Glen Orbik's amazing cover for THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE

So, no sooner do I blog that the corrections are done, and all that remains is to eagerly anticipate the cover art by Glen Orbik, than the cover magically shows up today!

To say I'm pleased would be a gross understatement. To quote my good friend, Brad Mengel, I am so happy!

The cover is reminiscent of those magnificent '70s paperback Gothics...which in fact is exactly what The Evil in Pemberley House is--except for the paperback part. ;-)

The Evil in Pemberley House--corrections complete & with the publisher

Just an update note for those interested... all the files have been proofed, corrected and are with the publisher, Subterranean Press. These include:

Trade edition:

• the novel itself
• endsheets with a Pemberley House/Wold Newton Family tree
• still waiting on the cover art from Glen Orbik, although Subpress has approved the preliminary concept sketch

Limited Edition Chapbook

• cover art (the Wildman [Doc Savage] Coat of Arms by Keith Howell)
• endsheets with a Pemberley House/Wold Newton Family tree--including SPOILERS from the novel
• notes on the Wildman Coat of Arms by Philip José Farmer
• outline for the novel by Philip José Farmer
• timeline of key events in the novel by yours truly
• Wold Newtonian essay by yours truly

Amazon pre-order
Pre-order direct from Subterranean

New Interview at Comic Book Resources: Philip José Farmer, The Evil in Pemberley House, and Crossovers...

The fine folks at the Comics Should Be Good! blog over at Comic Book Resources have posted an interview with me. We talk about The Evil in Pemberley House, the Wold Newton Universe, Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World, and certainly not least, Philip José Farmer.

Check it out, won't you?

These arrived today...

Father, daughter, and a distant jungle relative. ;-)

Hmm... what's this?

The Evil in Pemberley House - Now available for Pre-Order direct from Subterranean Press!

The Evil in Pemberley House now has its own page on the Subterranean Press website, with both the regular Trade and Limited Edition (with Chapbook) listed for Pre-Order.

The Chapbook includes Phil Farmer's original outline for the novel, the Wildman (Savage) Coat of Arms, an expanded Wold Newton Family tree chart, and other goodies.

The regular Trade also features a Wold Newton Family tree chart.

The regular Trade is listed for $40, while the Limited Edition with Chapbook is $60.

And... the cover is by the amazing Glen Orbik (who does Hard Case Crime covers as well as the covers to the forthcoming Gabriel Hunt pulp novels)! I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

The Evil in Pemberley House - ARCs are in!

The Advance Reader Copies for The Evil in Pemberley House are in. According to Subterranean Press, if you run a high traffic blog, or review for a prominent website, please feel free to drop them an email requesting a copy.

Subterranean Press artwork updates, including The Evil in Pemberley House

Subterranean Press has posted a brief artwork update, here.

I am busily reviewing proofs for The Evil in Pemberley House this weekend. I've seen the design for the limited edition chapbook, and can also say that both the trade and limited edition chapbooks will have endsheets which should knock the socks off Wold Newton fans. :-)

The Evil in Pemberley House - Amazon listing

The Evil in Pemberley House is now listed on Amazon.

Flap copy:
"For over thirty years, readers have marveled at Philip José Farmer's inventive integration of popular fiction and literature's most beloved characters, in a mythical web known as the Wold Newton Family. First described in the fictional biographies Tarzan Alive: The Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Farmer expanded his Wold Newton mythos in novels such as The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, The Adventure of the Peerless Peer, Time's Last Gift, Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel, and Escape from Loki: Doc Savage's First Adventure.

The Evil in Pemberley House, an addition to the Wold Newton cycle, plays with the Gothic horror tradition. Patricia Wildman, the daughter of the world-renowned adventurer and crimefighter of the 1930s and '40s, Dr. James Clarke "Doc" Wildman, is all alone in the world when she inherits the family estate in Derbyshire, England, old, dark, and supposedly haunted.

