An Atlanta Burns Announcement

Atlanta Burns is a character near and dear to my heart. As a troubled teen trying to make things right in a world gone wrong, she deals with issues that still sit uncomfortably in my gut: bullying and high school and abuse and all the other bruises and brands of youth.

I was fortunate enough to write her in a novella, Shotgun Gravy, that I was happy with — and I was doubly fortunate to be able to continue her adventures in the follow-up novel, Bait Dog. That second fortune thanks to the fine Kickstarter backers who helped make it happen.

Well, turns out, I may be triply fortunate when it comes to Atlanta Burns.

Amazon Children’s Publishing has offered to help bring Atlanta Burns to a wider audience.

They will be printing both Shotgun Gravy and Bait Dog in a single volume, and then will follow-up by publishing a second novel (once titled Harum Scarum, but now called Frack You). Kickstarter backers will still be named in the print volume, and will also receive an autographed print copy of the second book (rather than a digital copy).

Obviously, I’m hella excited — this is for me a new lease on life for the character, and I think it bodes well for her future that the publisher was just in love with her as I was. Amazon Children’s Publishing is also the publisher of my upcoming YA series (the Heartland trilogy, beginning with Under the Empyrean Sky), and they’ve been kick-ass so far. They’ve given great edits and have a  strong grasp of the characters and the worldbuilding, not to mention their support — they’ve been very author-friendly. Needless to say I’m thrilled to have Atlanta Burns come to them as a YA heroine (or anti-heroine!) as it is a very comfortable fit.

Plus, it shows you that they’re pretty progressive — after all, they’re picking up a book that was both crowdsourced and self-published. That sort of thing could be considered anathema to some, so it’s nice to see that the diversified approach that I like to take did the trick.

Thanks to ACP for publishing it. Thanks to my agent for helping make it happen.

And thanks to all of you, really, for loving the character enough and believing in the book.

(Art by the inimitable Amy Houser.)