STRANGE CHEMISTRY ANNOUNCES TWO-BOOK DEAL FOR GWENDA BOND

Strange Chemistry are thrilled to announce the signing of Gwenda Bond, in a two book deal with World English rights concluded between Amanda Rutter and Jennifer Laughran, of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Inc. The first book, Blackwood, will be one of the imprint's September 2012 launch titles, with the second following in 2013.

ABOUT BLACKWOOD

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island's most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can't dodge is each other.

Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America's oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.


ABOUT GWENDA BOND

Gwenda Bond is a contributing writer for Publishers Weekly, reviews books for the Washington Post and Locus Magazine, and has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition. She won the 2010 Veritas Media Award from the Romance Writers of America for her article "Romancing the Recession" in PW, and recently guest edited a special YA issue of Subterranean Online featuring work by Kelly Link, Sarah Rees Brennan, Malinda Lo, and others.

Gwenda also holds an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts' program in writing for children and young adults, and maintains an active online presence. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband, SF author Christopher Rowe, and their menagerie.

Visit Gwenda online at http://gwendabond.typepad.com/