Dear All: Just as PEOPLE OF THE BLACK SUN is published (October 16, 2012) we have signed two more contracts with Tor/Forge books. Has publishing ever changed? The first book contract we signed back in 1986 with DAW Books for the SPIDER trilogy was one piece of paper, front and back. And it was written in English. The new Macmillan contract is 36 pages of single-space, written in lawyerese. They’ve gotta stop paying their attorneys by the word count! The upshot is that we’re officially under contract for PEOPLE OF THE MORNING STAR and PEOPLE OF THE WINE DARK LAND. Both will be delivered in 2013, and we’ll post the pub dates as soon as we have them. (Yes, the fan club gets to hear first) PEOPLE OF THE MORNING STAR is a novel about the great city and empire of Cahokia. This is a political thriller, dealing with betrayal, murder, and more than a bit of insanity. (Who better for a serial killer than a psychopath?) Someone is hunting the rulers of Cahokia, and the death comes silently in the night. No one, not even the thieves can get a peaceful night’s sleep. PEOPLE OF THE WINE DARK LAND will be delivered in mid-summer. Recent research has expanded upon our understanding of the first Viking contacts with North America. It was more extensive than we thought–like for hundreds of years. Two very different world-views are about to clash. Myths and legends will twine around each other in the far northern mist.