No, this doesn't mean a new book is ready for release, I've still work to do typesetting and editing. I just want to draw your attention to something interesting I've found.
One of the things you'll learn about when reading the Hardy Boys books is that 38 of the original stories were rewritten in the 1960's to remove outdated references (no more automats and roadsters) and the nixing of stereotypes (mostly people talking in accents).
A few things got rewritten entirely and a few got, what I would call the directors cut, which is, a brief trim to cut out most flavour text and expressions. Previous example would be in the Hooded Hawk mystery is the culling of the Krait encounter in the woods near Chet's farm.
The UK editions also got a few bits and pieces removed, mainly Americanisms, spellings and more importantly book order, which is radically different here than back in the states. There's a page here outlining what editions we received and when.
In all there are five books which keep their original text here at the expense of their revised cousins. They are:
The mystery of the melted coins
The flickering torch mystery
The secret of pirate's hill
The clue in the embers
The mystery at Devils Paw.
What I found out and have seen nowhere is that these texts were also edited and condensed. So you lose bits and pieces to keep it to 160 pages overall. Having pdfs of the originals and all the UK editions to hand, help out immensely. I wouldn't have known that they had done this if I hadn't been typesetting the books and looking through the original text. You lose some Americanisms here such as all US coins, and a few bits and pieces of continuity are altered. In all its not bad.
And for good measure seeing as the remake has bugger all about Chet being conned by a shady summer camp and a lot more about Seneca Indians. I don't see why it wasn't released here. Unless of course the story of the worlds dumbest counterfeiters are of interest to you.
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