|
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."
|
REDISCOVERING MAUD
Dear Burning Questions,
Constance Martin Thanks for the recommendation, which we are delighted to pass along. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of reading the Besty-Tacy books as a child, Maud Hart Lovelace was born in 1892 in Mankato, where she lived until 1910. Lovelace wrote six novels and 18 children's books, including the beloved Betsy-Tacy series, which to a great extent depicts her own childhood. Like L.M. Montgomery's Anne series, Maud's books narrate the life of a little orphan girl growing up in the Midwest at the turn of the century, moving from the pains and joys of adolescence through marriage and adulthood. Her stories of small-town life, family traditions and enduring friendship have captured the hearts of her fans over the years. HarperCollins' re-issue of such classics as Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, along with later titles from Lovelace's Deep Valley series, give readers a golden opportunity to discover these treasures.
YOU WIN SOME...
Dear Burning Questions,
M. Edwards We have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first? We'll take a guess and start at the bottom. The bad news is that Cornwell is not currently writing another novel featuring the popular Nate Starbuck, though readers desperately want him to. It's gotten to the point, he says, where his most frequently asked question is "when will the next Starbuck book be published?" The answer is that Cornwell's been busy with Sharpe, the Arthur books, the Grail books and Stonehenge, 2000 B.C., so Starbuck has been put on furlough. The author remains interested in revisiting the series, but it's not on the immediate horizon. Enough of that—onto the good news. Cornwell has begun a new series! The Last Kingdom, released this month by HarperCollins, is set in 9th and 10th-century England, where a young Viking-raised Anglo-Saxon struggles to choose between divided loyalties. Cornwell is writing the sequel to The Last Kingdom, and after that, the 21st book in the Sharpe series which, according to Cornwell's editor, will by no means be the last, despite rumors to the contrary. Hoorah and huzzah!
ITSY BITSY SPIDER
Dear Burning Questions,
Leonard Hughes
You can also see Patterson's work on the small screen. NBC has signed a deal to produce TV movies of 2nd Chance, 3rd Degree and The Beach House.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO... BookPage publisher Michael Zibart and contributing editor Sukey Howard enjoyed being in the audience for the National Book Awards ceremony in New York, at which the winners of the 2004 awards were announced. It's hard to say what our twosome appreciated most: hearing the graceful acceptance speech of Distinguished Contribution award winner Judy Blume, visiting with tablemates from Houghton Mifflin or sampling the table wine (a surprisingly good Beringer's Estate). Congratulations to the following winners:
FICTION: The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck
|
An Alex Cross fan, hmm? Well, we can't disagree with your taste in FBI personnel, though at the time of Along Came a Spider, of course, Cross was still a (not-so) lowly homicide detective in Washington, D.C. Patterson's best-known character had yet to reach the exalted status he now occupies as Senior FBI Agent and liaison between the FBI and D.C. police. But enough reminiscing—you're interested in the here-and-now. Fortunately for you, the prolific Patterson has enough coming out this spring and summer to keep even the most devoted reader busy! Patterson's next book, Honeymoon, will be released in February by Little, Brown. The latest installment of Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, 4th of July, will be released in May; and, finally, the next novel featuring our beloved Alex Cross, Mary, Mary, will be released next fall.