Tuesday, January 27, 2009

More forthcoming stuff.

I've been catching up with a few projects this week, now that the indexing's done and the manuscript's in the copyeditor's hands again. My first accomplishment - I cleaned my office for the first time in about five years and filled a recycle bin with papers I no longer needed. I also updated the HNS forthcoming books page with titles through next September. Disclaimer: I don't get many UK publishers' catalogs, so there aren't many British titles listed (any volunteers?), and many US publishers don't have their summer catalogs out yet. But there are still lots of goodies to be found.

Of note: Lindsey Davis has three titles on the list. Alexandria (next in the Marcus Didius Falco series, set in 1st century Alexandria) will be out in May, as will the paperback of The Course of Honour, her mainstream historical about Emperor Vespasian and his mistress, Caenis, a former slave. And just today I read a press release about a historical epic she's written on the English Civil War, Rebels and Traitors, which will be out from Century in September. No word yet on US publication.

Philippa Gregory's The White Queen is in Touchstone's summer catalog, with a Sept 2009 pub date. Simon & Schuster is the UK publisher as well; same date. Amazon UK has the blurb, so see what you think. The "white queen" is Elizabeth Woodville, not Anne Neville.

Edward Rutherfurd sent out a newsletter last month detailing the subject of his next epic historical: New York. Amazon lists the pub date as October, which means it won't be out by the time of his appearance at the Schaumburg HNS conference, but I'm guessing we'll hear more about it there.

Another one that intrigued me was Annamaria Alfieri's City of Silver, a historical mystery set in 17th-century Peru. In looking around, I found an earlier mention in Publishers Marketplace, though its historicity didn't stand out at the time. The title's also changed since then:

Annamaria Alfieri's MURDER IN ALTO PERU, in which an Abbess finds the tranquility of her convent threatened when the unruly daughter of a wealthy man, who had sought refuge there, mysteriously dies, bringing about a collision of various interests and holy and unholy desires, to Toni Plummer at Thomas Dunne Books, by Nancy Love at Nancy Love Literary Agency. [Oct 2007]

What other titles catch your attention?

That's pretty much it from here. Big snowstorm happening tonight; I'd hope for a snow day, but I already have Wednesday mornings off.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, Lord. Just what the world needs, another novel with Elizabeth Woodville as scheming witch.

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  2. I find it interesting that the Amazon UK description (from Simon & Schuster UK) is so different in tone from the one in the Touchstone (S&S US) catalog. The latter depicts her as a strong feminist icon, "a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty, a woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family," the former as a scheming witch.

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  3. Yet more interesting books to add to my reading list, which grows faster thanks to this blog. :-)

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  4. I hope the US description is a better reflection of the Gregory novel than the UK description. The UK description makes it sound like a retread of The King's Grey Mare--been there, done that.

    Other than that, looks like a good year!

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  5. Sounds as if there are some interesting titles coming out soon. I don't think I've ever read one set in that interesting time in Peru.

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  6. I don't think I've ever read a historical novel set in Peru, and I love reading about places/times that are unfamiliar.

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  7. Peru does sound like a lovely setting for a historical fiction book. something different, you know?

    P.S.
    I really enjoy reading your blog, so I gave you a butterfly award on my knit blog
    twocrazyknitchicks@blgogspot

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  8. Wow, thanks! I found yet more blogs I need to go explore...

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  9. Hi Sarah

    Thanks for this news. I'm thoroughly intrigued by Lindsey Davis's English Civil war novel. I seem to recall her mentioning in an article or talk that this period was her first love.

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  10. Hi Sarah - I'm hoping her Civil War novel will find a US audience eventually. It may be considered too obscure a period for US readers (sad but true), though one would think her fans would snap up anything she writes... and get exposed to a "new" historical era in the process.

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