Seven years ago, Richard Mason wasn't just anointed the Next Big Thing in British literary fiction - he was awash in attention, good and bad. No wonder, since he was only 19 years old and in his first year at Oxford, behaving as a proper overachieving Etonian is supposed to. And then THE DROWNING PEOPLE came out, the attention increased exponentially, and Mason was seemingly never heard from again.

Not exactly. He did write a second book, US, in 2004, and now that further time has elapsed, it looks as if the former wunderkind might settle into a long-standing career. The Bookseller reports that Wiedenfeld & Nicholson has signed Mason up to a two-book deal brokered by Patrick Walsh at Conville & Walsh, with the first, provisionally titled NUMBER 17, HUNTLEY GARDENS, due for release sometime in 2008. (No delivery date was given for the follow-up.) And with Mason due to be over thirty by the time the book's out, perhaps the focus will stay on the novel and less on the hype.