
A real wave of good news on the book front. I'm feeling pretty chuffed not to mention extraordinarily lucky.

THE MANUSCRIPT Comes Home!
A North American distribution deal for my novel THE MANUSCRIPT (published in April 2006 in the UK) has been finalised: the book will appear (in a trade paperback edition, with the current cover design) in the U.S. and Canada in January 2007. It will be available in, erm, bookstores and on Amazon.com. There will be some manner of promotional activity in support of this release. Watch this space!
UK Mass-Market Paperback Release
Pan Macmillan (Macmillan's general fiction publishing division) has made the decision to publish a mass-market paperback edition of THE MANUSCRIPT in the UK, appearing in August 2007. The cover and jacket design are to be "re-briefed". Look for it in an airport bookstore display near you! (And if you want the lovely collectible hardcover, grab it now - before it's only available at extortionate eBay prices!)
Mention in Stuff Magazine
THE MANUSCRIPT is included, along with a brief review, in Stuff's "The Best New Reads" section of their September issue. (Well, the UK version, anyway - don't know about the US version. Any reports from the field?) Stuff is one of those "lad" magazines, and the sister publication to Maxim. (You may not have heard of it, but it's actually extremely high profile compared to where I'm used to being reviewed!)
Follow-up to THE MANUSCRIPT to be Published by Macmillan in 2007!
Macmillan has formally committed to publishing my second novel, PANDORA'S SISTERS. It is expected to be released simultaneously with the paperback edition of THE MANUSCRIPT, most likely in August 2007. Enormously happily, and reassuringly, my editor and others at Macmillan seem to share my feeling that PANDORA'S SISTERS is even better than the first one. A lot better. More information on PANDORA'S SISTERS will be available on the web at, erm, some point. (Well, if you're sharp-eyed, you can find a few tidbits, somewhat out of date, on my "words" page . . .)
So, that's all been pretty lucky. On the downside, I now owe my editor rewrites of the new one . . . marketing plans for the U.S. and paperback releases of the old one . . . and, hey, crazy idea, I should probably actually be writing something new at some point. Basically, this writing lark seems to be turning into a job. (And an unpaid one, so far.) On the other hand, I suppose that's a pretty nice problem to have, in the scheme of things.
A million thanks to everyone who bought a copy of THE MANUSCRIPT in hardcover. None of this not one bit would have happened without you.