I hope you’re sitting down, because well, I’m sitting down for this news, which has been a long time coming: my next book, The Bayern Agenda, will be available for your reading pleasure in March of next year!
I’m delighted to say that I’ve teamed up with the merciless killbots fine folks at Angry Robot for this new Galactic Cold War series, of which Bayern is the first installment. You can read more about my inspiration for the book and its setting in the announcement over at Unbound Worlds.
So, I imagine you have some questions. Let me do my best to not only imagine what those questions are but perhaps even answer them:
Q: When exactly—give me the hour and minute!—does The Bayern Agenda come out?
A: Okay, look, I’m not an atomic clock. But I can tell you that March 5, 2019 is the day to mark in your calendar.
Q: Where can I find said book? How can I get it into my hot little hands?
A: Are your hands, like, weirdly hot? Because maybe consult a physician about that. But assuming that was just a fanciful turn of phrase, you’ll be glad to know that you can find The Bayern Agenda for pre-order at all your favorite online bookstores and I’m sure were you to walk into your local bookshop and ask them to order it for you, they would gladly oblige.
Q: I prefer to read with my ears. Will there be an audiobook version?
A: I have nothing official to announce about that at present, but I can say that I have a good feeling about it and if you find yourself in Vegas in the next few months, I would not place a bet against it. Audio versions of books definitely being something bookies will take some action on.
Q: Okay, level with me: Is this a sequel to your stunning and auspicious debut, The Caledonian Gambit?
A: Aww, thank you. Such kind words. Here’s what I’ll say: The Bayern Agenda is set in the same universe as Gambit, and readers of that book will recognize some familiar faces. But this is officially the kickoff of a whole new adventure and a great place for new readers to jump right in. You can tell ’em I said so!
You know in TV when they make a pilot episode and sometimes they say, hey, this part worked really well, but we really need to make a few tweaks here and there, nips and tucks, rejiggering, and so on, before we go to series. Consider The Caledonian Gambit that pilot episode. Or, if you prefer, consider it the prequel to The Bayern Agenda. (Ehh? Ehh? See what I did there?)
Q: Sold. How can I help?
A: “Sold” is exactly the right word. I’ll just casually mention those pre-orders again; they’re a huge help to a writer. Spread the word: tell your family, tell your friends, tell your colleagues, associates, frenemies, friendly rivals, enemies, FedEx delivery person, and everybody in between. If you’re so inclined to ask your local bookshop to order it, you have my eternal undying gratitude.
Q: Anything else you want to tell us?
A: So many things, but chief among them: Thank you all so much for your support over the past year. Because of you I made the Goodreads Choice Awards semi-finals; because of you The Caledonian Gambit won the best cover art for a debut novel in 2017! It would not be overstating it to say that your enthusiasm for TCG helped The Bayern Agenda become a reality. I literally could not have done any of this without you, because, seriously, who would have read the book?
This is getting a bit metaphysical.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to sharing The Bayern Agenda with you next year, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Or perhaps even more, if such a thing is possible.
Stay tuned! Much more to come.