Source:Private Agenda

Private Agenda was meant to be the last Shadowrun novel to be released in 2001 by ROC and written by Michael Mulvihill. Due to a series of events the book was never released.

Background

FASA had a contract with ROC to release Battletech and Shadowrun licensed novels. They were usually ordered in batches of a 12 (or 10) Battletech and 6 Shadowrun novels. Once ROC learned that FASA was closing down, they wanted all the outstanding novels to be assigned. Michael Mulvihill saw there was one novel left to be assigned, and proposed the an outline which was approved and he signed a contract to work on it.

Mulvihill was offered a position at Wizkids, and in between leaving FASA and starting a Wizkids he decided to take a 8 week break to work on Private Agenda. After the 8 weeks, he starts to send in early drafts to the Book Editor, but oddly does not hear back. At this point, the IP is in the hands of lawyers, so the owners of Wizkids is unsure of the state of the novel's contract.

After a few months of silence, the Book Editor contacts Mulvihill to tell him he is behind his dead lines and that they'll drop him from the project. Mulvihill having not received any new information on the contract for the novel, like new deadlines; reaches out to the owners of Wizkids, whom sided with the Book Editor and it appeared they were going to drop the novel. This decision appears to have been made because Book Editor over allocated Battletech novels, and considering they usually sell better; it is speculatively believed that Private Agenda was shelft for another Battletech novel.

The German Shadowrun publisher (Fantasy Productions at the time) did receive the full signed copy of contract for Private Agenda and had began to market the book under the impression that it would be released.

In 2004 (about) Topps was attempting to purchase WizKids. In order to do so all the outstanding contracts needed to be closed. One of the still unfulfilled contracts is for Private Agenda. Mulvihill was left with two options; 1. to take a kill fee and the contract would be canceled, or 2. rush the novel and have it done in 30 days. Mulvihill took the kill fee, since it was even unlikely that after the novel was done, it still may not be released.

He did get another offer to finish the novel. However in 2006 Mulvihill's home was broken into and his laptop containing the draft was stolen.