17.05.11 - US publishing deal for The Wild Hunt

Big news I've been sitting on for some time, until I got the OK to make it public: The Wild Hunt trilogy has been picked up by Tor Books for publication in the USA!

After World Fantasy Con 2010, Songs and its sequels went into a three-way auction, which was eventually won by Tor. Volume 1 will be coming out in the spring of 2012, with the others following in due course. The States is a huge market for fantasy, and I'm delighted to be working with a publisher of Tor's pedigree.

22.04.11 - Book trailer

Watch the official Songs of the Earth book trailer:

Excited yet?

26.02.11 - Cover art . . .

After a saga that is almost worthy of a book in its own right, we have something close to final cover art for the UK edition of Songs of the Earth. You can read all about it on the blog here, or if you just want to gawk at the awesomeness, click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture.

Ooh. And possibly aah as well, I shouldn't wonder.

Just think, in a little over three months, that will be glaring at you across your local bookshop and just daring you to pick it up. Excited yet?

26.02.11 - . . . and bound proofs

At long last, Songs of the Earth is now manifest in physical form - the bound proofs have started to go out into the world. Don't they look pretty? And yes, it really does say "This is the fantasy debut of 2011" across the top in big letters. Knocked me sideways too, I can tell you.

I can't wait to get my hands on one; it will feel like a real book, and I can look at it and say, with some pride, "I made this."

Now the waiting for reviews starts. Then in about 100 days from now, I get to have a heart attack all over again as it hits the shops and the reader feedback comes in - and that's really the only kind that matters.

02.01.11 - Publication date

After some to-ing and fro-ing, the publishing industry being what it is, we have a publication date for Songs of the Earth that is as close to final as makes no difference: 16th June 2011. Woo, and I venture to suggest, hoo.

I have no information as yet about cover art, signings or similar, but rest assured I will keep you informed as soon as there is anything to tell.

In the meantime, you can start preparing a space on your bookshelves; these next six months are going to go by awfully fast.

30.09.09 - Gollancz acquires The Wild Hunt

It finally happened. Those lovely people at Gollancz, home of the finest fantasy and sci-fi, decided they would splash an embarrassingly large sum of money to acquire the world rights to The Wild Hunt. Cue demented giggling and random exclamations of an Anglo-Saxon nature (I could write what I actually said, but my mum might be reading this).

No less a personage than Gollancz associate publisher Jo Fletcher said:

"There is no shortage of good books out there, but when you read a really great novel you know, instantly, that you have an absolute gem in your hands. This is one of those rareties: an unputdownable fast-paced adventure with characters who leap off the page at you and leave you begging for their stories."

Oh my. She then added:

"It's the sort of fantasy that reminds me why I fell in love with this genre; if I were not a grown-up and able to sit up all night when I choose, I would have been reading this under the covers by torchlight until I'd turned that very last page."

Gosh. <blushes>

Read the full announcement in theBookseller.com.