My new book, let me show you it.

I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I came home ... a box with author copies of my brand new reference book. Warning - some BSP ahead, but I hope the cute kitty pics make up for it.

It's an annotated guide to historical novels published between 2004 and mid-2008, organized by subgenre (traditional historical novels, epics, mysteries, romance, sagas, fantasy, alternate history, etc.), plus a detailed introduction, recommended reading lists, and four indexes. More than 2700 books are organized and described within.

The official release date is March 30th. You won't see it in bookstores, but you'll be able to find it on library shelves in the near future, as well as in the publisher's catalog.

As you can see, it's quite a sizeable tome. Note the fortress I call my TBR pile in the background; the book piles are two deep at present.

This is Tortie (we aren't real creative with cat names), my tortoiseshell cat, giving the book her official seal of approval. (She'll actually do this with any book pile that's cat-height.)

The list price is $65, which is typical for a 750-page reference book with library binding. For anyone who's concerned about getting your money's worth, you can think of it as $17.33 per pound if you prefer. The odd thing is it's heavier and larger than volume 1, despite being 70 pages shorter. Different printer, I expect, and different paper.

The original Historical Fiction: A Guide to the Genre (from 2005) sits next to its new companion volume, above. Tortie's brother Max doesn't seem overly excited about it, but since excitement for him involves hairballs and messy carpets, that's okay with me.