Dear Burning Questions,
Can you please tell me when Connie Briscoe will release a new book? I truly enjoy her books, including Sisters and Lovers, and a new novel by her would make my day.

Emilie Chisolm
Thornton, Colorado

Consider your day made: Connie Briscoe's new novel, Can't Get Enough (Doubleday) will be published on April 26. The women of the upscale D.C. suburb whose exploits were first revealed in 2002's P.G. County are back, and they're as debauched, decadent and scheming as ever. As for a possible third book, Briscoe tells us, "I haven't decided if I'll continue the series. I have a few other book ideas in the works, both fiction and nonfiction. So we'll have to wait and see."

SISTER, SISTER

Dear Burning Questions,
Is Fern Michaels going to continue the Sisterhood series? The first book, Weekend Warriors, was not the usual "nice romance mystery" and was a great read.

Mary Hammen
Wilmington, Illinois

Always on the search for a romantic thriller that's a cut above, we asked the prolific and talented Michaels herself, who declared herself "beyond delighted" with the question. "Yes, yes, yes, the series continues," she enthused. Michaels will not only continue the Revenge of the Sisterhood series, but also begin a second series, The Rules of the Game, with the same seven protagonists. The second book in this "double" series, Payback, will be released in paperback this summer by Kensington, with more books to follow in 2006.

CHICAGO HOPE

Dear Burning Questions,
I am an avid reader, 74 years young. I love your periodical, and I especially enjoy Burning Questions. One of my favorite books is Knock on Any Door (1947) by Willard Motley. Can you tell me other titles he has written? The book I mentioned was exceptional, beautifully written. Anything you can tell me about this author would be appreciated.

Joan Jacobsen
Twin Lakes, Wisconsin

We'd love to help you out! Chicago author Willard Motley (1909-1965) wrote four novels, Knock on Any Door, We Fished All Night, Let No Man Write My Epitaph and Let Noon Be Fair. Motley was part of the Chicago Renaissance, a wave of creative achievement that took place on the city's South Side in the 1930s and '40s and included author Richard Wright, entertainer Nat King Cole and the poet Gwendolyn Brooks. If Knock on Any Door is your favorite book, you might enjoy seeing the 1949 film version starring Humphrey Bogart and John Derek.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

Dear Burning Questions,
Can you please tell me if one of my favorite authors, Sarah Dessen, plans on writing a new book anytime soon? I saw the movie How to Deal, based on two of her stories. Any upcoming plans of movies for other novels?

Holly Arledge
Zanesville, Ohio

The plucky Dessen, who was home with the flu when we contacted her, claims that answering your question was "a nice diversion." (Let's just say she has a better attitude toward illness than the BQ crew.) The author of six young adult novels, including That Summer and Someone Like You, Dessen tells us she has just started a new book and is "in that early terrified/excited stage." Being the self-described "secretive and superstitious" type about her writing, she wasn't willing to divulge the subject of her latest work. But she did point out that her fifth novel, This Lullaby, is under option to New Line Pictures, so we think you'll see much more ahead from this popular writer.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Dear Burning Questions,
Here at the Flint Public Library in Flint, Michigan, we have a question we can't find an answer for. We knew if anyone could get an answer, you would. When is Kathleen O'Neal Gear going to come out with Book IV of her Anasazi mysteries? We have several patrons who are very curious.

Laurie McAbee
Flint, Michigan

Unfortunately, no new Anasazi mysteries are currently scheduled. But that doesn't mean Gear and her husband/co-author W. Michael Gear have been slacking off, not by a long shot. Your patrons can look forward to a slew of books by the Gears in the near future from Tor Books. It Sleeps in Me, the first book in Kathleen's new series of Native American erotic novels, will be released next month. Coming in July is The Athena Factor, Michael's scientific thriller. The Gears will team up again this fall for People of the New Moon, the next book in their First North American saga.

TRADING SPACES

Dear Burning Questions,
Is T.R. Pearson still writing? I loved his A Short History of a Small Place and Off for the Sweet Hereafter. Thanks!

Jeanne Truckey
Alton, Illinois

Pearson's next book, Glad News of the Natural World, is due out in May from Simon & Schuster. In it, Louis Benfield, the young narrator of A Short History of a Small Place, has relocated from tiny Neely, North Carolina, to New York City. Pearson gave BQ a quick preview of the novel:

What on earth is a Southern boy like Louis doing in NYC?
Louis is in New York by happy accident as much as anything and blunders around as best he can.

What has your own experience been like dividing your time between the South and NYC?
I've passed about half of each year in NYC for the past 20. I love the place. It's absolutely full of Southerners.

What's the meaning of the title?
The title refers to a column in the Neely Chronicle written by a minister. The column is called Glad News of the Natural World, and it is full of blithering optimism.

Will fans of your previous work find this new novel a departure?
The sentences might be a little shorter (blame 21st-century publishing), but I think the spirit is the same.