I’m happy to show off my very cool new covers for the Linnel Ellery books written by my alter-ego Phillipa Bornikova. The first two books are being re-released this month and book three will be available on April 28th. Feast your eyes.
I’m happy to show off my very cool new covers for the Linnel Ellery books written by my alter-ego Phillipa Bornikova. The first two books are being re-released this month and book three will be available on April 28th. Feast your eyes.
Congratulations on getting a new book in this series out for everyone, and for having the early books re-issued. That’s a very big deal.
Thank you. I still can’t believe it happened. After I turned in book 3 and then silence for almost 3 years I figured they didn’t want to publish it. Turns out losing my editor meant both I and my book got lost. When I brought it up to one of the publishers she looked into it and made the decision to reissue the books and publish the third book and give me this spiffy new covers.
I am going to buy and read these as soon as book 3 is published! Can not wait. Thank you!!
Thank you, John. It has been a really long wait. When I read the copyedit I could barely remember the book since I had delivered it February 2014. I think it works. I hope it works.
I very much enjoyed these (having just found the series at my library in Cape Breton, NS) and I was ecstatic to see the new covers. As a writer and reader, it always bothered me that the old covers had a blonde, who did not match the character description at all. I think I felt offended on your behalf – it was like they hadn’t even tried.
Linnet as ‘Leonard’ for a book would have been interesting – but I didn’t mind the way this one ended. You know it’s all going to work out in the end, and the central mystery was solved in a satisfying manner.
I quite especially like that she doesn’t end the third book in a relationship – she’s a strong woman and I think that would have undermined that.
Thanks, Ciarán. I really appreciated getting a message like this. I’m hoping to go back to the series some day when Hollywood isn’t demanding so much of my time. I was afraid everyone would hate me for killing John, but it was the right move. And yes, the blonde bimbo did bother me, but I’ve often felt like Tor never tried very hard with my covers. Apart from the reissue of the Edge books. The Chris McGrath covers were fantastic and I loved them.
I just finished reading the series. I’m kind of upset at the cliffhanger at the end. I want a fourth book now.. Please?
I so wish I could oblige, Anna, but alas my publisher wasn’t interested. This poor series has had every possible bit of bad luck. My editor who bought it and loved it became seriously ill and had to leave the company shortly after I delivered the third manuscript. I was then an orphan and literally three years went by without them giving me a new editor, and I had a new contract with Titan so I pretty much forgot about it. I finally did bring up the book to the publisher, and said, “why don’t we just saw no harm, no foul.” They were embarrassed and so they assigned me a new editor. Who then had to email and tell me they had lost the electronic manuscript. I set this up for Linnet to remain in male form for a book and be on the run with the Scooby Gang as they try to figure out how to make her switch back, and then a final book would have been all the entities joining forces against the Human First crazy people and ushering in a new and better era. Unfortunately the publisher made it really clear they weren’t interested in continuing with the series fo I had to switch her back and try to tie this up as best I could.
In an effort to correct this failure they did give me these awesome new covers and brought out the third book, but a lot of bookstores didn’t order book one in the new format, and so the series was just pushed out to die. I am going to try to set it up as a TV series so maybe I will get to delve into those areas where things were left unfinished.
Believe me, nobody is as sorry as I am. I hate it when a series doesn’t get to end properly. It’s why I love my new publisher who bought all five of the Imperials books so I’ll get to tell the entire story. In fact I’m writing book 5 right now. You might give them a look. If you liked Linnet you might enjoy the sage of Thracius and Mercedes from age 18 until their mid-fifties. It’s a rather grand love story against the backdrop of a society in crises.
Could you atleast do a wind up short story as an e-book, self-published or not? I liked the books so much that the open ending is very disappointing and frustrating.
Thank you.
I completely agree. It’s why I decided to go indy pub on my books so I could finish my Imperials Saga, and I intend to write the fourth book that I always wanted to write for Linnet. I was forced by the publisher to abruptly wrap up the White Fang Law books, and it was very frustrating to me too. I have to finish a four book in the Carolingian series before I can get back to Linnet, but assuming Covid or the Sweet 2020 Asteroid of Death doesn’t get me I’m going to write more about Linnet and her Scooby Gang.
Thank you for your quick response. I know it’s not your fault or what you want. I have three other series I have been reading, one for years, that just abruptly stopped due to the publisher not willing to do another despite having done the others of a series. I have never understood why a publisher and author don’t have a contract mandating that a series need to be finished before dropped. But as a librarian, I know publishers are fighting for their survival as well.
Even having a contract doesn’t help. I had that with Imperials and even though the publisher admitted that they mis-marketed the series and had the wrong covers they still decided to stop the series. Then they realized they had contracted to do all 5, and their solution was to do a tiny print run of the final 2 books and only in Britain. I was not okay with that so my agents negotiated a return to rights, and I’m going Indy pub with the books so the series will get to finish. I’ve also hired Elizabeth Leggett to do new covers and she is
amazing
. My indy pub guy is also brilliant at marketing and he studies what covers work and which don’t and we both love what Elizabeth is doing.
This is an experiment, I have no idea if it will work out well, but at least I’ll be able to tie up my various series. As a reader I love series too. I like spending time with characters I have come to love. And P.S. thank you. Librarians rock. You are just the best.
amazing
Good luck. I’m rooting for you. I just wish Mead and her Age of X series or Weldon with her Zoe Martinique, to name just a few, felt the same way.
Thank you. I’m hoping for the best. I just know how much I hate to be left hanging in a series, and also my characters are real to me and I need to bring them to their safe harbor and give them and the readers a satisfying ending.
Thanks for publish and perish. Extra thanks for the audible version
It is much appreciated.
Please don’t kill me. Because I’m going indy pub now I could finally end book 3 the way I wanted, and not the way Tor made me end it. So Publish and Perish now has a very different ending that help sets up book 4. I have to discuss with my publisher, but I may post the new ending so people who bought the book before won’t be wondering what in the heck is going on if they pick up book four.
But seriously, thank you for reaching out and the kind words. I appreciate it.