Jamie Ford writes in to tell me that he just sold his first novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, at auction to Ballantine Books. That's a pretty big deal. Here's the blurb from Publishers Weekly:

Agent Kristin Nelson just concluded an auction for a debut novel by Jamie Ford titled Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet; Jane von Mehren at Ballantine won North American rights in this six-figure deal. The story is set in Seattle and told in alternating time periods--when a Chinese boy falls in love with a Japanese girl during the Japanese internment in 1942, and later in 1986 when the belongings of Japanese families are discovered in the basement of a condemned hotel and he must confront the choices he made years ago.

Sounds like a pretty interesting story. Heck, it sounds like it would even make a great movie. But one thing at a time. I'm looking forward to checking this out, whenever it eventually gets published. Congratulations, Jamie.