James P. Blaylock sold his YA novel Zeuglodon to Subterranean Press, in a deal negotiated by John Berlyne of the Zeno Literary Agency. Subterranean expects to publish it in 2012.
Berlyne offers this description of the book: “A skeletal hand clutching an iron key lies hidden within a mermaid’s wooden sarcophagus; a hand-drawn map is stolen from beneath the floorboards of an old museum; an eccentric sleeping inventor dreams of a locked passage to the center of the hollow earth, and by dreaming of the passage, brings it into being…
“Pursued by kidnappers thinking of riches and murder, Katherine Perkins and her two cousins, junior members of The Guild of St. George, must descend into the depths of the earth in order to return the Sleeper to his ancestral home on the shores of Lake Windermere. But to awaken him would mean the end of the dream, the closing of the passage, and the three intrepid explorers marooned in a savage land forgotten by time itself…”
Subterranean has long been publishing Blaylock’s books in “beautiful premium, collectible editions.” Publisher Bill Schafer says “We at SubPress are more than pleased to add that most Blaylockian of novels, Zeuglodon, to our schedule next year. It’s vintage James P. Blaylock, set on the same fictional map as his classic novel, The Digging Leviathan, with all the mystery, charm, and whimsy one could want.”