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Burning Questions
Wondering what happened to your favorite author? Gosh, so are we. Ask away: Send your cards and letters to Burning Questions, 2143 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212. Or better yet, send us e-mail. When you write, please include your full name and the city and state where you live. Sadly, personal replies are not possible. And if your question is too hard, we'll simply put it in our big file labeled "We dunno."
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BROTHERLY LOVE
Dear Burning Questions,
Susan M. Botts Bill Richardson is best known for his wacky Bachelor Brothers novels starring twins Hector and Virgil who run a bed and breakfast. Richardson took a break from the series but stayed true to his humorous style in his most recent book, October's Waiting for Gertrude (St. Martin's), which dealt with famous people reincarnated as cats in Paris'Père Lachaise cemetery. BQ got in touch with Richardson to find out what's next from this offbeat author. Here's what he has to say about his work-in-progress, which Knopf will publish in 2005: "I'm writing a book set in Victoria, British Columbia. It's about the backstage antics of a community chorale, and it's set in the neighbourhood of Oak Bay, which is a monied and eccentric part of the city."
SHE LIKES LOTT
Dear Burning Questions,
Rene Singley The Hunt Club (Villard, 1998), a murder mystery, is writer Bret Lott's only book for young adults, and BQ wasn't able to uncover any plans to expand it into a series. Though born in Los Angeles, Lott used his parents' Southern upbringing as inspiration for many of his works of fiction. He gained nationwide attention when his novel Jewel, the story of a Mississippi woman raising a Down's syndrome child, was chosen for Oprah's Book Club. But if you like Lott's style, you'll be pleased to know that his next novel, A Song I Knew By Heart, will be published in April by Random House.
THE SKINNY ON SPARKLE
Dear Burning Questions,
Kate Curley Sparkle Hayter has won many fans with her unique brand of humor and sharp observations about male/female relationships. Her next novel, Bandit Queen Boogie (Three Rivers), will be published in July. It's a stand-alone mystery, but we're happy to say that irrepressible tabloid TV reporter Robin Hudson, who last appeared in 1998's Last Manly Man, does have more adventures on the way. Hayter, who's a stand-up comic and journalist as well as a novelist, tells BQ that Robin's next adventure, Last Girl Standing, will appear sometime in 2005. "I'm still madly revising," Hayter says. "It revolves around a reality TV show, and any resemblance between the characters and the current crop of world leaders is purely coincidental! After that I am taking a break from books to work on some other things, such as an internet radio station being put together by the arts group I belong to, kilometerzero.org."
ANCIENT HISTORY
Dear Burning Questions,
Linda Gonzalez Judith Tarr has degrees in ancient and medieval history from Yale and Cambridge, which must be a big help in creating the realistic settings for her historical novels. Tarr has recently completed a new book, The Queen of the Amazons (Tor), to be published in March. But it isn't a sequel to Bronze-age saga Daughter of Lir (although we, like you, are betting that one is forthcoming)—it's a follow-up to Lord of the Two Lands, her 1993 novel about the legendary hero Alexander the Great. In the new book, Tarr takes an ancient myth, which claims that the Queen of the Amazons visited Persia and befriended Alexander, and weaves a compelling fantasy around the encounter.
STRAY 'KAT' It's time to fess up: BQ can find no trace of Karen Kijewski, popular author of the Kat Colorado mystery series. Rumors of illness, family obligations and publisher squabbles abound, but our attempts to confirm them have failed. So, dear readers, please hold your questions, as they serve only as lachrymose reminders of BQ's most dismal failure. And Karen, if you're out there—please write!
A FAMILY TRADITION
Dear Burning Questions,
Laura Grimes
The good news? Her son and fellow author, Robin Pilcher, will release A Risk Worth Taking this month (St. Martin's). Billed as his strongest work yet, Risk is the third novel for Robin Pilcher, who lives in Dundee, Scotland, with his family. It's the story of Dan Porter, who is fired from his job at a failing dot-com company. Unemployment takes its toll on Dan's relationships with his wife and three children, as do the life-changing events of 9/11. When he discovers a small but promising company for sale in the west of Scotland, Dan thinks he's found a second chance for success. But his wife doesn't feel the same, and Dan must decide whether this opportunity is a risk worth taking.
WINNER'S CIRCLE The results are in! Gather 'round as we name the lucky winners in two recent BookPage contests sponsored by Baen Books and Audio Renaissance.
CASE CLOSED
MEGA-WINNERS
SPEAKING OF CONTESTS If you think you know the answer, you could win a copy of a book recently reviewed in BookPage! E-mail or mail your response to us at:
Burning Questions 2143 Belcourt Ave. Nashville, TN 37212 burning_questions@bookpage.com
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Let's start with the bad news—while Rosamunde Pilcher is reported to be working on a new manuscript for St. Martin's (her most recent book was 2000's Winter Solstice), she's not expected to release a new novel anytime soon.