The pleasing news at this end is that Solaris have commissioned a second Jani steampunk novel. Here’s the press release from my agent John Jarrold.
PRESS RELEASE – SOLARIS COMMISSION SECOND ERIC BROWN STEAMPUNK NOVEL
Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has commissioned a sequel to JANI AND THE GREATER GAME, the first in a new steampunk series by Eric Brown, set in India with a teenage female protagonist. The first novel will be published in autumn 2014, with the sequel following a year later. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights.
Jonathan Oliver said: “Eric is one of those SF writers who constantly pushes the boundaries, and with this steampunk series, set mainly in India, he’s producing a fresh take on a genre that often revels too heavily in nostalgia. Eric continues to prove that he is one of the UK’s premier writers of entertaining and thought-provoking SF.”
It’s been a good couple of weeks. Before this commission came the news from Severn House that they’ve bought the follow-up to my first crime novel. Murder at the Chase will be published next year. It’s the second book in the series featuring the amateur detectives Donald Langham and Maria Dupré, set in 1955. I love writing these books, a change of gear from the SF and a chance to pay homage to all those Golden Age crime writers that started me reading back in the 70s.
And on the short story front, NewCon Press will be bringing out my collection, Strange Visitors, in their Imaginings series. The volume will comprise ten stories – one of which will be an original – and my introductions to each tale. It’s due out next Easter.
At the moment I’m steaming ahead on the first draft of Jani and the Greater Game. Our heroine is in great danger as I type – so I’d better get back and rescue her from her evil pursuers.
Eric Brown 
Did that other version of Starship Seasons get published yet?
There’s been a change re the PS hardback publication of the Starship Seasons novellas containing the new ten thousand wrap-up story. It now won’t be coming out in a single volume. The story will appear in a forthcoming issue of Postscripts. Cheers, Barry.
Darn.. I won’t be able to afford that magazine.. Wish they put it out as a novelette. I guess I won’t know the Wrap-up. :(. I will get Spring soon from Amazon UK. Maybe you can send me an E-version one day.. Cheers 😉