Right, there’s no soft-pedal way of saying this, so I’m just going to have to come right out with it. Publication of Untied Kingdom, scheduled for this summer, has been put back to spring 2003.

Orion/Gollancz have had to slim down — downsize, rationalise, streamline, choose your own euphemism — their output in order to be able to concentrate more fully on each book they produce, since they are currently producing quite a lot of books. As a consequence, several titles have had to have their release dates postponed so that the company can, as it were, catch up with itself. Untied Kingdom has fallen into this category.

I’m none too happy about this state of affairs, and to all those who’ve told me how eagerly they’re awaiting the book, I can only say I’m sorry but it’s all beyond my control. I finished writing the book over a year ago. It will now be another year before it goes on sale. That’s an awfully long wait and I can only beg your patience. Trust me, it’ll be worth it when it appears.

In mitigation, or perhaps compensation, Orion/Gollancz have assured me they’re going to put everything they can into promoting and publicising the book when it does finally reach the shops. Springtime is a good time for my kind of fiction, apparently, and they have promised me they will be giving Untied… a hefty push.

The Hope and Imagined Slights are still due this year, as planned.