Vanmiddag tekende Thomas Olde Heuvelt het contract voor een two-book-deal bij Meulenhoff Boekerij. Daarmee laat hij uitgeverij Luitingh-Sijthoff waar zijn bestseller Hex verscheen achter zich. Op Facebook schrijft Olde Heuvelt dat het met een beetje bezwaard gemoed is. Olde Heuvelt werd daar binnengehaald door uitgever Jacques Post.

Jacques became my mentor. He taught me everything I know about storytelling. He introduced me to books that blew my mind away. And he made me a better writer. He published my third and fourth novel, and then told me, after listening to my idea for HEX, that if done right, it could become a modern classic. Jacques encouraged me to always dig deeper, explore beyond borders, and improve. Then he retired. And with him, his expertise in a genre that I considered mine.

By then, Luitingh-Sijthoff was run by Geneviève Waldmann, who brought a riveting new energy and know-how to the company, and who changed many things for the good. When she moved on, Febe van de Wardt took her place with unrelenting passion. I adore both of them, personally and professionally. Yet even though they both went to all ends for me, for which I am eternally grateful, the void that Jacques left as an editor and publisher was never closed in a way I personally felt confident with. And more: the house evolved. None of my childhood heroes are still with them. I do not blame anyone for this. I merely say that in recent years, it was harder and harder for me to recognize my own voice in their midst. And thus came the time to move on.

(foto via Instagram-account Thomas Olde Heuvelt)