Dear Burning Questions,
This isn't so much losing track of the author as losing track of the series. Since sci-fi author Joan D. Vinge returned to the world of Tiamat for the new novel Tangled Up in Blue, any chance she'll give us longing Cat lovers another novel in that series? It's been a long time since Catspaw, but the character certainly hasn't been forgotten.

Chris Tomassini
Livonia, Michigan

We got in touch with Vinge who asked that we relay the following: "I have several more Cat novels lined up in my mind. But it will be a while before a new one appears in print, partly because I must finish Ladysmith (a prehistoric novel I'm working on) first; and also because I am unfortunately a very slow writer."

"In the meantime, there is a third book in the Cat series besides Catspaw and Psion; it's called Dreamfall . . . It's currently out of print, but should be in libraries or used bookstores . . . and Tor Books will be re-releasing most of my backlist in the near future. (That will include a much-expanded version of Psion, the first Cat novel, by the way -- almost like a new book.) There is also a novella about Cat, 'Psiren,' in my story collection Phoenix in the Ashes (also currently out of print), if one of those can be unearthed somewhere. Thanks again for passing on the question; it really was my pleasure to answer it."

Reader loves Bernie

Dear Burning Questions,
Do you know if Lawrence Block is writing another Bernie Rodenbarr mystery in The Burglar Who . . . series? I first heard about them in your column and found them very delightful. Thank you.

Jane E. Manz
West Baraboo, Wisconsin

Block is hoping there will be a new Bernie book on the shelves in the fall of 2002. In the meantime, you won't want to miss Hope to Die, Block's latest, scheduled to be published by William Morrow in November. First introduced 25 years ago, Matthew Scudder is back at work, investigating the murder of a wealthy West Side couple.

How barbaric

Dear Burning Questions,
I enjoyed John Welter's I Want to Buy a Vowel, Night of the Avenging Blowfish and Begin to Exit Here. Is there anything new on the horizon from this author?

Robin Riat
via e-mail

We recently spoke to Welter who told us that he's in the midst of writing a gothic novel. Lest you start thinking Anne Rice thoughts, we're talking about Goths here, a novel from the viewpoint of 5th century Goth barbarians, to be exact. Welter says it's slightly historical but mostly fictional, and leads up to the sacking of Rome in 410 A.D. No publication date is set since he's still in the writing stage. When not writing about barbarians, Welter stays busy writing newspaper columns.

Be afraid -- be very afraid

Dear Burning Questions,
Except for a computer game and line of toy figures based on his work, it seems horror/fantasy author Clive Barker has vanished into one of his own nether-regions. While a few collections of plays he wrote while starting out have been released, I don't believe he's had a new book since Galilee. What has Barker been up to lately and can we hope to see a new book from him some time soon?

Brian
Waterford, Michigan

The frightful thing about this October isn't just Halloween; it's the latest novel from Clive Barker, Coldheart Canyon: A Hollywood Ghost Story (HarperCollins). Talk about creepy. The mansion in Coldheart Canyon where glamorous movie star Todd Pickett has retired to recover from a botched plastic surgery has a door leading straight to a ghastly new world called The Devil's Country.

In the far north

Dear Burning Questions,
Our family loves the novels based on early Indian life by Sue Harrison. We have all read the books in the first trilogy and the first two books of her second trilogy. When will the third be out?

Olga Pelance
Vernon, Indiana

Sue Harrison's superb Storyteller Trilogy transports us to prehistoric Alaska and introduces us to the hearty folk who struggle to survive there. Completing the saga begun in Song of the River and continued in Cry of the Wind, Harrison now offers Call Down the Stars, to be published by William Morrow in December. She brings to life those who fight for survival by day and at night hear tales of the bravehearts who went before.

A hairy situation

Dear Burning Questions,
I enjoy BookPage -- both at the Franklin County Public Library in Louisburg, North Carolina, and online. I have a Burning Question for you: What can you tell me about Ruth Freeman Swain, the author of Bedtime!, a delightful children's nonfiction book? I believe that she has another one out soon, with illustrations by the same artist . . . and any others? Thank you.

Laura Kinzinger
Louisburg, North Carolina

Ruth Freeman Swain grew up outside Philadelphia and graduated from Vassar College. She taught nursery school and published several parenting articles before writing Bedtime!, so she knows her audience well. She currently lives in Maine.

Another children's book by Swain should be published some time in 2002. Her publicist at Holiday House tells us it's called Hairdo: What We Do and Did to Our Hair with illustrations by Cat Bowman Smith, who also illustrated Bedtime! The new book is for the 4- to 8-year-old set, but parents are sure to love it, too.

Maine event

Dear Burning Questions,
Wonder what has become of author Cathie Pelletier? I've been waiting for a new book. I enjoyed all her earlier books. Also she wrote under the name K.C. McKinnon, but there's been nothing new under that name either. Please advise.

Carol Herrmann
Grand Rapids, Michigan

You may not find it in bookstores any time soon, but author Cathie Pelletier reports that she has just finished her seventh novel, which was five years in the making. "It's still dripping its ink," Pelletier said by phone from her father's home at the northern tip of Maine. Although the new book isn't part of her popular Mattagash series, which features a small Maine community much like the one she grew up in, the just-finished novel is set in Pelletier's home state. Tentatively titled Running the Bulls, the story looks at a retired college professor coming to terms with what his life has suddenly become. Pelletier says she is looking for a new editor and publisher to handle the book, since her previous editor is retiring.

Pelletier, who has been busy writing screenplays from her Nashville home, says she also recently completed another K.C. McKinnon novel, which she hopes to have published soon.

Music to your ears

Dear Burning Questions,
I'm interested in finding out about A. Manette Ansay. I haven't come across anything she's written lately. Is she still writing? I love her talent.

Carmella O'Neill
Melrose Park, Illinois

Ansay, whose novels include Sister and Vinegar Hill (an Oprah book club selection) displays her writing talents once again in Limbo, a memoir to be published in October by William Morrow. In the book, Ansay describes her experience with a mysterious muscle disorder that forced her to give up a promising career as a concert pianist at age 19 and turn to writing.