Newsletter: Edition 3

October 2002

People keep telling me, "I don't think your newsletter is working, because I signed up weeks ago and haven't received anything." When I hear this, I put my hands on my knees, throw back my head, and cackle like a maniac. The fact is, I just don't come up with interesting things to say that often. So it's been a few months. Here, though, is the long-awaited Edition 3! Thanks again for being a part of it.

UK Delayed

Little, Brown, the British publisher of Jennifer Government, has rescheduled the book for a July 2003 publication date, due to legal concerns. That's how long it will take their lawyer to finish circling all the libellous bits, apparently. It's a disappointing decision, but on the bright side, since Syrup was never published in the UK, no-one will probably notice.

In the US and Canada, we're still all set for publication on January 21st. The situation in Australia and New Zealand is unclear: unfortunately we might be affected by the UK decision there, too.

Covers That Weren't

Want to see early Jennifer Government cover designs? They're up now in JG Extras.

Audio Jen

Recently I received the script for an audio version of Jennifer Government. If you like to read books without moving your eyes, your prayers have been answered! It's an abridged version, which as far as I can tell means you get the whole plot but nothing but the plot. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you think of my writing.

I won't be reading it myself. Trust me, this is a good thing. You don't want to spend four hours figuring out my accent, no matter how sexy and authoritative I sound. And frankly, it's not that sexy and authoritative. So to hear me in person, you need to turn up at one of my bookstore readings next year. Or else get hold of my home phone number and make prank calls. But don't do that.

New Stuff by Max

The About Max section of my site now has a few short pieces of writing: three essays and a short story. Check 'em out here.

Jennifer Government: NationStates

I can only tease you about this for now, because it's still under wraps. NationStates is an internet-based project, based on Jennifer Government, and all I can say is: it's going to be cool. The site should open in about a month's time. Meantime, you can marvel at a "Coming Soon" page at www.nationstates.net.

That's it for now! We're slowly getting closer to publication, so there will probably be more frequent newsletters from now on. More frequently than once every three months, I mean. There's no need to carried away.

-- Max Barry.