Scholastic snaps up musician McGuiness' 'scorching' debut YA novel

Scholastic has snapped up musician Jay McGuiness’ “scorching” debut YA novel, Blood Flowers, exploring themes of poverty, class divides and addiction. 

Scholastic’s fiction team, led by publisher, Lauren Fortune, acquired world rights from Oscar Janson-Smith at Gleam Futures. It will publish in February 2024.  

The synopsis says: “Seventeen-year-old Bear lives in the walled town of Calleston – a place of stark divide between the rich and poor. Bear is painfully conscious of the inequalities between him and residents of Roofside. When the town’s annual Field Day – where those who’ve recently come of age test their Sinsen growing capacities – shows Bear to have unprecedented abilities, he’s hurtled into the privileged upper echelons of society. But it soon becomes apparent, that it’s not all he hoped it to be. Bear finds himself existing amid callous people, concerned only with themselves, in a society rife with corruption. Finding himself unwillingly entangled with the Overlord’s beautiful but spiteful daughter, Bear is forced to make decisions which may jeopardise everything he’s dreamed of – or risk the lives of the people he once lived amongst.” 

McGuiness is best known as a vocalist with the boy band The Wanted. He won the 13th series of BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing”, and in recent years has forged a career in musical theatre. McGuiness will be appearing at the Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) in November to give readers an early insight into his writing. 

He said: “Blood Flowers has been a private joy of mine for many years as I’ve been building and creating the worlds of Calleston and Roofside in my mind. Now, having finally put pen to paper, I’m really happy to be sharing this story about inequality, privilege and coming of age in a traditional working-class town, just like the one I grew up in. Transitioning from an avid fantasy reader to fantasy writer is like riding a bike for the first time. I’m forever grateful to my stabilisers; the squad at Scholastic, my literary agent Oscar, and my manager Damo. Touch wood, this is the start of a lifelong love affair. Teen James is jumping around the bedroom with joy.” 

Fortune added: “Everyone at Scholastic has been blown away by this epic story of love, witchcraft, betrayal and murder. Jay is the real deal and a stellar new name in YA fantasy writing – he has crafted a powerful plot, sweeping romance and stunningly imagined world which will be adored by fans of The Hunger Games [Scholastic] and The Atlas Six [Tor]. We are loving working with Jay and are so excited to be introducing readers to their new YA obsession!”