Dear Burning Questions,
I have just finished reading Beloved Island: Franklin and Eleanor and the Legacy of Campobello by Jonas Klein, who is pictured on the inside back dust jacket. He looks remarkably like Jack Perkins, former host on cable's A&E. Mr. Perkins lives on the coast of Maine, and the short bio on Mr. Klein states that he lives on an island in Maine. Is this a coincidence? Are they brothers or one and the same man? Thank you in advance for answering my question.

P.S. The book was outstanding and I love your column.

G. Plant
devoted reader, via e-mail

Yeah, he gets that a lot. Jonas Klein and Jack Perkins both call Maine home, but they are neither one in the same, nor are they brothers. We recently spoke to Klein from his home in Georgetown, Maine, and he confirmed that, to his knowledge, he is not the former A&E host. Though he says, "Sometimes I'd like to be Jack Perkins. He's got a great voice, and he's very clever." Klein told us that he's often mistaken for Perkins, as well as for John Williams, conductor of the Boston Pops (if pressed, he'll sign autographs for both).

No, Klein has his own claim to fame. He's the author of the acclaimed "how I spent my summer vacation" Roosevelt book, Beloved Island, published in November 2000 by Paul S. Eriksson.

Not so misty, water-colored memories . . .

Dear Burning Questions,
Two of my very favorite authors are Elizabeth George and Anne Rivers Siddons. Can you please tell me if there's anything new on the horizon for either one of them? I'm beginning to have withdrawal symptoms! Thank you very much.

Stephanie
via e-mail

You won't see another book from Siddons until summer 2003, but George's next novel is right around the corner. In June, George brings us A Traitor to Memory (Bantam), the story of a musical wunderkind -- an internationally celebrated virtuoso violinist. When he finds himself unable to play, his search for his music takes him down that long, dark road to self discovery.

Marching into battle

Dear Burning Questions,
I have just finished reading Bernard Cornwell's wonderful Sharpe's Rifles series. When will Sharpe march again?

Michael Smith
via e-mail

At ease, Michael. The latest installment of Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series, set during the Napoleonic wars, will arrive in bookstores soon. This series could keep you occupied for some time -- there are 17 novels and counting. The newest entry, Sharpe's Trafalgar: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805 will be published in May by HarperCollins. In this adventure, Sharpe sails home from India -- straight into the famed battle off Cape Trafalgar. It's being billed as Cornwell's breakout novel, though Sharpe has already garnered quite a few fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

Guns a-blazin'

Dear Burning Questions,
Do you know when Stephen King will be gracing us with the next installment of the Dark Tower series? We need to know what happens with the Gunslinger and his ka-tet.

Thanks,
Teena Wells
Boulder, Colorado

Stephen King is what we would call a busy guy -- in a super-human kind of way. We can't even plan next week, much less the next few years, but, hey, we're just mere mortals. Before we even get to the next Gunslinger, here's a peek at what's on his plate: Just out is Dreamcatcher, a novel from Scribner reviewed in this issue of BookPage. In September, Black House, a novel from Random House, the sequel to The Talisman co-authored with Peter Straub. In the fall the motion picture release of Hearts in Atlantis starring Anthony Hopkins as Ted Brautigan. In February 2002, a miniseries (an original teleplay) entitled Rose Red. Also sometime in 2002, the release of the novel From a Buick Eight (Scribner). In 2003 an as-of-yet untitled short story collection, also from Scribner. No date is set for King's musical collaboration with John Mellencamp or his screenplay of Patrick McGrath's super-creepy novel Asylum. And no date is set for The Crawling Shadow (the tentative title for Volume V of The Dark Tower series), but health permitting, King will recommence work on the Dark Tower series this year.

A beloved series continues

Dear Burning Questions,
Has our mystery author Lawrence Sanders gone to the great library in the sky? I just got a new McNally book from the library by an allegedly different author with some reference to Sanders that seemed to be in the past tense, and I didn't know whether that meant demise or retirement. This new author certainly does write in the same style.

Judie Crabb
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Sadly, Lawrence Sanders passed away a couple of years ago. Vincent Lardo, author of The Hampton Affair and an upcoming sequel, The Hampton Connection, has taken over the writing of the McNally series, the next of which, McNally's Chance, will be released in July (Putnam). Lardo also wrote McNally's Dilemma and McNally's Folly.

Listen up, earthlings

Dear Burning Questions,
Oh wise oracle, can you tell me when David James Duncan (The River Why, Brothers K, River Teeth) will finally publish his next novel? I've heard rumors of it for several years, and always walk away from my bookstore's "D" section in a blue funk, empty-handed. Help!

Amy Taylor
Boulder, Colorado

You will no longer walk away from your bookstore empty-handed. There, the oracle has spoken. In July, Sierra Club Books will publish Duncan's latest book, My Story as Told by Water: Confessions, Druidic Rants, Reflections, Bird-Watchings, Fish-Stalkings, Visions, Song and Prayers Refracting Light, From Living Rivers, in the Age of the Industrial Dark. How's that for a subtitle? As you may gather, a novel this is not. Instead, it is this Montana writer's love song to the flora, fauna and seasonal symphony of his native land. Duncan is also working on a new novel about reincarnation and human folly, called Nijinsky Hosts Saturday Night Live.