A little news: my upcoming book schedule--and a surprise!

Okay, yesterday I promised some fun news about Children No More, and only as I started to write this did I realize that most people may not find schedules and cover artist info to be fun. Well, I do, so if you feel I lied to you, all I can say is, I didn't mean to.

Anyway, first up is the schedule. These dates aren't cast in stone, but they did come from Publisher Toni, so I'm hopeful they'll stick.

June, 2010: the paperback of Overthrowing Heaven
July, 2010: the surprise
August, 2010: the hardback of Children No More

I'm also excited to report that my friend, Steve Hickman, will again be gracing a novel of mine with his cover, as Toni selected him to do the art for Children No More. He and I spoke at length Wednesday night about the book's story and some key scenes, and he's chosen what he wants to paint. I fully support his choice (not that it matters; he, not I, does the covers, while I write the books), and I look forward to seeing it.

And now, the surprise: As I noted above, in July of next year, Baen will be putting out an omnibus volume of my first two novels, One Jump Ahead and Slanted Jack, in the affordable omnitrade format. To make the volume appealing even to those who already own those books, I'm going to be including some content exclusive to this omnibus, including

* the first U.S. reprinting of the original Jon Moore story, "My Sister, My Self," since its appearance over 25 years ago

* brand-new afterwords by me to both books

* with luck, a few more original tidbits I think you'll quite enjoy

If that's not enough to get you excited, try this: the book, which will appear under the title, Jump Gate Twist, will feature a cover by Hugo nominee and friend, John Picacio. John and I became friends in March at CoastCon, and I'm psyched that he'll be doing the cover for this one.

(Steve is not doing this book's cover because Publisher Toni, being a true friend of readers, likes to make sure that omnibus volumes use different artists from other books in a series so they don't accidentally tempt readers to think that they're the next books in a series.)

So, 2010 will bring a summer chock full of my books, a bunch of new material in one of them, including a chance to read the first Jon story, and the work of two great artists.

I'm a lucky guy.