The contracts have finally all been signed and I'm (Peter Cooper) already several chapters into writing a new Ruby book, Beginning Ruby, for APress. The information will probably go live on their site sometime in the next few weeks, but you've heard it here first.

The book is anticipating the continuing rise of Ruby, to the point where hundreds of thousands of developers begin learning it separate from Rails, or where it becomes a popular language for totally new programmers. I don't think we're quite there yet, but it's going to happen. At that point, Beginning Ruby will provide a 'from the beginning' guide to Ruby, object orientation, development practices, the Ruby community, and so on. Unlike the Pickaxe, Beginning Ruby will be ideal for both fresh faced beginners and experts from other languages.

I've been a writer on and off for many years (at one point I was pursuing it as the full-time career, but the fun of development lured me back) but have never written a 'proper book'. It's going well though and I'll keep everyone updated on the progress from time to time. It may even be available as a PDF beta book later this year.