But Farmer, characteristically, turns convention on its ear. Is the ghost real, or a clever sham? In Patricia Wildman, Farmer creates an introspective character who struggles to reconcile the supernatural with her rational scientific upbringing, while also attempting to work through unresolved feelings about her late parents. He sets the action at Pemberley from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and ingrains the various mysteries in the Canon of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

The Evil in Pemberley House is a darkly erotic novel with broad appeal to readers of pulp and popular literature, particularly followers of Doc Savage, Sherlockians, and fans of Farmer's own celebrated Wold Newton Family."

Looks like Subterranean Press' projected release date for the Trade hardback edition is September 2009, with a list price of $35.

ISBN-10: 1596062495
ISBN-13: 978-1596062498

More info about cover art, the Limited edition with Chapbook, etc., as it becomes available.

Best,

-Win

The Year in Review

Everyone,

Just a note of thanks to everyone who is kindly following along here. 2008 was a good year for fans of Philip Jose Farmer, Wold-Newton, pulps, etc., with more to come in 2009 and 2010...

2008:
Philip Jose Farmer's VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL AND OTHERS, including Phil's Holmes-Tarzan crossover, THE ADVENTURE OF THE PEERLESS PEER:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WoldNewtonUniverse/message/40

4 new issues of FARMERPHILE: THE MAGAZINE OF PHILIP JOSE FARMER:
http://www.pjfarmer.com/farmerphile.htm#iss11
http://www.pjfarmer.com/farmerphile.htm#iss12
http://www.pjfarmer.com/farmerphile.htm#iss13
http://www.pjfarmer.com/farmerphile.htm#iss14

The Wold Newton Universe website updated:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WoldNewtonUniverse/message/45

TALES OF THE SHADOWMWEN Vol. 4: LORDS OF TERROR and Vol. 5: THE VAMPIRES OF PARIS released in Jan. and Nov. respectively (featuring Wold-Newtony crossover pulp/adventure/mystery/horror/sf) stories:
http://www.blackcoatpress.com/talesshadowmen04.htm
http://www.blackcoatpress.com/talesshadowmen05.htm

Henry Covert's "The Many Worlds of Wold Newton" essays in ASTONISHING ADVENTURES magazine issues 4 and 5:
http://issuu.com/astonishing/docs/astonishing_adventures_magazine_4_issuu
http://issuu.com/astonishing/docs/astonishing_adventures_magazine_5


Announcement of the completion of 2 new Philip Jose Farmer novels, both of which take place in Phil's Wold Newton Universe:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WoldNewtonUniverse/message/47
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WoldNewtonUniverse/message/49

...And the sale of one of those novels, THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE, to Subterranean Press (with fingers crossed that the other novel, THE SONG OF KWASIN completed by Christopher Paul Carey, will sell soon!)
http://woldnewton.blogspot.com/2008/12/subterranean-press-acquires-new-wold.html
http://pemberleyhouse.blogspot.com/

The release of Moonstone Books' THE AVENGER CHRONICLES; some of the stories have Wold-Newtonian crossover references, particularly Matthew Baugh's , and mine, which has a heavy Farmerian influence.
http://woldnewton.blogspot.com/2008/10/avenger-chronicles-now-available.html


2009:
FARMERPHILE no. 15 (coming in January, http://www.pjfarmer.com/farmerphile.htm )

THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR by Philip Jose Farmer (Subterranean Press, early 2009)

Other short story anthologies in which I'll have stories; there will definitely be crossovers and one, if it gets approved, will have a heavy Wold-Newtonian background. These have not been announced yet, so I can't say anything further now. Stay tuned.

2010:
CROSSOVERS: A SECRET CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD (MonkeyBrain Books)

THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE (Subterranean Press; 2010 release date is conjecture, stay tuned)


Thanks to everyone here... And if you're not already "following" my blogs and would like to stay even current, please sign up using the "FOLLOW THIS BLOG" links:
http://www.winscotteckert.com
http://pemberleyhouse.blogspot.com/

You can also friend me at MySpace and/or Facebook:
http://www.myspace.com/woldnewton
http://www.facebook.com/people/Win-Scott-Eckert/649308473

Happy Holidays, and all the best,

-Win

Subterranean Press acquires a new Wold Newton novel

Subterranean Press announced today that they have acquired a new novel that is part of Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton mythos:

In addition, we’ve just bought a few other new titles:

– The Evil in Pemberley House (Philip José Farmer and Win Scott Eckert) — a darkly erotic novel that is part of Farmer’s Wold Newton canon. The limited edition will include a chapbook with a whole host of unpublished background material.

