Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Agent, bioshock, Deborah Underwood, graphic novel, Jorge Lacera

Deborah Underwood & BioShock Art Director Create Kids Graphic Novels

Published Sat, 06 Aug 2022 14:57:12 -0500

Last updated Sun, 09 Jul 2023 07:38:01 -0500

Deborah Underwood is the author of more than twenty picture books, including Every Little Letter, The Panda Problem, Interstellar Cinderella, and New York Times bestsellers The Quiet Book, The Loud Book, and Here Comes the Easter Cat. She is now moving into early reader graphic novels with artist Jorge Lacera, who is best known for his work on the BioShock franchise as the Lead Concept Artist and Art Director at Cloud Chamber Studios in Montreal, Quebec, as well as the artist on Zombies Don't Eat Veggies and the recent Pruett And Soo. They both worked together on the book XO, Exoplanet.

The as-yet-untitled graphic novel series is the story of a hardboiled rat-fairy fixer and his mouse sidekick as they set well-known fairy tales to rights after they come off the rails.

Kate O'Sullivan at Clarion has acquired world rights to the first two untitled early graphic novels, and publication will start in winter 2025. Deborah Underwood's agent Erin Murphy at Erin Murphy Literary Agency and Jorge Lacera's agent John Cusick at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management negotiated the deal.

Clarion is a children's imprint owned by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a publisher based in Boston's Financial District that focuses on textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. They also have an extensive graphic novel line. Feel free to go take a look at this handy link any time you fancy.

Erin Murphy Literary Agency is a leading U.S. children's book agency headquartered in southern Maine who says that they "focus on connections—between writer and editor, story and reader—as well as on helping our clients build their careers and grow as artists." A division of Folio Literary Management, Folio Jr. states that they are"wholly committed to offering our clients impeccable, individually tailored care. We strive not only to discover and cultivate the most compelling new voices and the most original and memorable styles of illustration, but also to indefatigably and strategically support our established writers and illustrators as they thrive and develop their careers in the publishing industry."

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