Or if you like, click here to see more – including takes from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. I’m greatly relieved that the early reviews are skewing so positively; the ones that land before the book comes out are always the real nail-biters, because they can set the tone for the book’s reception.

But so far, so good!

Thanks of course to all the reviewers out there, whether you’re writing for a specific publication or their own websites. You’re an invaluable part of the process, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate you.

So WHAT you may ask IS THE SKINNY ON THIS ONE? Well, I’ll tell you, starting with an amended version of the flap copy.

[Aside: Why amended? Because I'm a control freak, basically. Also because people who read the stuff that's actually on the back of the book tend to freak out and email me questions with lots of exclamation points. But I think it's important to remember that (a). I, personally, did not write the flap copy, and (b). if you want proper answers to your exclamation pointy questions, it will be more expensive and time-consuming to just buy the book and read it, yes ... but ultimately you'll find that course of action more satisfying than emailing me with your demands.]

Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but now he’s all grown up – and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the children’s home.

But Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a new place to live: for years, he’s been quietly breaking the cardinal rule of any good drug dealer and dipping into his own supply. Now he’s pretty sure he’s being haunted by the ghost of a kid he used to know – a kid who disappeared six months ago, and is almost certainly dead. If so, this old friend would have every reason to pester Wreck, since Wreck’s the one who got him inside the walled city of Seattle in the first place.

Maybe the ghost is just a drug-fueled misfire of a guilty conscience, but Wreck can’t take it anymore. So he sneaks over the wall.

Inside, he finds the wasteland of Seattle every bit as bad as he’d heard, chock-full of the hungry undead and utterly choked by the poisonous, inescapable yellow gas.

And then there’s the monster. Rector’s pretty certain that whatever attacked him was not at all human—and not a rotter, either. This was something different. Arms far too long. Posture all strange. Eyes all wild and faintly glowing gold and known to the locals as simply “The Inexplicable.”

It’s true, this is my first book in the franchise without a female lead – though Princess Angeline and Mercy Lynch play fairly prominent roles; and it’s true also that people are assuming this is a young adult book, due to the protagonist’s age. And that’s fine – I hope young readers pick it up and enjoy it. But really, this is from the same planet as Boneshaker – a book written for adults and/or anyone else, but with a young person front and center.

I have been told that the young person in question is a disturbing, yet strangely compelling, jackass. I’m going to go ahead and take that as a compliment.

SO. If you’d like to read the first chapter of The Inexplicables, you can click right here and find it live on the Macmillan page. I’m not gonna lie – the first chapter is a little grim and weird, but I’m rather fond of it and I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

When you’re finished with that sample, if you’re game and curious, you can click over here to Goodreads and throw your hat in the ring to receive a free copy from Tor.

At any rate! Below I’ve listed a series of links that will take you to listings for The Inexplicables at the usual suspects, including the known e-book formats. To answer the inevitable questions about an audiobook – I have no idea if there will be one or not. No one has said anything about it, and everyone in New York is a little busy right now with other things, so I’m just going to have to let that one go for now.

But in short and in closing, if you could be persuaded to preorder this book, I would be forever grateful. Publishers pay a great deal of attention to preorders, and preorders go a long way toward deciding how many more books they’re likely to pay me for.

So thank you to everyone for your time, your interest, and your readership. Thank you for everything.

Click here [under e-book Agency] to buy The Inexplicables in a variety of e-book formats

The Inexplicables at Amazon.com
The Inexplicables at Barnes&Noble.com
The Inexplicables at BooksAMillion.com
The Inexplicables at Powells.com
Search for The Inexplicables at an independent store near you

Click to view larger, natch.

This time around the art comes courtesy of Cliff Nielsen, not Jon Foster (as with all the previous covers).

I admit, I was a little worried about the shift – for the sake of consistency, if nothing else. But honestly I think it looks great.

Well played, Irene Gallo (of the Tor art department) and Mr. Nielsen!

Fine work all around, and I can’t wait to see this one hit the shelves this fall.

Seriously, I’m relieved. I get a lot of hate mail from people who want to beat me with a stick for pricing the Clementine hardback at such ridiculous levels … which is a hoot, because I’ve done no such thing. My publisher did no such thing. The book sold out, that’s all – and collectors be collectin’. There’s jack squat I can do about it …

… except badger my publisher for a cheaper, more plentiful paperback edition, yay!

So here’s the deal – you can wait for the Subterranean launch and order from their website at that time, or you can essentially preorder over on Amazon.com via this link right here. And then be just a tad bit patient.

That, my friends, is all there is to it!

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.

• 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.”
  

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.”
  

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

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

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

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!

[Starred Review] The smashing third volume in Priest’s Clockwork Century steampunk alternate-history Civil War series (after 2010’s Dreadnought) stars Josephine Early, New Orleans brothel owner and Union spy, who must deliver Ganymede, a prototype submarine, to the North. There are only a few problems: no one has ever successfully piloted the craft, and the Texian and Confederate armies are actively searching for it. Josephine’s former lover, Andan Cly, agrees to help while completing his primary mission of retrieving supplies for blighted Seattle, where noxious gas forces residents to live underground and zombies remain a constant peril. Priest is at the top of her game, equally deft with pirate battles and mature romance: Cly is tentatively connecting with earlier protagonist Briar Wilkes, sheriff of Seattle, making him elegantly cautious around Josephine as they both try to focus on their mission. Clockwork Century fans will dub this installment the best yet. (Oct.) ~Publishers Weekly