By Georgie Cutler, Eva Lee and Niamh Parr
Acquisitions News
Tahereh Mafi Announces Shatter Me Spin-off Series
HarperCollins has acquired rights to three new novels by Tahereh Mafi as a spin-off series to her best-selling Shatter Me books. The first novel, Watch Me, will be set ten years after the events of Imagine Me, the sixth and final book in the Shatter Me series, and will be from the perspectives of two new leading characters: James and Rosabelle.
The original Shatter Me series follows Juliette Ferrars, a teenage girl with the power of lethal touch, as she navigates a dystopian world ruled by a totalitarian government called the Reestablishment; whilst also juggling a love triangle between a Reestablishment commander, Aaron Warner Anderson, and a rebel soldier, Adam Kent.
Watch Me will follow James Anderson, the younger brother of Aaron Warner Anderson, who has grown up in a post-revolution world sheltered by his family, and Rosabelle Wolff, an assassin trained from childhood by members of the Reestablishment. Set on Ark Island, the final surveillance state stronghold of the Reestablishment, Watch Me opens with James stuck in prison on the island as a desperate and devastating plan formulated by the Reestablishment begins to unfold.
The new series will be called, Shatter Me: The New Republic. On her Instagram, Mafi writes that, “while [Watch Me] stands on its own so that new readers can enter the world without having read the original series, [previous fans] will see all [their] favourite people again.” Watch Me is set to be released on 15 April 2025 in hardback edition. A collector’s deluxe limited-edition version of Shatter Me will also be available on 5 November 2024, with bonus content featuring the first three chapters of Watch Me.
PMJ Buys English Translation of Hiyoko Kurisu’s Fantasy Novel
UK rights for Hiyoko Kurisu’s charming fantasy novel, The Amberglow Candy Store in the Night Alley, have been secured by Penguin Michael Joseph. North American rights were also preempted by Aranya Jain at Putnam, another imprint of Penguin Random House. The deals were handled by Li Kangqin of New River Literary on behalf of Kohei Hattori of the English Agency and Poplar. The Amberglow Candy Store is the English translation of Hiyoko Kurisu’s Japanese novel originally published in May 2022 by Poplar, publisher of other Japanese language favourites as Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura and What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama.
The Amberglow Candy Store is a shop run by the half-fox shopkeeper, Kogetsu, on Gloaming Lane, a mysterious alley hidden between a gap in some trees behind a local shrine. The lane is full of shops only used by yokai, Japanese spirits and supernatural beings, and humans in sensitive states. One evening, this lane is discovered by a teenage student, Kana, on a visit to the shrine to pray. Upon visiting the Amberglow Candy Store, Kana finds that Kogetsu sells magical sweets which supposedly change people’s lives for the better. The novel follows Kana and other characters as they try to better their lives in a series of linked tales all centred around the Amberglow Candy Store, with each of their actions being secretly observed by the shopkeeper, Kogetsu.
From Book to Screen: What to Watch?
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power
The second series of The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power is returning to Amazon Prime this autumn. The Amazon Studios series draws on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and is set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It aims to bring the legends of Middle-Earth’s Second Age to the screen for fans of Tolkien’s works.
The large ensemble cast sees the likes of Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Charles Edwards, Markella Kavenagh and Robert Aramayo returning to the series. The second series will introduce more characters, including those played by Tanya Moodie, Rory Kinnear and Ciarán Hinds. The first three episodes are available to watch from 29 August 2024, with the following episodes streaming weekly from 5 September 2024.
Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women Series
The upcoming series adaptation, Three Women, will be released on Starz on 13 September 2024. Based on Lisa Taddeo's bestselling book, this drama delves into the lives of three women navigating female desires, challenges and personal growth. The story will explore the lives of three women: Lina, a stay-at-home mum, Sloane, a passionate woman balancing her work life and marriage and Maggie, a student accusing her married English teacher of misconduct.
All these stories are compiled by Gia, a writer finding similarities in their different lifestyles. The ten-episode series will see the likes of Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise and Gabrielle Creevy as their characters unravel new changes in their complex lives. With its talented cast and a female-centric narrative, Three Women is poised to be an uplifting story.
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