The Reapers Are The Angels by Alden Bell (Holt, August'10) "“Bell has created an exquisitely bleak tale and an unforgettable heroine whose eye for beauty and aching need for redemption somehow bring wonder into a world full of violence and decay.”--

After almost three fascinating and productive years reacquainting myself with the world of publishing at Writers House, I joined Russell and Volkening, Inc., as a (mostly) fiction and young adult/middle grade agent and their director of Film/Television rights. Please feel free to email me at my new desk at josh@randvinc.com.

PLEASE NOTE: I am somewhat backed in reading manuscripts at the moment, and it's taking me longer than I like to respond. But I haven't forgotten, and will respond as soon as possible.

My story: Left Harcourt in 1993 to get my MBA. After Business School I spent 11 years owning and operating a minor league baseball team. I got out of baseball in late 2006 and rejoined the book world on the agent side. I worked at Writers House until November 2009, building a list of novelists, YA and children's book authors, and the occasional nonfiction writer.

I am particularly into foreign and historical thrillers and mysteries, so send me your ruthless doges and impious cardinals...and your farmhouse cozies! Give me atmosphere, let me learn something about another time or another place (or both), and kill off nasty Uncle Mortimer in the process--I'll be yours! I take middle grade and YA mystery or adventure series, but not so much fantasy, and definitely not picture books. (There are many others who specialize in these books.) And please don't send religious fiction--I don't have contacts in the Christian book market.

About Russell and Volkening:

Russell & Volkening was founded in 1940 by Diarmuid Russell and Henry Volkening. They were responsible for discovering and representing some of the most noted writers in the history of American publishing, including Eudora Welty, Bernard Malamud, Anne Tyler, George Plimpton, Barbara Tuchman, and South African Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer. In 1972, they sold their agency to Timothy Seldes, formerly the Managing Editor of Doubleday, Vice President of Macmillan, and Assistant Publisher of The New York Post. Seldes continued to expand the list, with Annie Dillard, Tony Award winner Ntozake Shange, Jim Lehrer, and Marian Wright Edelman (President of the Children's Defense Fund), among many others. They handle fiction, non-fiction, and children's books, focusing on quality of writing and literary merit across the board.

Osahon Akpata, Jay Bailey, Nancy Bilyeau, Sheila Webster Boneham, Ph.D., Dr. Otis Brawley, Angela S. Choi, Jeff Cohen, Elissa Cruz, Victoria Dougherty, Gerald Elias, Joshua Gaylord, Paul Goldberg, Mitchell Graham, Neil Grimmett, Lars Guignard, Traci Hall, Wayne Henninger, Julia Hersey, Teri Kanefield, Margaret Lyons, Marie Manderson, Jennifer O'Connell, Roland Orzabal, Duane Ostler, James Phelan, Keith Raffel, Robert Repino, Linda Sands, Tania Roxborogh, Gregory Wallance, Bradley Wind, Cali Yost

July 30, 2010
Fiction: Debut
InStyle magazine deputy and books editor Nancy Bilyeau's historical thriller THE LAST NUN, about a novice who is imprisoned in the Tower for breaking the sacred rule of enclosure and, in exchange for her freedom and her father's life, is charged to find a hidden legendary relic that could save the way of life that she loves from Cromwell's advancing army of destruction, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside, in a very nice deal, at auction, by Josh Getzler at Russell & Volkening (NA).

June 17, 2010
Fiction:General/Other
HUMMINGBIRDS author Joshua Gaylord's FRONTIERLAND, set in 1975 Orange County, interweaving the stories of a twelve year-old tomboy and an ex-beauty queen both searching for escape, moving to Marjorie Braman at Holt, by Josh Getzler at Russell & Volkening (World).

March 23, 2010
Fiction: Mystery/Crime
Utah Symphony associate concertmaster Gerald Elias's next two books in a classical music-world mystery series featuring a blind, vulgar, reclusive, miserable violin master -- Death And The Maiden and Death And Transfiguration, again to Michael Homler at Minotaur, by Josh Getzler at Russell & Volkening (world).
Josh@randvinc.com

March 8, 2010
Non-fiction: Memoir
Oncologist and American Cancer Society chief medical officer Otis Webb Brawley, MD's WHAT I KNOW, WHAT I DON'T KNOW, AND WHAT I BELIEVE: A Doctor's Education, offering his perspective on the state of medicine today, with specific attention paid to cancer treatment; with Cancer Letter Editor Paul Goldberg co-writing, to Nichole Argyres at St. Martin's, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2011, by Josh Getzler, in his first deal since moving to Russell & Volkening (world). josh@randvinc.com

Fiction: General/Other
HUMMINGBIRDS author Joshua Gaylord's THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS, about a young woman on a road trip through the post-apocalyptic South as she evades zombies, and the more dangerous threat of the brother of a man she killed in self-defense, all the while ruminating on what it means to be human, to be alive, to live, to die, to Marjorie Braman at Holt, in a very nice deal, at auction, to be published pseudonymously so as not to conflict with his Harper novels, by Josh Getzler at Writers House (NA).

