And she’s bringing Bugsy with her. (Well, maybe not intentionally, but it’s hard to keep Bugsy out).

For all you Wild Cards fans out there who are tired of waiting for the next book… we have a little treat coming to tide you over, a brand new original never-before-published Wild Cards story, not part of any previous anthology or mosaic novel.

It’s called “When We Were Heroes,” it’s by Daniel Abraham, it features Curveball and Bugsy.

Look for it (not yet, but soon, soon) on Tor.com — as an ebook, natch. For the moment, that’s the only way it will be available. Eventually we hope to collect this story and a few other Wild Cards originals in an actual paper book, but that will probably be a few years down the line, when we have enough material.

That’s the “cover” up above, by the amazing Hugo-winning John Picacio, and my, ain’t it swell?

Elsewhere in the Wild Cards universe, the JOKERS WILD reprint is in Tor’s pipeline, we’re adding two new stories to the ACES ABROAD reprint that will follow (as we did for volume one), LOWBALL is edging closer to delivery, and we’ll be moving right on to HIGH STAKES after that. We have more Wild Cards originals coming up on Tor.com too, so keep an eye on that site.

UPDATE: Just got some new information from my friends at Tor.

“When We Were Heroes” will debut on the Tor.com website on JANUARY 16, at 9 AM (Eastern). The ebook version will be available for purchase “about a week later.”

Also, the JOKERS WILD reissure has been scheduled for February 2014, as a trade paperback.

Current Mood: null

I’ve got all sorts of good news for the Wild Cards fans reading this.

LOWBALL, the twenty-second volume in the overall series, and the second part of the current triad that began with FORT FREAK, is almost complete, and should be going in to Tor very shortly. I will be sure and let you know when a publication date is announced. My thanks to my friend and co-editor Melinda Snodgrass for helping me bring this one home.

And the story continues. I’ve just signed contracts with Tor with the next Wild Cards book, a full-on mosaic to conclude the triad. This one will be titled HIGH STAKES.

Tor’s reprints of the first three volumes of the original series have also done very well (well, WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH have done well, JOKERS WILD is still forthcoming), so I am thrilled to announce that we will be continuing with those as well.

We’ve just signed for four more volumes. New Tor editions of ACES ABROAD, DOWN & DIRTY, ACE IN THE HOLE, and DEAD MAN’S HAND will be coming your way during the next few years, probably as trade paperbacks. And to make things even more interesting, we will be adding three brand new original stories to ACES ABROAD, just as we did for Tor’s reissue of WILD CARDS, volume one.

And Wild Cards readers outside the US are going to have plenty to read as well. After far too long, we finally have a new deal in the United Kingdom, where Gollancz/ Orion will be publishing British editions of WILD CARDS, ACES HIGH, JOKERS WILD, INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, SUICIDE KINGS, FORT FREAK, and LOWBALL.

Wild Cards will be invading France as well. We’ve just closed a deal with J’ai Lu for French translations of the first six volumes in the original series: WILD CARDS, ACES HIGH, JOKERS WILD, ACES ABROAD, DOWN & DIRTY, and ACE IN THE HOLE. (More foreign deals are in the offing but I will hold off on those till the contracts are signed).

We’ve had a long strange run with Wild Cards… but from all appearances, we’re only getting started. If you haven’t tried the books yet, what are you waiting for?

Current Mood: null

Tor’s trade paperback reissue of ACES HIGH, with its kickass Michael Komarck cover, was released yesterday. Look for it today at a bookshop near you.

Current Mood: null

The latest Wild Cards reissue from Tor Books will be out in time for Christmas.

Now available for pre-order via Amazon, B&N, or your favorite local bookstore is volume two in our long-running Wild Cards series, ACES HIGH, scheduled for publication on December 20. No new stories this time around, alas, but the new edition will feature another spectacular cover from Michael Komarck, this time starring Pat Cadigan’s character Water Lily.

ACES HIGH features stories by Roger Zelazny, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Victor Milan, Lewis Shiner, Walton Simons, John J. Miller, Pat Cadigan, Walter Jon Williams, and yours truly. (Actually, it includes two stories by me, a Turtle story and the Jube interstitial). The old gang’s all here, almost — Fortunato, Dr. Tachyon, the Great and Powerful Turtle, Demise, Walter Lily, Yeoman, Modular Man, Cap’n Trips.

Make it a Wild Cards Xmas, and join the fun.

Current Mood: null

Wild Cards fans take note… Tor.com is now offering a free read of Carrie Vaughn’s “Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan,” one of the three brand-new originals in the new edition of WILD CARDS (volume one). You can find it here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/06/ghost-girl-takes-manhattan

Wraith AND the Sleeper… what more could you want? So what are you waiting for?

Current Mood: null

For all you Wild Card fans waiting for the newest volume — FORT FREAK, the twenty-first installment in our field’s longest running shared world — check out Tor.com, where they have just put up a sample from that volume: Melinda Snodgrass’s story, “The Rook,” introducing Francis Xavier Black, rookie cop, beginning his first tour at the infamous Jokertown precinct.

http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/06/the-rook

And if that’s not enough to whet your appetite, there’s also a sample from Cherie Priest’s interstitial story, “Rat Race,” available on my own website at:

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/wc-s.html

Check ’em out, and reserve your copy of FORT FREAK at your favorite local bookstore.

FORT FREAK will be published on June 21.

Current Mood: null