I am THRILLED to announce some major news today!

NEWS ITEM #1: Book deal!
Viking/Penguin will publish my next two books!

Both are YA, both are mysteries, both involve globetrotting teens!

Here’s the official announcement as it appeared in Publisher’s Marketplace. (Please substitute “Ecuador” for “El Salvador”; that’s an error).

Diana Renn’s LATITUDE ZERO, about a children’s TV show host and avid bicyclist who travels to El Salvador to unravel the mysterious death of a fellow young cyclist, and BLUE VOYAGE, about a teen girl spending the summer in Turkey who gets entangled with an international gang of antiquities smugglers, to Leila Sales at Viking Children’s, for publication in 2014 and 2015, by Kirby Kim at William Morris Endeavor.

If you liked the blend of mystery, action, and international intrigue in TOKYO HEIST, you’ll find more of that in the next two books, though with very different sleuths, settings, and storylines.

I’m beyond thrilled that I’ll get to keep working with my talented editor, Leila Sales, and the wonderful people at Viking/Penguin! I thought publishing one novel was a dream come true, so I’m now officially in the territory of “beyond wildest dream.” I’m deeply grateful to my whole publishing team, including my agent, for making this possible and for believing in my work.

I’m particularly grateful to readers who’ve enjoyed my first book, bloggers who’ve gotten behind it and helped spread the word, people who’ve come out to my bookstore/library/school events these past few months, and anyone who’s bought or borrowed TOKYO HEIST and taken a chance on a debut writer. I remember when I first decided to risk leaving teaching and dialing down my freelance work in educational publishing, and just focus on finishing and selling the book. It felt like flinging myself on a trapeze, with no safety net below. But there is a net, I’ve discovered. It’s readers. THANK YOU!

Thank you, amazing steadfast writing group and critique partners — you know who you are — for helping me make sense of my ideas and find the right stories to tell. 

And, while I’m gushing, I have to say, I’m feeling especially grateful to my husband and family for being the most integral part of my net, and so supportive of my career. Getting books written and out into the world is a team effort, and I’m blessed on the home front.

OK – ready for the next thing?

NEWS ITEM #2: A movie deal!!

I’ve been sitting on this incredible news for awhile, but today I am signing papers, so can finally share that the production company Anonymous Content has purchased the movie option for Tokyo Heist!

I’ll have more info to share on this later, so stay tuned!