On vacation!

My partner and I are off to southern Spain and Madrid from September 2 - 18. I'll bring back photos and stories, as I'm meeting up with a book group in Marbella to discuss THE LAST QUEEN. I'm also seeing family and friends, and touring Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba.

On the book news front, I recently received approval for my revisions to THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI, which is exciting. Publication is scheduled for May 25, 2010. I'll keep you posted on developments; for the moment, I'm eagerly awaiting the copyedited manuscript and looking forward to first drafts of cover art - one of the fun parts of bringing a book to print.

While I'm gone, I have two fantastic guest posts lined up: On September 1, Michelle Moran will visit in celebration of the upcoming release of her third novel, CLEOPATRA'S DAUGHTER. Michelle will be blogging about the importance of ancient libraries.

On September 22, Jeri Westerson joins us to celebrate the release of SERPENT IN THE THORNS, the second in her Crispin Guest medieval 'noir' series. Jeri offers us a look at a little-known medieval custom called 'swan upping.'

Have a safe and fun end of summer, and I'll look forward to catching up with you on my return!