Dear Burning Questions

I am trying to find out anything I can about Wally Lamb's third novel. I saw somewhere online that it was due out sometime in 2008. I'd love to know the when, as well as the who, what, how and where. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Kristie Reilly
Arlington, Massachusetts

At long last, HarperCollins has confirmed a November publication date for The Hour I First Believed, Lamb's first novel in a decade. The publisher describes the book as "a literary tour de force" about a couple dealing with the aftermath of the Columbine school shooting. Lamb is the author of the bestsellers She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True.

MEOW MIX

Dear Burning Questions,

What happened to Lilian Jackson Braun? She usually comes out with a book every January; however, none has come out this year. She doesn't have a website, and we need to know more about KoKo and YumYum.

Joan Leake
Palm Bay, Florida

You're right on target when it comes to Braun's publishing schedule: She serves up a new mystery starring her feline sleuths every winter. This year's helping was originally set for release in February. However, The Cat Who Smelled Smoke has been delayed and is not currently scheduled for publication, according to Putnam publicity director Stephanie Sorenson. "I'm afraid I know nothing other than that she is still writing," Sorenson says when asked if the 95-year-old author's age might be the reason for the delay. We'll be sure to update you if we hear anything more.

CORRECTION

Knopf Books for Young Readers informs BQ that Brisingr, the new book from Christopher Paolini scheduled for publication in September, will be the third book in a planned four-book Inheritance cycle, not the final installment in a trilogy, as we reported in March.

WINNERS CIRCLE

Congratulations to Mark Mareno of Donna, Texas, grand prize winner of the Anne Rice contest announced in the February issue of BookPage. Mareno will receive a signed first edition of Anne Rice's latest novel, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. These runners-up will also receive copies of the book: Gloria Nickolis of Surprise, Arizona; Ann Muth of Louisville, Kentucky; and Sue Maisel of Brandon, Mississippi.

TONY HORWITZ HISTORY QUIZ

Answers to the Tony Horwitz quiz. Click here to see the quiz questions.

1. FALSE. European scholars had known since the Middle Ages that the Earth was round. Columbus thought it was shaped like a breast, with the Garden of Eden perched at the nipple.

2. FALSE. Ponce de Le—n was only thirty-nine, sailed in search of gold and slaves, and reached present-day Florida in 1513, making him the first European to land in today's U.S.

3. TRUE. The man was Amerigo Vespucci, who outfitted ships and wrote a highly fictionalized and bestselling account of his voyages across the Atlantic.

4. FALSE. It was a Viking boy named Snorri, born five centuries before Virginia Dare.

5. TRUE. Smith spent only two years in Jamestown and was just as important for his later exploration of New England and propagandizing for its settlement.

6. FALSE. Plains Indians had never seen horses until the Colorado expedition arrived in 1541. The Spanish were amused to find the natives using dogs as beasts of burden.

7. FALSE. Sir Walter Raleigh never set foot in North America and believed "drinking" tobacco, as Elizabethans referred to smoking, was good for one's health.

8. FALSE. Other Europeans had already explored twenty-four states, including Oregon, Kansas and Tennessee, and created settlements in six of them.