The promotional image to the right is by the extraordinary Keith Howell....

I've created a site specifically for the book; just go here, and sign up as a blog "follower," if you're so inclined.

I am still not processing this... my first novel, written with Phil Farmer. I have so many people to thank for helping me reach this point... I'd better get it right for the book's acknowledgments... :-)

I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight.

The Wold Newton gang in FARMERPHILE #14

Now that I've broken the news about the Doc Savage coat of arms in FARMERPHILE no. 14 , it really bears mentioning how many Wold-Newtoneers we have contributing to this issue, our longest issue yet!

Art Sippo makes his first contribution with "This Played in Peoria?"

Rick Lai is back with the very timely "The Doc Ravage Presidential Campaign."

Regular Dennis Power joins in with "Oh the Humanity."

Chris Carey , as always, puts his indelible stamp on the issue with all of his invaluable behind-the-scenes work.

And I've got a few Pemberley House things in there, including an interview about writing the book, a family tree, and a two-chapter excerpt.

Complete contents:

Issue No. 14 - October 2008
60 pages (5.5 x 8.5 inches)
$11 (includes shipping in the US and Canada)

Table of contents:

This Played in Peoria?
- by Art Sippo

A Whale of a Time
- by Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor

Tongues of the Moon
- by Philip José Farmer
--- illustrated by John Streleckis

The Voice of Farmer in My Vermiform Appendix
- by Rhys Hughes

Creative Mythography: Excessively Diverted, or, Coming to Pemberley House
- by Win Scott Eckert

Farmerphile Interviews Win Scott Eckert

Excerpt from The Evil in Pemberley House
- by Philip José Farmer & Win Scott Eckert
--- illustrated by Keith Howell

Say, What's the Big Idea?
- by Michael Carroll

The Doc Ravage Presidential Campaign
- by Rick Lai

Bibliophile
- by Paul Spiteri

Boris the Bear: Wold Newton and Philip José Farmer
- by Steve Mattsson

Oh the Humanity
- by Dennis E. Power

Unpolished Pearls from the Magic Filing Cabinet

Greartheart Silver
- by Philip José Farmer

Doc Wildman's Coat of Arms
- by Philip José Farmer
--- illustrated by Keith Howell

Cover art by Charles Berlin

We really hope you'll support our efforts and pick up this issue .

All the best,

Win

Announcement: The Evil in Pemberley House - A new novel by Philip José Farmer & Win Scott Eckert

Earlier today, at FarmerCon 90, a convention in honor of Philip José Farmer's 90th birthday held at the Lakeview branch of the Peoria Public Library, a "Mystery Panel" was held in which it was revealed that Phil and Bette Farmer made the decision to have writers they trusted complete some of Phil's unfinished manuscripts.

Among these are:

• The Song of Kwasin, a continuation of the Khokarsa cycle, the first two books being Hadon of Ancient Opar and Flight to Opar - completed by collaborator Christopher Paul Carey (I've read it, and it's a wonderfully stirring conclusion to the saga, which fans of H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and, of course, Phil Farmer, are going to absolutely love; read Chris' own blog post here)


• A Western, Cougar By the Tail, with collaborator Tracy Knight (author of many short stories and two novels, Beneath a Whiskey Sky and The Astonished Eye
  
• "Getting Ready to Write," a very funny Polytropical Paramyth written with Paul Spiteri, and appearing in Farmerphile #13 (July 2008)


• The Evil in Pemberley House with collaborator Win Scott Eckert
  

I first discovered the short synopsis, longer outline, handwritten notes, and incomplete manuscript for The Evil in Pemberley House in the "Magic Filing Cabinet" in Phil Farmer's basement on a trip to Peoria with Mike Croteau, publisher of Farmerphile and webmaster of the Official Philip José Farmer Home Page, in July 2005. (During the same trip we also discovered the Kwasin manuscript and notes, much to Chris Carey's joy.) At Phil's bequest, I researched and prepared to finish the novel for two years (amidst other writing projects, in particular finalizing the manuscript for Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World, long-anticipated and coming in 2010 from MonkeyBrain Books) and wrote in earnest this past year.

