Publishers Marketplace: J R Lankford


	ISBN 0971869456. 2nd sequel to the The Jesus Thief -- "This is great stuff" starred review, Booklist

THE SACRED IMPOSTOR, "A fresh view"--Kirkus

Online Workshop Launches Careers

BELLAIRE, TX (OCTOBER 12, 2012) --

According to Kirkus, J R Lankford's forthcoming thriller, THE SACRED IMPOSTOR, due out from Great Reads Books on October 22, "presents a fresh view of Mexican–American tensions [as] former butler Luis Tepiltzin Moctezuma rises to power, inheriting a fortune...Through him, Lankford tells an often-ignored history of Mexican heritage and presents a new angle to the underside of illegal immigration."

EKSMO, Russia's biggest publisher, recently obtained the novel in a deal for the trilogy which began with THE JESUS THIEF (2003), and continued in THE SECRET MADONNA (2008). The trilogy is also being acquired by Turkish publisher, MAYA KITAP. Lankford, who represents herself via THE NOVELPRO AGENCY, says talks with publishers in other territories are underway.

Lauded as a “spellbinder” by pioneer cloning scientist, the late Robert H. Foote of Cornell, and by BOOKLIST in a starred review, The Jesus Thief sold into multiple foreign markets and has twice been optioned for film. In The Sacred Impostor, new characters join the old to continue Lankford's remarkably realistic version of the cloning of Jesus of Nazareth. Luis, a wealthy modern-day Zapata, and his cousin, Francisco—Robin Hood of the smugglers called coyotes—, take us from New York to Mexico City and back as the novel explores human smuggling, the ancient art of curanderismo, Mexican politics, the Virgin of Guadalupe tradition, and unfolds the mystical story of how the world reacts to rumors of a second clone. Whether or not they've read the first two novels, most readers will learn a lot. They won't notice because of the passionate, sizzling plot, which also features Maggie Johnson, the series' is-she-or-isn't-she Black Madonna and the mesmerizing Coral—one loving, one hating, the same man.

Lankford, founder of NovelPro, isn’t the only one of its authors grabbing at literary brass rings. This March, Bank Street, founded in 1916, included Susan Coventry’s THE QUEEN'S DAUGHTER from HENRY HOLT FOR YOUNG READERS on its 2011 list of the Best Children’s Books of the Year. The Queen's Daughter showcases the turbulent 12th century through the life of Princess Joan of England who reigns under the precepts of her mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Last year, Vanitha Sankara’s WATERMARK, about papermaking during the Inquisition in 14th century France, was a Historical Novels Review EDITOR’S CHOICE selection.

Several others have received literary accolades for works they developed in NovelPro, including Lynn Hoffman’s starred Booklist review for bANG bANG! and a starred Kirkus review for Paula Jolin’s IN THE NAME OF GOD.

To browse NovelPro books, visit: http://www.novelpro.com/NovelPro/Bragging_Rights.html.

# # #