INTERESTING YA FANATSY STORY OUT OF THE U.S.

Clare Bell produced a YA fantasy series called “The Named” in the 80s and 90s. It was a 4-book series about prehistoric (specifically the Miocene Age, 20 million years ago), sentient big cats who try to build a civilization. It was quite popular, but was dropped after Ratha’s Creature.

But with the popularity of Erin Hunter’s The Warriors (a series about feral felines and their world), a used book market on The Named started doing well enough, Penguin noticed and decided to re-issue the series. They invited Clare to write a new book, and she did with Ratha’s Courage.

But publishers are fickle things. By the time Clare had finished the book and the first galleys were produced, Penguin was less than imbued with the sales of the series. Before the book hit the press, they dropped it.

Enter Sheila Ruth of Imaginator Press , blogger for Wands and Worlds an immensely popular site for YA fantasy, who is also the creator of the Cybils, the independent award for YA fantasy.

She didn’t want to see this wonderful series die, and so bought the North American rights to Ratha’s Courage.

With the strength of the author’s marketing and the community ties to the YA fantasy market, this could do very well for Imaginator and Clare.
The book comes out in October and Beagle Bay will distribute.