New Heinlein Novel To Be Written

by Immew Sill Chalazion

While going through the archives of Wilson "Bob" Tucker, writers Michael Z. Williamson and Brad Linaweaver found an as-yet unpublished Heinlein novel.

"It turns out Heinlein and Tucker were at dinner one night during MidAmeriCon [the 1976 Worldcon in Kansas City]", Linaweaver said. "Bob (Tucker) made notes of their conversation on three napkins."

The napkins are currently being analyzed for impressions and other marks, and to clarify part of the text blurred by a coffee stain.

"It looked like 'Time for the Pie,'" Williamson said. "But we knew that was wrong. My guess is that it's, 'Time for the Pie in the Sky,' based on a reference he made frequently. Brad thinks it's 'Time for the Pied Piper,' hearkening back to one of his earlier stories."

Since the notes were not in Heinlein's archives, and since Tucker had no legal claim to Heinlein's intellectual property, the ideas were free for the finding. They could be developed in any direction desired.

"As a formality, we're currently in negotiations with the Heinlein estate," Linaweaver said. "We're looking to do something different with this valuable find, and actually write it the way Heinlein would have."

Williamson said, "Spider's a fine writer, but he ticked off a lot of fans with his hippie take in Variable Star. I figure Brad's got the libertarian philosophical depth for this, and I've got the right wing militarism down cold."

Readers can expect to see a development of this lost story within two years.