Dear Burning Questions,
Hi. I have a question for you. I was wondering what happened to Michael Palmer and his medical thriller novels? I haven't heard from him in awhile.

Kris
via e-mail

Writer/doctor Michael Palmer recently e-mailed us with the following update (and it's a good thing he e-mailed because we probably wouldn't have been able to read his handwriting):

"Thanks very much for contacting me with your reader's question. The answer is that Fatal, a thriller about, among other things, a vaccination gone wrong, is in final rewrites and is scheduled for publication May 1, 2002 [Bantam Doubleday Dell]. That will have it out exactly two years after The Patient, my last book.

"There are a number of reasons why I don't produce work faster. One of them is that my number one priority in life is raising my 11-year-old son, Luke. I teach creative writing to his fifth grade class and act as a chaperone for class trips. Then there's taking him to karate and piano and skiing and the other things he likes to do.

"A second reason is that I still work as a physician. I am associate director of Physician Health Services, helping to take care of a number of sick doctors, most of whom recover nicely and return to (or remain in) practice. A third reason is that it ain't easy to write good books over and over again, and I refuse to crank them out. My plots are fairly complex, and weaving the story together to produce an engaging, interesting, fast-paced read takes time -- especially for a two fingered typist like me! Information on my progress can be obtained off my Web site, michaelpalmerbooks.com."

A history lesson

Dear Burning Questions,
Does Caleb Carr have any plans to continue the story line of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness? I enjoyed both books very much and would appreciate knowing his future plans for the series.

Randi Willcox
Piqua, Ohio

Carr will be returning to The Alienist territory, although right now his publisher, Random House, does not have specific dates. Carr's current title is The Lessons of Terror, a provocative history of warfare against civilians from Greek and Roman times through today. Carr's publicist tells us that he "argues that the events of September 11 were not unique, but also that throughout history, terrorism as a tool of warfare always fails. (If the terrorists don't ultimately lose the war, they will lose the peace.)" The Lessons of Terror will be published February 5th.

A Walk in the Woods

Dear Burning Questions,
I'm a big fan of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series and was curious if she has another one coming soon. Thanks.

Eli
Memphis, Tennessee

Hunting Season (Putnam), scheduled for release in February, is Barr's latest entry in her award-winning series about wily park ranger Anna Pigeon. This time, Anna returns to the Natchez Trace Parkway to continue a budding romance that began in Deep South, and of course, solve a murder.

Barr is the author of nine previous Anna Pigeon mysteries. She lives in Mississippi, where she was most recently a ranger on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

A King-size mystery

Dear Burning Questions,
I am a huge Laurie King fan and wanted to know if she plans to have a book out in the near future.

Heather
via e-mail

Who says there's no justice? This March, Bantam will release Justice Hall, King's latest foray into the world of crime fiction's leading legend. In the sixth episode in the series, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel to one of Britain's stateliest manors to uncover a dark secret. Laurie R. King is the author of nine mysteries and two suspense novels. She lives in northern California, where she is at work on a suspense novel that Bantam will publish in spring 2003.

Master of Biography

Dear Burning Questions, I'm still waiting to hear when Robert Caro will publish his long-awaited final volume in his trilogy about Lyndon Johnson. I know that some time ago (a couple of years?) you reported that he was in the process of writing the manuscript.

Daniel
via e-mail

At long last, Lyndon. This is major news. Book three of Caro's monumental work, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, will be published by Knopf this April. The epic biography that began with the award-winning The Path to Power and Means of Ascent continues with Master of the Senate.

What's cookin'

Dear Burning Questions,
It's been a while since Places in the Dark author Thomas Cook has favored us with a new book. Is there anything in the works?

Mark Weinberg
via e-mail

Cook's latest, The Interrogation, will be released March 26 by Bantam. This time out the Edgar Award-winning author known for his gritty, disturbing tales tells the story of a murder of a young girl in the 1950s. Cook is the author of 15 novels, including The Chatham School Affair. He lives in New York and on Cape Cod where he is already at work on his next novel.

Shifting into drive

Dear Burning Questions,
I enjoy Richard Ford's work (The Sportswriter). Is he working on something new?

Dave
Tallahassee, Florida

In February, Richard Ford's thoughts turn to love as he delivers A Multitude of Sins, his first book in four years. Here he writes of relationships between men and women, intimacy, desire and liaisons dangerous and otherwise.

The author of five novels and two collections of stories, Ford was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Independence Day, the first book to win both prizes. Don't miss the BookPage interview with Ford next month.

A novel idea

Dear Burning Questions,
Can we expect a new Anna Quindlen novel anytime soon?

Teri Witkowski
Madison, Wisconsin

Quindlen's publicist at Random House says the plan, though not final, is a fall 2002 release date for her next book. It is a novel, her first since Black and Blue, and she's putting the finishing touches on it now.

Quindlen's New York Times column "Public & Private" won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, and a selection of these columns was published as Thinking Out Loud.