Welcome to the official webpage of The Clockwork Century, an alternate-history world setting created by Cherie Priest.

Here, it is 1880 (or thereabouts). The Civil War is still underway, drawn out by English interference, a different transportation infrastructure, and a powerful Republic of Texas that discovered oil at Spindletop some fifty years sooner than real life allowed.

The competition of war has led to technological progress and horrors unimaginable, and many people have fled the combating states, hoping for an easier life out west.

Some of them have found it.
Some have found something else.

So stay tuned. This site will be updated periodically with publication information, upcoming plans, short stories, and every sort of related and pertinent miscellany. In fact, if you scroll down past this entry, you’ll find all the new content as it appears. Or, you can dive right into sample reading!

• Read the first installment of Boneshaker, the first Clockwork Century novel.

• Or alternately, listen to an audio excerpt of Boneshaker as read by Wil Wheaton. (Scroll down to the bottom of the book’s listing)

• Read the first chapter of Dreadnought for free at Macmillan’s site.

• Read the entirety of Tanglefoot (a novelette) live at Subterranean Online.
  

Thanks for stopping by, and welcome aboard!

So this is real, it’s true, and it’s happening! Because I will otherwise just babble at you incoherently, I will cut/paste the pertinent info from this article at Deadline.com:

Los Angeles, CA – November 30, 2011 – Brian Oliver, President of Cross Creek Pictures, Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media Group and President & CEO of Hammer Films and Guy East and Nigel Sinclair, Co-Chairmen of Exclusive Media Group (“Exclusive”) announced today that Hammer has acquired the rights to the novel “Boneshaker” by Cherie Priest for adaptation to the big screen. Project will be co-produced by Hammer and Cross Creek Pictures and co-financed by Exclusive and Cross Creek Pictures.

John Hilary Shepherd, a 2010 WGA Award nominee for his work on the first season of the Showtime series, “Nurse Jackie,” is writing the screenplay. Tobin Armbrust, Head of Production is overseeing the project’s development for Hammer Films.

[...]

“First and foremost this is a great story. Bringing a steampunk style novel to life on the big screen is going to be very cool, very unique,” said Tobin Armbrust.

“Boneshaker is a classic zombie movie with a modern twist which is quintessentially Hammer so it’s a perfect fit for us,” said Simon Oakes. “Cherie Priest’s steampunk series are fantastic with a distinct, unique style and we’re really looking forward to bringing her ‘Rotters’ to the big screen.”

“It’s like Jules Verne meets ‘Resident Evil,’ and we’re thrilled to have such a fun, commercial potential franchise in Boneshaker,” says Oliver. He continues: “John’s an exciting screenwriter and we see this being a real crowd pleaser.”

This is the latest in a number of projects Cross Creek Pictures and Exclusive have teamed on, including George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” which opened nationwide on October 7th through Sony Pictures, the upcoming “The Woman in Black” starring Daniel Radcliffe, which CBS Films has set to release February 3rd, 2012 and Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film “Rush” starring Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth with production partners Imagine, Revolution Films and Working Title.

Cherie Priest was represented in the deal by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency and John Hilary Shepherd was repped by attorney Joan Vento-Hall.

So NOW you know what I’ve been sitting on for the last few months, DESPERATE to blog about yet being unable to do so. FINALLY IT CAN BE TOLD. And apparently it wants to be told in ALL CAPS because it just FEELS RIGHT.

Here are a few more links to other sources on the deal:

Variety
Hollywood Reporter
BloodyDisgusting.com
ComingSoon.net

And if you’ve read those, you know just about as much as I do. I know nothing about casting, about filming, about schedules, or anything like that … but you may rest assured that as I have leakable information, I will leak it LIKE A SIEVE.

Just a few – but they definitely bear sharing. Check ‘em out!

• The Lost Ent-Wife reviews Clementine – I’m always happy to see this one get some attention – and to with regards to the certain-to-be-asked questions about its trade paperback status, please allow me to direct you to this FAQ.

