JANUARY 1998

A royal pine

Dear Burning Questions:
I pine for a new John Irving novel. When shall I pine no more?
Deborah Garvis
Houson, Texas

BQ:
He'll be coming 'round the mountain in May with "A Widow for One Year" (Random House) which we're told will remind readers a little of "The World According to Garp."

Does anybody remember when "The World According to Garp" was published in paperback? Remember all those shiny metallic covers? Ours was blue, but our friend Steve Halprin's was red. His was cooler, and we're pretty sure we would have liked that book more if we'd had a red Garp.

What the world needs now

Dear Burning Questions:
When will the next Michael Crichton book be out? I have heard that he is writing a prequel to "Jurassic Park." Is that true? And will the next book coming out be that book?
Cliff

BQ:
Questions, questions! Spending too much time on the Internet, are you? All we know for sure is that Knopf will publish Crichton's next book, but when and what it will be are still UITA (up in the air).

Frankly, a prequel to "Jurassic Park" is a scary thought. We can't handle too many more of those squeaky velociraptor things. And if he does do a prequel, we hope Crichton will reset his Plot-O-Matic 2000 to get some kind of new storyline going.

We stumble across Burning Questions, too

Dear Burning Questions:
I stumbled across Burning Questions by accident (as you do!) -- what a brilliant, sanity-saving service! Could you tell me whether Donna Tartt has anything due soon?
Michele

BQ:
Sanity is a relative thing, we have learned. If Donna Tartt would go ahead and publish her next novel, we'd all sleep a little easier. As it stands, she's at work on a new book, but no pub date has been set.

So you've been reading our press releases

Dear Burning Questions:
I read that you could find out about any author or book. And I just had to try. Is there any way that you could find out when Christopher Pike is coming out with "The Seedling"? I have been waiting very patiently for the past year or so and have seen no trace of the book. I am getting very antsy, so if you could help me out it would be greatly appreciated.
Mary
Inwood, Iowa

BQ:
We checked with Archway, the publisher of this prolific author of creepy/scary books for teenagers, and the editorial director wasn't familiar with any forthcoming Pike book called "The Seedling."

We did, however, get a brief tutorial in all things Pike: in short, there's Pike for younger readers (the Spooksville series), and Pike for 14 and ups. In particular, "The Star Group: was just published, and "The Hollow Skull" is due in April.

Dept. of Coziness

Dear Burning Questions:
This will be tough . . .

Years ago -- at least 20! -- my family had a book that we read all the time. It contained several adventure/wilderness/survival stories and I would like to know the title for my son to enjoy.

Some of the stories include the following:

• A Native American leaves on a hunting trip in his canoe, a bear swipes his face with a paw, raking it off. He manages to find his mouth, drink a few drops -- he survives.
  
• A man falls through the ice -- dangerous rescue. He is pulled to safety, but his backside is sliced to hamburger from the ice.
  
• A man is about to be killed by a lion. At the last second, he remembers that a lion pauses before the kill. He shoves his arm down the lion's throat, breaks his arm, and survives.

Other stories include snakebite, survival in wilderness, etc.

Please help me remember the name of this book!
Tegan Teske

BQ:
We're not sure, but we think you're talking about "Pat the Bunny."

Do any of our misery-loving readers recognize this one? We keep thinking of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," but that just can't be right.

We feel a one-day laydown coming on

Dear Burning Questions:
When's the next John Grisham novel due? I ask in a semi-half-hearted way; I'm loyal if somewhat worn down at this point.
Albert Bernard
Atlanta, Georgia

BQ:
Worn down? You've got the wrong attitude, man. Stay with the guy. The beautiful thing about John Grisham is that you can keep reading those legal thrillers over and over, creating a lush palimpsest, a textured melange, a Talmudic many-splendored wallow of naive lawyers and giant conspiracy.

"The Street Lawyer" lands nationwide February 4 in what the publishing industry calls a one-day laydown.

A one-day laydown is not what happens when you finish a burrito and can't get up for a while.

Gedge, Goudge, Potato, Potato

Dear Burning Questions:
Question: What do you know about Pauline Gedge's life?
via the Internet

BQ:
Like many of you, we keep mixing up Pauline Gedge with Eileen Goudge.

Pauline Gedge = New Zealand vicar's daughter living in Alberta, Canada who writes popular historical novels about ancient Egypt, including "Lady of the Reeds" and "House of Illusions." "The Twelve Transforming" will be published this fall by Moyer Bell. She is now at work on a trilogy to be set in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Eileen Goudge = American writer known for secret-loaded plots in such novels as "Garden of Lies," "Trail of Secrets," and "Blessing in Disguise."

Getting back in the groove

Dear Burning Questions:
Do you know when Terry McMillan's releasing her next book ("A Day Late and a Dollar Short")? Have not heard much about her lately. What's she up to? I have purchased all her books, and think they're all great! Can't wait until she releases the next one. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Terry M. John

BQ:
No pub date set yet for McMillan's next book, which will most likely indeed be "A Day Late and a Dollar Short."

In the meantime, she has been at work on the screenplay for "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," which will star the incredible Angela Bassett, with Whoopi Goldberg playing her sister. We look forward to this one, which is due later this year.

A new saga ahead for John Jakes

Dear Burning Questions:
What has happened to my favorite author, John Jakes? I haven't heard anything about him in several years. Is he working on another novel?
Karen
Knoxville, Tennessee

BQ:
It's been five years since Jakes published "Homeland," a turn-of-the-century saga of the young German immigrant Pauli Kroner and his transformation into Paul Crown, adventuring newsreel camerman. The Crown family saga continues in July with the publication of "American Dreams" (Dutton).

We like Jakes a lot. He's a real champion of up-and-coming writers, and he works like a crazy man on the research for his novels. A lot of hand-wringing, angst-fest young writers could learn from his discipline.

OK, so maybe we could learn from him.

Wondering what happened to your favorite author? Gosh, so are we. Ask away: Send your cards and letters to Burning Questions, 2501 21st Ave. South, Suite 5, Nashville, TN 37212. Or better yet, e-mail us at Burning_Questions@bookpage.com.

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."

©1997, ProMotion, inc.

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