Susan E. Connolly sells first novel to Mercier Press

Twenty-three year-old Irish author Susan E. Connolly just sold her first novel, Damsel, to Ireland's Mercier Press. The middle-grade novel, scheduled for publication in Summer 2009, "follows the journey of 10 year-old Annie Brave, daughter of a famous hero. When he is missing, presumed eaten, she takes his manuscript How to slay dragons—and other advice for the hero in training and sets off to get him back. But can a damsel ever do the rescuing?"