Okay, here’s the thing…
Last year my fantasy novel SIR APROPOS OF NOTHING was published. At the time I wrote it, I thought I was writing a one-shot. There was room for the story to go, but no contract. So I had a two-month block set aside to write the next New Frontier novel for November publication.
But APROPOS was so well received that S&S picked up their option for two sequels. And the timing was strategic: They wanted the first sequel to be out in summer of 2002 to time out with the paperback release of the first book (so they could run a chapter from the second book in the paperback as an enticement.) Furthermore, the average NF book is 80,000 words, while APROPOS and its sequels weigh in at around 160,000. Since both contracts were with S&S, I said, “Guys, I can’t write both books in the same period of time. Which do I concentrate on?” They said, “The APROPOS sequel is more time-sensitive. Do that.” So in the period of time I had blocked out for the next “New Frontier” novel, I turned out the length-equivalent of two of them, which was called THE WOAD TO WUIN. And then I had other deadlines I’d committed to (such as the KNIGHT LIFE sequel and the HULK novelization) which had to be met. So NF got shoved back. And I didn’t want to just try and dash it out in a half-baked manner because that wouldn’t be fair to the readers.
So now I’m working on the next NF book and as soon as it’s in, I will *definitely* post here what the pub date is.
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