Seriously, keeping secrets just kills me. So… I’m pleased to announce I’ve signed a new book deal!

The deal is with Tor US for a new novel called Shadow’s Call, a dark space opera set on a distant, derelict space station, bathed in toxic radiation from a nearby star, where a washed-up Fleet commander must battle a sentient mechanical spider race and its sinister allies with the help of a long-dead Cosmonaut and a sexy but troubled celebrity asteroid-miner.

The deal was negotiated by Tor editor Paul Stevens and my (exceedingly kick-ass) agent, Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, and includes North American English rights in physical and electronic formats.

Shadow’s Call is the Secret Project S I’ve been talking about recently, and long-time readers of my blog may remember this book from the original title of Ludmila, My Love.

Now, this deal is pretty cool – this is my first with one of the Big Six publishers, and it’ll be my first novel in hardcover. Shadow’s Call is due out in summer 2013 from Tor in the US. I’m excited to be working with Paul at Tor, and this clearly means I’m going to have to go back to New York for a meeting. And cake. As you do.

My thanks to Stacia Decker and to the original Ludmila beta-reading team!