FICTION: MYSTERY/CRIME
Curiosity Killed the Catsitter, Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund, Cat Sitter On A Hot Tin Roof author Blaize Clement's next two books in the author's mystery series featuring a Siesta Key, Florida dog-walker/cat-sitter, again to Marcia Markland at Minotaur, by Josh Getzler at Writers House (NA).
jgetzler@writershouse.com

Fiction:Debut
San Francisco attorney Angela Choi's HELLO KITTY MUST DIE, Palahniuk-meets-Bret Ellis-Meets-Joy-Luck Club-Meets-Margaret Cho, the story of a Chinese-American woman whose immigrant parents think she should be a Hello, Kitty -- Blank and doll-like, married to the Nice Chinese Boy; but she's also involved with a serial killer, to Benjamin LeRoy at Bleak House, by Josh Getzler at Writers House (NA).

Non-fiction:Reference
Dog breed expert Sheila Boneham, Ph.D's 17th book about dogs, a guide to Brittany Spaniels, to Stephanie Fornino at TFH, as part of its new breed series, for publication in 2011, by Josh Getzler at Writers House.

Thriller
Former dot-com CEO Keith Raffel's SMASHER, the follow-up to 2007's dot-dead, which combines Silicon Valley intrigue with a secret that may have cost a young scientist in the 1950's a Nobel Prize -- and her life, again to Bill Krause at Midnight Ink, by Josh Getzler at Writers House.

Sports

South Florida Adventures magazine publisher David Raterman's FLORIDA MARLINS: A HISTORY, the first complete history of the baseball franchise from (Jeff) Abbott to (Eddie) Zosky, and A GUIDE TO SOUTH FLORIDA ADVENTURES, with recommendations and itineraries for extreme and casual sportspeople living or vacationing in South Florida, to John Byram at the University Press of Florida, in a two-book deal, by Josh Getzler at Writers House (NA).

Debut fiction

Manhattan high school teacher Joshua Gaylord's first novel, pitched as History Boys meets Blue Angel, about the intertwining -- and often darkly surprising -- relationships between the teachers and students at a school for girls, to Sally Kim at Harper, at auction, in a very nice deal, by Josh Getzler at Writers House (NA).

FOREIGN RIGHTS: FICTION
Australian and New Zealand rights to Joshua Gaylord's HUMMINGBIRDS, to Colette Vella at Pier 9, for publication in October 2009, by Angharad Kowal for Josh Getzler at Writers House.

Mystery/Crime

Associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony Gerald Elias's DEVIL'S TRILL, a classical music-world mystery series featuring a blind, vulgar, reclusive, miserable violin master, who stands accused of theft (of a three-quarter-sized violin) and murder (of a rival) and must clear his name by journeying through the halls of wealth and across continents, to Michael Homler at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2009, by Josh Getzler, in his first deal at Writers House, on behalf of Simon Lipskar (World).

AUGUST 16, 2010
International rights: UK Fiction
Foreign rights to InStyle Magazine deputy editor Nancy Bilyeau's THE LAST NUN, to Orion in UK, at auction, in a two-book deal, in a good deal, by Kate Walker at Abner Stein; to Sperling in Italy, by Daniela Bernabo at Bernabo Agency; to Sextante in Brazil, by Tassy Barham, on behalf of Jesseca Salky and Josh Getzler at Russell & Volkening. Jesseca@randvinc.com
Josh@randvinc.com .

November 3, 2009 International rights: Children's
Australian and New Zealand rights to T.K. Roxborogh's BANQUO'S SON Trilogy Books 2 and 3, an epic tale of love, loss and revenge set amidst the turmoil of Scotland after Macbeth, to Vicki Marsdon at Penguin New Zealand, for publication in Fall 2010 and Fall 2011, by Angharad Kowal at Writers House on behalf of Josh Getzler.

October 30, 2009 UK Fiction
Joshua Gaylord writing as Alden Bell's THE REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS, to Julie Crisp at Tor UK, in a two-book deal, for publication in August 2010, by Angharad Kowal at Writers House on behalf of Josh Getzler.

Foreign rights: Fiction
German rights to Angela S Choi's HELLO KITTY MUST DIE, to btb, at auction, by Bastian Schlueck on behalf of Maja Nikolic and Josh Getzler at Writers House. jgetzler@writershouse.com

FOREIGN RIGHTS: FICTION
Australian and New Zealand rights to Joshua Gaylord's HUMMINGBIRDS, to Colette Vella at Pier 9, for publication in October 2009, by Angharad Kowal for Josh Getzler at Writers House.

I am representing all Russell & Volkening authors for film and television rights.

MBA, Columbia Business School; BA, U. Penn, English/Creative Writing; Radcliffe Publishing Course; Bennington Writers Workshop.

Email only, please. Query Letter plus FIRST 5 or so pages. (If a chapter is 6, go for it!) Synopsis is not necessary. PLEASE no religious fiction or picture books.