Vengeance Road

Those of you who follow me on twitter or instagram have probably seen me posting about a #westernYA recently. If you also follow me on pinterest, it’s likely you’ve caught an influx of my western pins. Well…

I’m thrilled to announce that #westernYA (henceforth known as VENGEANCE ROAD) sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt!

* If image is broken or illegible, see footnote for text version of deal announcement.

I have wanted to write a western for ages. As a kid, I was obsessed with the wild west and frontier life. I was always writing stories about farms and wagons and horses. I played Oregon Trail more than was healthy. My Little House on the Prairie books were read so often the spines were shot.

This love affair with the west only grew as I did. My parents are both teachers and when I was in seventh and eighth grade, we took two different summer road-trips from CT to the west coast and back. The southwest was my favorite. When I was old enough to watch spaghetti westerns with my father, I fell in love with Clint Eastwood… and that lead to me discovering even more western films. (Clint’s still my fave, though–The Outlaw Josey Wales forever!!)

But it was only this past fall that the right idea for a western novel finally fell into my lap. My husband was talking about one of his favorite places in Arizona—the Superstition Mountains—and talk turned to the legend of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. All of a sudden, I had a muse EXPLOSION. Six shooters and lost gold and vicious gangs and a girl out for revenge! I went on a research binge, and then a writing frenzy, and armed with a 95-page partial + synopsis, my agent took VENGEANCE ROAD on sub.

some inspirational images from my pinterest board

I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Kate O’Sullivan and the folks at HMH on this book. They have such great educational ties, and since VENGEANCE ROAD has American history at its core, I couldn’t be happier. It also doesn’t hurt that HMH has published a few of my favorite YA books—The Giver, Graceling, Grave Mercy! And though she’s super busy flying around in her cape and likely not reading this blog, I have to thank my agent, Sara Crowe. She worked tirelessly to get this story into the right hands. I only have a book deal because of her.

Okay, I’ve blabbed a lot, but I’m just SO EXCITED about this book. I can’t wait for you to meet Kate and travel across Arizona Territory with her. If you feel so inclined, you can add VENGEANCE ROAD to your goodreads here, or stalk my pins here.

In the meantime, I should probably go finish my first draft…

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* Kate O’Sullivan at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has acquired, at auction, Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman, author of the Taken trilogy. Set in 1877 Arizona, the story – pitched as True Grit meets Blood Red Road – follows Kate Thompson as she tracks the gang who hung her father, only to find herself entangled in a bloody search for lost gold in the Superstition Mountains. Publication is scheduled for fall 2015; Sara Crowe at Harvey Klinger did the deal for North American rights.