other to survive, and Emily manages to offend half the village with her poor social skills. Things are further complicated by the arrival of Professor Wendell Bambleby, Emily’s academic rival, who is working on his own paper on the Hidden Ones. When the charismatic Bambleby offers a partnership, Emily is forced to agree or risk having him take credit for any discoveries—though Emily knows that Wendell is more than he appears, and not to be trusted.

To Emily’s astonishment, she finds herself not only observing the Folk of Ljosland from a scholarly distance, but caught up in their malevolent games. And if she and Wendell are to help the villagers, Emily may need to risk not only her cherished scientific objectivity, but her life.

We can’t wait to charm you with EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES in 2023, but in the meantime please join us in welcoming Heather Fawcett to Orbit! You can find Heather on Twitter @heathermfawcett.