Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Penny Royal

I think I can say firmly that I have now started Penny Royal (or Pennyroyal – I still haven’t decided). A week or so back I started making some notes, but then got distracted by my old website and reworked that. (Incidentally, if you haven’t noticed there are galleries and a forum there so, as far as the latter is concerned, if you have something you want to say that you feel is off-topic, pop over there.)

Yesterday, however, I sat down determined to get back on track and wrote my first 2,000 words. It’s nice to know when I’ve actually started a book. Checking my journals I see that I’ve always noted when I’ve finished one, or rather, finished the draft I send off to the publisher, but the start point has always been vague. Maybe after this one I’ll have a definite maybe answer to that perennial question, ‘How long does it take you to write a book?’

So, the state of play at the moment is this: Zero Point is at the publisher and I’ll soon be seeing it again to deal with the copy edits; Jupiter War is slowly fermenting on my computer and I’ll give it another try next year, to see if the taste has improved and what additives might be required; and my idea about doing some short stories is on hold for the moment. That’s all for now – I must get back to work.

9 comments:

William harrison said...

As this is my fist ever post here I just wanted to say I love your books (a bit cliche but it's true) and if the next book is an Ian cormac or not I'm sure I'll devour it in a matter of hours

Jan Harald said...

Ah, back to the Polity... I must say I miss the place. Not that I didn't like the first of the Owner series, I loved that one as well... Reading the Polity-books is what got me hooked on your writing, so, therefore it has a special place in my spaceoperaworld...

Jan Harald

Northern Fop said...

My two cents:
Penny Royal, not Pennyroyal.

Plus, can we have a seen when PR ends up in a cave surrounded by, oooh, 15 angry hooders. Yeah, baby!

Neal Asher said...

Just to tease I twittered:

"Penny Royal is going to be dark, but then it is about a black AI with a tendency to cruelty that makes Mr Crane look like a nancy boy."

vaudeviewgalor raandisisraisins said...

it's belt sander jack off time! thanks pal.

ps: crabsex http://youtu.be/lFpZAT7ibUY

Jebel Krong said...

best christmas present i'll get this year! :D

Neal Asher said...

It'll be three years before you see it, Dan.

dan said...

If you are going to emphasise the fact that Penny Royal is a complete psychopath (albeit an electronic version!) how about pEnNyRoYaL?

;-)

Unknown said...

Hi Neal,
One of the things that made Penny Royal so great, was the way Amistad (being the total badass war drone he is) was nervous of it. The fact that Amistad was uneasy around Penny Royal makes the reader feel like "this AI is scary! Loved it thanks man!