Monday, November 30, 2009

Reader Alert!

Just to let you all know that, for reasons all to do with the mysterious and deeply arcane arts of publishing, The Departure will be published after the one I'm presently writing: Gabbleducks. I also need to add that for reasons of clarity (I've already published The Gabble which is too similar a title) and other reasons entirely my own (because the story has taken some seriously odd turns) Gabbleducks will have to remain a provisional title for now. It might end up being called The Technician, The Ballad of Jeremiah Tombs, Sculptures of Bone or even Alien Resurrection (Hur Hur). I just don't know right now.

Update (because of Mark Chitty's comment): There will be a book next year - I just have to work harder on the one I'm presently writing so it's ready for then. The two titles will simply be swapping places in the publishing schedule.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can say that I'm deeply gutted that it's been pushed back - 2011? As for the title, The Ballad of Jeremiah Tombs or Sculptures of Bone sounds very cool :)

Neal Asher said...

Yes, it does mean that The Departure will not be until 2011 (I think). However, perhaps I wasn't making myself clear enough. We're swapping them round. I have to get my finger out of my bottom and work harder so Gabbleducks (or whatever I end up calling it) gets published next year.

Anonymous said...

Ah, sounds good, but I was really looking forward to read the Owner novel next. Guess all that anticipation is just going to have to build up some more ;)

Martin Sommerfeld said...

As Mark I think it's sad news indeed, because while I do enjoy all the polity books, I was hoping to discover a new side of Neal Asher. Especially since I really enjoyed the owner short stories and was looking forward to see how different you would invent future technology in this "universe". But I guess it means even after all the novels the polity is still the "hotter stuff" for the publisher to print, so maybe not so bad news for you? :-)

Neal Asher said...

The theory behind it, guys, is that if a write a new series of books one after the other the Asher brand can be given more of a hard sell. By the time they publish The Departure I'll have written the next one, Zero Point, and so on...

Martin Sommerfeld said...

Ah, I missed the news about zero point - this is a second owner novel? And they already gave the greenlight? Nice!

Neal Asher said...

No green light yet, but they are talking about a five-book contract...

Inchy said...

A five book contract?!

Suddenly I have a little warm place inside me.

Anonymous said...

It's good to hear the new contract is firming up nicely.

Personally it will be nice for you to expand outside of the Polity, especially with the Owner.

Just make sure you are around to do a signing, no more bunking off to crete, for X months. I'm dying of thirst here.