Monday, July 27, 2009

The Return of Peter Octavian...and more!

My first novel, OF SAINTS AND SHADOWS, was published in 1994. Yep, fifteen years ago. Seems like yesterday, but I've written more books in the intervening years than most authors manage in a lifetime, and I've got more ideas left in me than I'll ever be able to put down on paper.

And yet...certain characters always call to me. There are several, but foremost among them are Jenna Blake (of the Body of Evidence series) and, of course, Peter Octavian. The installments in the series heretofore known as The Shadow Saga are all out of print now (SAINTS stayed in print without a break for fourteen years, a hell of a run), and I've seen some of them on e-bay and used at Amazon for as much as $200 or more. I get e-mails every single day from people looking for the series or individual books from the series (the other three are ANGEL SOULS AND DEVIL HEARTS, OF MASQUES AND MARTYRS and THE GATHERING DARK).

I've been saying for years that I would come back to the series eventually. This fall and winter, I will. I've made a deal with Ace Books for the brand new, fifth book in the series, tentatively entitled WAKING NIGHTMARES. It won't see print until fall of 2011, but in the meantime...

Starting sometime late next year, Ace will be reissuring the first four books in the series with brand new covers, each subtitled "A Peter Octavian Novel." OF SAINTS AND SHADOWS will carry a brief introduction by Charlaine Harris.

In related news, the entire series, including the new, fifth book, has also sold to Simon & Schuster UK for publication for the very first time in the United Kingdom. The new book will be published simultaneously in the UK.

The series has also been published in France and Russia, though I'm not certain yet about the subsequent books. My Russian publisher, Eksmo, has been hugely supportive and have published at least half a dozen of my novels already.

Earlier this month, I had the great pleasure of visiting St. Petersburg, Russia, but never managed to get to the bookstore to see my books on the shelves there. You can imagine, then, how grateful I was to receive an e-mail from the beautiful Daria--our tour guide in St. Petersburg--who did me the enormous favor of going to the bookstore and taking these pictures. The covers you see are for ANGEL SOULS AND DEVIL HEARTS, THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN, and THE MYTH HUNTERS.


Thanks Daria!


And to those of you who've supported Peter Octavian all these years and have been calling for his return, I hope this news makes you smile. I can't wait to return to that world, and see what havoc I can wreak.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Shiai said...

Now that is truly neat. :)

But is it weird to see a book filled with words you've written, done in a language you can't (I assume) read? Its always struck me as a surreal concept.

10:03 PM  
Blogger Maria Lima said...

Hoo-RAH!

Now I hope with re-release that they see fit to make the books available on Kindle...so I can buy the electronic versions to take with me as I travel. :)

5:06 PM  
Anonymous pan_dim_onium said...

Thank you so much for renewing this amazing series. I've been telling my friends all about it and loaning my copy of "Of Saints and Shadows" to some of those friends. Vampires seem to be very in now, so it makes perfect sense to bring back Octavian and his Shadows. Unfortunately I have been completely unable to find "The Gathering Dark", but now i'll finally be able to read it. From the day I stumbled upon this series at my local used bookstore it has intrigued me in innumerable ways. Thank You!

6:11 PM  
Blogger Steve Weiner said...

Cool! Its good news.

1:56 PM  
Blogger Little Willow said...

This miraculous girl is extremely happy.

4:23 PM  
Anonymous Justin Jones said...

amazing! simply amazing!

9:54 PM  
Blogger Tanya said...

i have had these since they were first printed...i ck back once in a while to see if more are coming....happy to see this bit of news.

7:42 PM  
Anonymous Brandin said...

I'm so glad to have seen this pop up on goodreads.com. I recently picked up the first three books in this series at a second hand bookstore after greatly enjoying some of your other works with well known properties such as gen13 and buffy. I loved them and have been trying to get a hold of The Gathering Dark ever since. I keep telling my friends about it and I've loaned out the books. People love it. I was wondering, considering how vampires are currently so popular, why this series was out of print and have been waiting for the publisher to come to their senses. But to not only reprint the first four, but also add a fifth is just so exciting! Thank you so much!

10:20 PM  
Blogger Christine Alemshah said...

Wow, I'm so excited to read the new book in the series! Congratulations on the re-release and new cover designs. This is such a wonderful series, It's to see that current and new fans are able to fall in love with it all over again!

6:09 PM  

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