THE AMERICAN CONNECTION

I heard yesterday that HarperCollins have taken the US rights (or is that the NorthAmerican rights?) of the first two books of the Demi-Monde quartet.

I am very happy. HarperCollins is a big compaay with a lot of experience in SF and a lot of muscle in the book market so hopefully by the time DM1 is launched (Fall 2011 for hardback) the web site etc. will be really slick and enticing. The DM is to be published via their William Morrow brand which according to John is a signal that they're taking the book very seriously. All I know is that anything that's OK for Neil Gaiman is OK for Rod Rees.

The guy who I think will be my pointman at HC - Gabe Robinson - seems very enthusiastic too, which is always a good sign. HC are having a re-think about requesting a title change, apparently their readers are split. I was thinking about suggesting 'The Demi-Monde: OutSet', but maybe that won't be needed now.

The HC news has made me think about re-jigging my plans for 2011. I had targetted the end of the year for the completion of DM3 and then taking a break to write something else (my pulp-SF series starring Rocco Rockman which I'm itching to start) but I think it'll be wiser to keep right on with DM4. I've a feeling that 2011 might be a very busy year. Now Ellie's idea of touring the States gigging SF audiences takes one step closer to fruition. She's even talking about delaying university for a year!