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Over the Moon

**

I received some really good news this morning. NAL had planned to switch the release of the next Sebastian book, Where Shadows Dance, from hardcover to trade paperback original. But the sales figures for What Remains of Heaven are so strong that they've reversed their decision and will now bring Shadows out in hardcover after all.

This is important because library sales are always a big part of any mystery sales, so dropping the hardcover printing could have had a serious impact on the series's future. Plus, it's frustrating for anyone collecting a series to suddenly have the format changed. And, well... I like coming out in hardcover! It makes me feel like a "real" author.

In my experience, publishers rarely reverse a decision once it's made, so this is pretty incredible. I am very grateful to my editor, Ellen Edwards, who worked so hard to make this happen. But the real thanks go to my readers, who've been so amazingly supportive of this series. According to the latest figures, Heaven has a 91% sell-through rate, which means that 91% of the books they shipped, sold. And in an industry where anything over 50% is considered good, that really is something to be over the moon about.

Illustration by Ken Greenhalph

Mermaids Goes Back to Press!

Just months after going back to press last winter, the third book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series, Why Mermaids Sing, has been back sent back to press again. I don't remember which printing this is because I'm starting to lose count. But it's very good news because it shows that interest in the Sebastian series is increasing. And increasing interest in the series means that--hopefully--NAL will continue to ask for more Sebastian books.

And for those of you waiting for book number six, I'm working, I'm working...

Back, Sort of

Losing a mother is hard. It doesn't matter how old she is or what intellectual arguments one can muster about circles of life and all that. The plain, raw truth is that it simply wallops you emotionally.

I've finally started back to work on Where Shadows Dance. I've had to ask for a month's extension, but my editor has been very understanding. This past weekend, Steve and I drove up to the lake. We hadn't been there since before Christmas, and it was heaven.

Those endless hours and weeks of sitting at my mother's bedside gave me much time to think. There's nothing like spending day after day in a hospice watching people die, one after the other, to cause even the most goal-obsessed amongst us to reevaluate their priorities. Last 31 December, I found myself oddly ambivalent about the beginning of this new year. Now, I'm ready to make some changes.

My thanks to Sphinx Ink, Emily and Bruce, Skittles, Steve Malley, Susan, Jan, Kim, Melinda, Lainey, Kierra, Vicki, Orannia, pax deux, Charles, Kalliope, Holly, Natalie, Caluch, Lana, Pam, and everyone else for their kind words of sympathy. You helped more than you'll know.

To Everything There Is a Season...

Bernadine Wegmann Proctor, 1917-2010 (photo taken Christmas 2009)

A Memorial Mass will be held at L. A. Muhleisen and Son Funeral Home, 2929 Metairie Road, Metairie, Louisiana, on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 12 noon. Visitation from 10 am until time of service. Interment will take place in Moscow, Idaho.