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Gollancz pre-empts Kalie Cassidy’s 'seductive' siren romantasy debut
Gollancz has pre-empted a "seductive" siren romantasy debut duology from Kalie Cassidy. Millie Prestidge made her first acquisition for Gollancz, acquiring UK and Commonwealth rights in a two-book deal from Laura Mamelok at Little, Brown US, with rights also just sold to Heyne in Germany following a six-way auction, to Laffont in France in a pre-empt, and to Faeris/Anaya, also at auction, in Spain. The first book, In The Veins of the Drowning, will follow Little, Brown (US) publication in July 2025.
The synopsis reads: "In The Veins of the Drowning follows a threatened Siren who forges a marriage bond with a brooding, self-righteous king in order to flee the king who raised her. The pair blur the lines between duty and desire as they traverse waters teeming with the undead."
Cassidy was born and raised in Southern California and spent more than a decade working in LA as a professional theatre actor, coach and acting teacher. She now lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her children and husband.
Prestidge said: “I was drawn in by the fresh take on Siren mythology coupled with all the tropes I love – I can’t wait for readers to feel the Sirens’ lure too…”
Cassidy said: "Creating a pacy fantasy romance, filled with yearning and my favourite tropes, was always my goal for this book. But In the Veins of the Drowning became so much more – it’s an exploration of belonging and identity, filled with complex relationships and characters grappling with right, wrong and the murky space between.”
Cassidy’s agent, Sheyla Knigge at Highline Literary, said: “What Kalie has done in portraying sirens as more than beautiful women of legend, but creatures to be truly feared, will have readers hooked and waiting for the lure of her next story.”
