Dear Burning Questions,
Any word about Octavia Butler? What is she working on, and when will it be out? Will she ever write anymore Patternmaster books?

Barbara
New York City

Her publicist at Seven Stories Press tells us that science fiction author Octavia Butler is currently working on a novel called Parable of the Trickster, the third book in a trilogy that includes Parable of the Talents and Parable of the Sower. She's also working on an autobiographical novel scheduled to be published in the next couple of years. It's not known if she will write another Patternmaster book in the future, but she's not working on one at this time.

You say you want a revolution, well . . .

Dear Burning Questions,
SURELY it's about time for a new novel by Jeff Shaara (Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure). Please let us know if he has anything coming out soon.

Kim Hovey
via e-mail

The time has come. Jeff Shaara's next book, Rise to Rebellion: A Novel of the American Revolution, will be published by Ballantine in June. Here Shaara re-creates the American Revolution, starting with the Boston Massacre. We expect it to be every bit as brilliant as Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure (Shaara's two novels that completed a Civil War trilogy begun by his father's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic The Killer Angels).

Top secret

Dear Burning Questions,
Several of us have read all of Dev Stryker's books and would now like to know what dynamic duo has written them?

Barbara Voigt
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Dev Stryker's publicist wouldn't budge on this one. Apparently, the identity of the dynamic duo is highly classified information. But from what we hear, it seems likely that writers Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy are the talents behind the Stryker pen name. Forge Books will publish their next book sometime in 2002.

Not over yet

Dear Burning Questions, When is the publication date for Rick Bragg's new book?

via e-mail

We recently spoke to Rick Bragg at his home in New Orleans, and he told us that Knopf will publish his next book in August. Those who read Bragg's wonderful memoir All Over but the Shoutin' will remember his remarkable grandmother Ava. Now he offers Ava's Man, the story of his grandfather, a very colorful character, as Bragg discovered in stories related to him by family members. A hard drinkin', fun lovin', banjo pickin' roofer and buck dancer among other things, Bragg's grandfather was something of an Alabama renaissance man -- and unsung hero. Bragg describes Ava's Man as a "story about a boy creating for himself a grandfather 40 years too late." Bragg insists that it's not a memoir like Shoutin' and says "the whole reason for doing it is that I never saw him." Bragg was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for newspaper feature writing in 1996. A national correspondent for The New York Times, he lives in New Orleans and just outside Jacksonville, Alabama (so as not to stray too far from those roots).

Going for Choke

Dear Burning Questions,
Do you guys know when the next book by Jeffery Eugenides (The Virgin Suicides) is coming out? Also, how about Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Survivor)?

David Brassler
via e-mail

We've heard that Eugenides is working on a book of short stories, but we do not have a release date as of yet. In May, however, Palahniuk brings us Choke, "a powerful, hilarious novel about love and strife between mothers and sons, the addictive power of sex, the terrors of aging, and the ugly truth about historical theme parks" (Doubleday). Now if that's not a little something for everyone, we don't know what is. Palahniuk lives in Portland, Oregon, and is also the author of Invisible Monsters. His book Fight Club became a movie starring super hottie Brad Pitt.

The return of Amelia

Dear Burning Questions,
Does my very favorite author, Elizabeth Peters, have any more books in her pen about Amelia Peabody and Radcliff Emerson? Her last book sounded like a wrap-up of the family. That would break my heart; I know time marches on and death comes to everyone, but I love this family. Would sure appreciate some info on this. Thanks.

Nance Shanor
Minnesota

Mending broken hearts is all in a day's work for us. We're happy to report that Amelia Peabody and her dashing archaeologist husband Radcliff Emerson will return in May when William Morrow publishes Elizabeth Peters' new mystery, Lord of the Silent. In her latest adventure, Amelia finds a fresh body in the Egyptian tomb she is excavating and sets out to find the killer. Peters, who holds a doctorate in Egyptology, has been delighting fans for years with her Amelia Peabody series. Last year's entry, He Shall Thunder in the Sky, was the 12th in the series and the first to reach the New York Times bestseller list.

And she's funny, too?

Dear Burning Questions,
When will Patricia Cornwell have another book out?

via e-mail

In June Putnam will publish Patricia Cornwell's latest, Isle of Dogs. This time Cornwell tries her hand at black humor in an irreverent portrait of politically driven law enforcement run amok. There's no Scarpetta in sight.

Tyler made

Dear Burning Questions,
I'm hoping that Anne Tyler is busy writing another novel. I am a big fan and have loved all of her books. I can read a few over and over. So any inside info?

via e-mail

We love this woman. L-O-V-E. She seems to get just what life is all about. That's why we're thrilled to announce that Tyler's next novel, Back When We Were Grownups, will be published by Knopf in May. Here Tyler tells the story of a woman looking back over 30 years of marriage and stepmothering.

Here comes the bride

Dear Burning Questions,
I'm a big fan of Jan Karon's writing. When will she be writing another book in the Mitford series? I've read them all and really enjoyed them.

Nancy Goschey
West Bend, Wisconsin

Join the crowd. Many Jan Karon fans are hungry for news from Mitford, and they won't have long to wait. Karon's latest, A Common Life: The Wedding Story (Viking) goes on sale April 16. This new book is actually a prequel to These High, Green Hills, describing for the first time the wedding that united Father Tim and Cynthia. Watch for a review in the April issue of BookPage.

Also on sale in April is a boxed set, The Mitford Years, (Viking, $51.80, ISBN 0147712564) compiling all five books in this beloved series.