• Paul Goat Allen at the B&N Book Clubs tackles Ganymede – And frankly, this kind gent is so charmingly effusive that I almost feel it’s too immodest to post this link. Note that this did not quite stop me.

• Once Upon A Time takes on Boneshaker – Choice immodest quotes which I hope might prompt readers to take a stab at this book: “Boneshaker is a cleverly weaved nail-biting story full of intricacies and hidden history….It is a fantastically written piece of fiction. It’s atmospheric, chilling, and dark.”
  

First up – a truly wonderful review over at Tor.com, courtesy of the inimitable Ay-leen the Peacemaker: This is American Steampunk. I swear, there’s nothing more pleasant and flattering than watching a smart person think about your material, and respond to it at length. I can’t thank Ay-leen enough for taking the time and trouble!

Next, I have a handy-dandy link that could win you a fat stack of steampunk books for free: Steampunk sweepstakes! All you have to do is sign up for the Tor.com newsletter (an inoffensive document, I assure you – as I’m a subscriber myself) … and you’ll be entered for a chance to win 16 steampunk tomes, including Boneshaker, Dreadnought, and Ganymede. Go check it out!

And now for an assortment of shorter bits, for your scrolling, clicking, or curiosity-satisfying pleasure:

• Steampunk ebook sale – In honor of Tor.com’s “Steampunk Week,” you can get Boneshaker for $2.99 on the device of your choosing. (U.S. only, I’m afraid.)

• Ganymede review at Tor.com – Also by Ay-leen, who is swiftly becoming one of my favorite people in the world.

• Ganymede review at Bitten By Books – Choice quote: “Priest once again delivers a rousing adventure that demonstrates both her love of history and her definitive knack for playing with and bending it to fit the purpose of her captivating universe.”

• Ganymede review at LitStack – Choice quote: “… amazing at detail, brilliant at transforming an imagined, impossible history in such a way that flying airships and a decades-long Yankee Invasion seems not only plausible but simply neglected in our history books.”
  

Thanks so much, everyone! And please keep those reviews coming.

Find Ganymede at an independent store through IndieBound
Nab Ganymede from Amazon.com
Acquire Ganymede via Barnes & Noble
Pick up Ganymede at Books A Million
Purchase Ganymede courtesy of Powell’s
Get Ganymede as an audiobook

To read Ganymede on a Nook click here
To read Ganymede on a Kindle click here
To read Ganymede on a Sony E-Reader click here
To read Ganymede in other digital forms visit the listing at Macmillan

It’s finally here! Ganymede officially hits stores – and e-readers, and online retailers – today! And I do very much hope you’ll take a chance on this, my fourth Clockwork Century novel,* set in my alternate history universe with a drawn-out American Civil War complicated by a peculiar form of zombie uprising!

Here – allow me to provide you with links, for your clicking pleasure:

Find Ganymede at an independent retailer near you through IndieBound
Nab Ganymede from Amazon.com
Acquire Ganymede via Barnes & Noble
Pick up Ganymede at Books A Million
Purchase Ganymede courtesy of Powell’s

To read Ganymede on a Nook click here
To read Ganymede on a Kindle click here
To read Ganymede on a Sony E-Reader click here
To read Ganymede in other digital forms visit the listing at Macmillan

Man, I dipped into the exclamation marks again. Well, can you blame me? I’m so terribly excited about this one! Now I just have to run around all over the internet, updating my websites and widgets and information, oh my …

Thanks for reading, everyone, and if you take a chance on this weird little book, I do hope you enjoy it!

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* Counting Clementine, a smaller project that was released through Subterranean Press. If you’re wondering why it’s so hard to come by as of late, click here.

So here’s a splendid thing – a video compiled by Seattle librarians, regarding their “Steampunk Summer” program. Boneshaker was one of the featured titles, and this video uses it as an example of how the program worked. Reader, I squeed. (My favorite bit lands around 1:45, when the kids start acting out scenes from the book.)

Thank you SO MUCH to the SPL system and all its attendant Librarians of Excessive Fantasticness – and thanks also to all the young readers who participated!