My book deal has been officially announced! Here is the listing from Publisher's Lunch:

Winner of Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether prize Gayle Brandeis's SELF STORAGE, a humorous story of a young mother of two who loves to attend self storage auctions, and then sells her winnings at yard sales, to Anika Streitfeld of Ballantine, in a two-book deal, by Arielle Eckstut at the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world).

Very exciting! PL signficantly pared down the original press release; it's kind of funny to see the book listed as a "humorous story." I do hope readers will find themselves laughing here and there, but as far as I can tell, humor is not the predominant tone of Self Storage, which delves into life after 9/11. In case you're curious, here is the original press release:

Random House Publishing Group

In her first acquisition for Ballantine, which she officially joins August 1st, Senior Editor Anika Streitfeld has acquired World rights to two novels by Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether prizewinning author Gayle Brandeis. The first, SELF STORAGE, is the moving, funny, and insightful story of a young mother of two who loves to discover what's hidden inside of things and attends self storage auctions, then sells her winnings at yard sales. Jacquelyn Mitchard says this about SELF STORAGE: "If you doubt that a deadly serious thread--also somehow all but laugh-out-loud funny--can connect the pillage of metal storage units, the fierce devotion to family, the rape of human sensibility, and the pursuit of art, read SELF STORAGE by Gayle Brandeis. Or better yet, just take the hand of its great-hearted and deeply bewildered heroine, Flan, and hang on for the ride." Brandeis's first novel was THE BOOK OF DEAD BIRDS.

The agent is Arielle Eckstut, The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. World rights, first serial, audio inquiries to Claire Tisne, ctisne@randomhouse.com

You know, I see this in black and white, but I still can barely believe it. Part of me is expecting to get a call saying "Ooops. We made a mistake. We take it all back." But the rest of me is incredibly thrilled and deeply, deeply grateful.