I received the final marked up copy edits of The Forever Engine a little over a week ago and just express mailed them back to the folks at Baen Books with all of my final changes. Paul Witcover at Baen did a very thorough and professional job on the copy edit and caught a couple places where I had unintentionally mangled Gabrielle Courbiere's (the heroine's) French. That would have violated one of my cardinal rules: never make a determined woman with a lever-action shotgun look bad. Thanks for the catches, Paul.
In order to check all the edits I had to read the novel again, I had a good time doing it even though there obviously wasn't a lot of suspense for me. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read this, between the rewrites and the chapters I've read out loud at my three writing workshop groups. A lot. But I'm not sick of it, and that's a good thing. I hope you all enjoy it when it comes out in January. Baen will have an electronic advanced reading copy (eARC) out before then. I'll let you know more when I know more. I'll also be posting at least one sample chapter here, and maybe more, when we get a little closer to publication.
Meantime the Space: 1889 Kickstarter just keeps chugging along. It's at over 250% funding now and has unlocked the Venus Sourcebook as well as a bunch of other goodies. They've added a umber of add-ons as well, including a Space: 1889 soundtrack CD--background music for playing the roleplaying game with friends or even, it occurs to me, while quietly reading The Forever Engine.
It's been a busy summer but a good one.
Oh no.. another book I have to buy and read. What a shame...
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the heartbreak of literacy!
ReplyDeleteFrank, call me old fashioned, but I really actively dislike e-books, is there any deal you have say with a print on demand publisher where I can order your books in physical form in quantities of 1?
ReplyDeleteThink of it this - way if there is a massive shift in the earth's tectonics and the whole of the world is submerged but I am on one of the arcs and I have a chance to carry a book with me and I want it to be this one how do I obtain a copy?
Darius,
ReplyDeleteBe of good cheer. Baen Books is one of the leading science fiction print publishers in the world. My first novel from them, How Dark The World Becomes, got prominent display in Barnes & Nobles' top science fiction-selling book stores. Baen also does ebooks, but it was a print publishing house long before that. January 2014 is the in-store date for the print version of the Forever Engine, although the eARC will be available a little while before that.
In fact, you can go online to Amazon and pre-order the print version of the book right now. Here's the url:
http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Engine-Frank-Chadwick/dp/1451639406/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376453702&sr=1-1&keywords=the+forever+engine
Would like to modify the Space 1889 Red Sands Excel sheet to include ALL the power options, and add solar boilers beyond power rating 10. (which, I think, is allowed)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going insane because I've read this book already, how is that possible?
ReplyDeleteNM, I'm not crazy. I found the copy I read last year. It was a fantastic modern day steampunk read.
DeleteWas that in the Baen Books slush pile?
DeleteIn this map
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/A9781451639407/map.jpg
it should be Saarbrücken - not Saarbrüchen. :-)
I have just read the eARC through NetGalley. Two thumbs up! Really good stuff. I'll have to hunt down your earlier titles now.
ReplyDeleteI don't know French at all. It all sounded very convincing to me!
Thanks a lot! Hope you enjoy How Dark The World Becomes. There's also a short story prequel to the Forever Engine available now on the Baen Books site as a free download.
Delete