This One is Purely Self-Serving

Or, R.W.W. Greene Has a New Book Coming out in October!

Friends and neighbors, 

No doubt you are expecting sartorial ruminations, missives about misuse of punctuation, play-by-plays of dangerous failures to communicate, and short stories, but today I’d like to subvert those hopes and talk up my next book, Earth Retrograde. 

It’s science-fiction, and if you like science fiction, or know someone who likes science fiction, it may behoove you to keep reading. If not -- (I will add that I’ve been told I write sci-fi in a way that even non-fans can enjoy) -- it’s your choice to stop here or continue on.

Thanks to Tom Bookbeard and the good people at FiFanAddict, the cover and first chapter of Earth Retrograde went public today. The book is the end of a decades-spanning arc (The First Planets duology) begun in Mercury Rising (published May 2022) in which I show you a world where Robert Oppenheimer invented the Atomic Rocket Engine in 1948, humanity made it to the Moon in 1950, aliens attacked in 1961, and John F. Kennedy was saved from assassination by secret extraterrestrial agents.

Of Mercury Rising, critics said: 

“Greene remixes sci-fi conventions into a wild, satisfying adventure in a nearly picaresque vein…”

“With a deft weaving of rock ‘n roll, denim suits, AMC Pacers and nuclear-powered spaceships, Greene effortlessly recreates a 1970s America that could have been.”

“Everything I've come to love about Greene: impeccable story logic, fantastic prose, sly humor, and hope in all its glory.”

“Mercury Rising is a rollicking, funny, picaresque adventure novel…”

Mercury Rising is still on sale (paperback, e-book, and audiobook) in all your favorite places, and Earth Retrograde is available for pre-order at those same spots. If Barnes & Noble is your go-to, I have a deal for you. 

(Personally, I’m an indie bookstore guy, but I am lucky enough to live near three of them.)

Pre-orders guarantee you’ll have a copy in hand when it comes out in October and demonstrates to booksellers that there’s interest in the book, which might encourage them to make a bigger deal of it. The more sales they make, the happier my publisher. The happier my publisher, the more likely they will acquire more books by me, keeping you in stories and me in coffee for years to come.

I think they’re good books. I worked hard on them, and I would love it if you tried them out. (Many thanks if you already have!)

Walk in beauty, 

Rob

NEWS: I’m headed to the Nebula Conference in Los Angeles next month. It’s put on by the Science Fiction Writers of America, a group of which I am a code-ring carrying member. Although I’m not a fan of flying, I’m looking forward to the trip.