Diana Pho at Erewhon Books has obtained world rights to Hard Times, a duology by afrofuturist Maurice Broaddus and multi-talented performer, Wayne Brady. Hard Times will be a time-travel adventure set in the near future about an estranged father and son who must mend their broken relationship while trying to escape from a for-profit prison that exists in a dimension outside of time.
Maurice Broaddus
Maurice Broaddus is the resident Afrofuturist at Khewprw Institute and an editor at Apex Magazine. His work has appeared in Lightspeed Magazine, Magazine of F&SF, Uncanny Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, The Spacefunk! anthology, and Jordan Peele’s Out there Screaming. He is the author of several books, including Breath of Oblivion, Sweep of Stars, Buffalo Soldier, and The Usual Suspects. Broaddus was represented by Bridget Smith of Jabberwocky Literary Agency.
Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady is an Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated actor, comedian, and singer. Best known for his work on Whose Line is it Anyway (1998-2007), The Wayne Brady Show (2001-2004), and How I met Your Mother (2006–2014). He’s also been the host of the game show Let’s Make a Deal since 1999. Brady was represented by Anthony Mattero at Creative Artists Agency.
According to Publishers Weekly, Hard Times was pitched as having been partially inspired by Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th, which “draws parallels between Jim-Crow era policies and today’s school to prison pipeline; confronting the systemic injustices of mass incarceration in the United States.”
The first installment of Hard Times is slated for release in early 2027, with a sequel planned for 2028.
