After completing the Novel Incubator program at GrubStreet in 2014, baker-turned-novelist Louise Miller recently announced that she secured a two-book deal with Pamela Dorman Books, an imprint of Viking/Penguin.
Publisher’s Weekly described Louise’s forthcoming novel, Fair Season, as the story of “a pastry chef who, after accidentally setting fire to the Boston club where she works, relocates to Vermont,” finding “solace, love, and community working as a baker at a local inn.” Of her recent success, Louise remarked,”to say that this is a dream come true would be the understatement of the century. I have day-dreamed about this moment for years, long before I even started writing the book.”
Fair Season is the latest in a slew of “Incu-Babies” to find a publishing home. An intensive revision course, GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator takes ten students each year through a rigorous MFA-level program that covers every aspect of novel writing, from the micro-elements of craft to finding an agent and publishing your book. After only three full cycles of the class, several books developed in the Incubator have already gone on to secure publishing deals, including forthcoming titles Re Jane (May 2015) by Patricia Park, also with Pamela Dorman, and Half in Love with Death (2016, Merit Press) by Emily Ross.
Louise was taken on by agent Alexandra Machinist, of ICM, after a connection she made at the Muse and the Marketplace, a conference for emerging writers. Muse attendees enjoy three days of craft sessions and opportunities to connect with agents and editors, including one-on-one consultations in the Manuscript Mart, where Louise met ICM’s Lisa Bankoff last year. Bankoff referred Louise to Alexandra Machinist after reading the opening pages of Fair Season.
Of the conference, Louise also said, “I met my editor Pamela Dorman at the Muse in 2011 as well. I did a Manuscript Mart with her then, back when I only had 50 pages written. She told me to keep in touch, and I did.” This year’s conference runs May 1-3. The deadline to sign up for the Manuscript Mart is next Monday. Find out more here!
Here at GrubStreet headquarters we are ecstatic about the news and wish Louise every future success. Congratulations, Louise!
Louise Miller is a writer and pastry chef living in Boston, MA. She received a scholarship to attend the 2013-2014 Novel Incubator program, where she revised her first novel. Louise can be found blogging about baking and books, and posting pictures of baby dairy goats at louisethebaker.tumblr.com and tweeting at@louisethebaker.