During this time Chris Carey was also completing The Song of Kwasin and I can't thank him enough for the literally hundreds of emails and many phone calls, in which we bounced ideas around, exchanged feedback, and in general provided much needed support and encouragement.

It's an incredible honor and supreme thrill to have been selected to tell the story that Phil didn't complete, the "origin story" of Patricia Wildman, the "woman of bronze," the daughter of "Doc" Wildman, who was a renaissance man and battler of evil-doers from the Golden Age of the 1930s. (For fans who may have forgotten, Phil brought this bronze superman's real name and family background to the world-at-large in a "fictional biography" published in the early 1970s.)

With Phil and Bette Farmer's blessing, the manuscript is now in the hands of Phil's agent.

For more information, I've launched a website for The Evil in Pemberley House. Please bookmark it and check back often for news, a forthcoming book trailer, etc. I'm thrilled beyond belief to be involved in this project, and to finally launch it in earnest to the blogosphere. An excerpt from the novel will appear in Farmerphile #14 (October 2008).

In the meantime, content yourself with the gorgeous spot illustration of Patricia Wildman, woman of bronze (lovingly rendered by the amazing Keith Howell) and read below the summary which appeared in the convention booklet handed out today at FarmerCon 90.

THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE

For over thirty years, readers have marveled at Philip José Farmer’s clever integration of some of popular fiction and literature’s most beloved characters, in a mythical web known as the Wold Newton Family. First described in the fictional biographies Tarzan Alive and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Farmer expanded the mythos in The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, the Tarzan-Sherlock Holmes pastiche The Adventure of the Peerless Peer, Time’s Last Gift, Hadon of Ancient Opar, Flight to Opar, and the authorized series novels The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel and Escape from Loki: Doc Savage’s First Adventure.

Now, from imagination of Philip José Farmer and Wold Newton expert Win Scott Eckert, comes an addition to the Wold Newton cycle, a Gothic tale of adventure which builds upon the Canon of Sherlock Holmes mysteries and explores the psyche of a pulp superman’s offspring…

It’s 1973, and Patricia Wildman is traveling from New York to Derbyshire in England to claim her legacy, the grand estate known as Pemberley House. The descendant of famous and infamous dukes and duchesses, and of Pemberley’s memorable Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice, Patricia is also the daughter of the world-renowned crimefighter of the 1930s and ’40s, Dr. James Clarke “Doc” Wildman. She is also the inheritor of her father’s bronzed skin, gold-flecked eyes, and his physical and intellectual perfection, as well as her mother’s cunning and compassion.

Patricia is looking to put her past behind her and start a new life at Pemberley. Instead, she’s almost immediately attacked by poachers and has to contend with the resentful inhabitants of Pemberley who would prefer the venerable estate pass to them. Foremost among those seeking to prevent Patricia from accepting her legacy and becoming the new Baroness of Lambton are the imperious 103-year-old dowager duchess of Pemberley, her adopted grandchildren, and her personal physician, Dr. Augustus Moran.

Patricia, however, is not only faced with the devious machinations of British nobility and greedy hangers-on, but must also contend with being haunted by her direct ancestor, the 16th century Baroness, Bess of Pemberley. Or is the “Pemberley Curse” really the product of the conniving residents of Pemberley House?

As Patricia struggles to reconcile the supernatural evidence in front of her with her rational scientific upbringing, she also attempts to work through unresolved feelings about her late parents. It’s not easy being the daughter of a superman, after all…

The Evil in Pemberley House is an adventure, Gothic horror, and genealogical mystery set against the backdrop of Jane Austen’s Derbyshire, which will excite a broad array of readers of both pulp and popular literature, especially fans of the Doc Savage pulp novels, the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Farmer’s own celebrated Wold Newton Family mythos.