New Novel!

Yesterday my author's copies of my new SF novel, STEAL ACROSS THE SKY, arrived in the mail. This is always a red-letter event for a writer, and especially this time since the bound galleys didn't include the interior artwork that is an integral part of the story. I love the artwork, and I'm pleased with the look of the book. If I hadn't lost my camera somewhere in Germany, I would include a picture of it.

STEAL ACROSS THE SKY concerns an intergalactic crime. Aliens appear in our sky, set up a base on the moon, and announce that 10,000 years ago they committed a terrible crime against humanity, for which they now want to atone. Only they refuse to tell us what it was. Instead, they want 21 "witnesses" to be transported to other planets in alien ships, see for themselves what the crime was, and then be returned to Earth to verify it for the rest of humankind. The novel follows four of these witnesses.

So far, reviews have been positive. In LOCUS, Russell Letson managed the admirable feat of discussing the novel at length without giving away the plot (which I very much appreciated!) KIRKUS gave it a starred review. On the Web, I especially liked the review on the Fantasy Book Critic site, which also doesn't give away too much (fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com).

I reread parts of the book last night. Do I wish I had done anything differently? Yes, of course -- you always find places where a scene could have used more depth or a phrase isn't as sharp as it could be. But overall, I still like this book -- which is not true of all my novels (there's one that, when people bring it to me at signings, I try to actively discourage them from reading).

If any of you out there read STEAL ACROSS THE SKY, I hope you like it, too.