A combination of impressive sales and critical acclaim put Stiefvater in position to follow J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins as the next books-to-film star from publisher Scholastic. Centered on a deadly race involving magical sea horses, "The Scorpio Races" has a "Hunger Games" vibe.
These authors are poised to make the leap to next year’s list.
Zane: Long before 50 Shades of Grey, Zane’s erotic fiction scored with African-American readers. The fortysomething Maryland mother of three has sold more than 8 million books and appeared on the Times‘ list 14 times. After some false starts, her best-known hit, Addicted, about a woman who seeks sex-addiction counseling, is at Lionsgate with Bille Woodruff (Beauty Shop) directing.
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Jennifer Egan: Her 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit From the Goon Squad revolves around an aging music executive, his assistant and their friends. The series of interconnected short stories is being turned into an HBO series from Peter Weir (Master and Commander).
Lee Child: The British thriller writer’s Jack Reacher series arrives on the big screen for the first time 15 years (and 17 novels) after the character debuted in 1997’s Killing Floor, with Tom Cruise starring in the adaptation of One Shot, out Dec. 21.
Maggie Stiefvater: A combination of impressive sales and critical acclaim (a Printz award, the top YA prize) put Stiefvater in position to follow J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins as the next books-to-film star from publisher Scholastic. Centered on a deadly race involving magical sea horses, The Scorpio Races has a Hunger Games vibe. Her new book, The Raven Boys, also hit the best-seller lists.
John Green: Green, a canny social networker with a popular video blog, drew attention from filmmakers for his previous books (Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns), but his latest hit, The Fault in Our Stars, about two cancer-stricken teens who fall in love, seems most likely to make it to the big screen first. Fox 2000 picked up the rights, and Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer) are writing.
Ransom Riggs: The creepy-cool 2011 hit Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which spent 63 weeks on the Times best-seller list, follows a young boy as he searches for the truth about his grandfather on a mysterious island populated by children with special powers. Tim Burton is attached to direct, with Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class) scripting. Riggs, a screenwriter, is cautiously optimistic: “I’m being a cheerleader.”
