Thanks so much for all the great questions in the comments! And keep them coming! I will be answering a few each week.

From Kaitlyn: How are the Nathaniel Fludd Books coming?

Very well, thank you! I have finished up the fourth one and have just received a copy of the cover for it. Here’s a peek at the new cover.

Also, Kaitlyn asked if I have any new ideas for books, and I do! It’s just that I don’t really talk about them until they’re finished, so I can’t say much. Sorry!

Collin, there will be at least five Theodosia books and probably more. As always, with everything in publishing, it depends on sales numbers. The final title for Book Four is THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHARAOH, and it comes out May of 2011. The working title of Book Five is THEODOSIA AND THE FLAME OF SEKHMET, but that is subject to change. It will be coming out sometime in 2012, most likely.

kalifaziz asked when the next contest is, and I have to think one up first! But you’re right, we are definitely due for one.

kalifaziz aso said: “the ben ue bird is the perfect energy that created the world. you should really be careful for immature reasearch from rambontious anthropologist’

You know, there are actually a number of theories on the origins of the benu bird. Most of what we know we are guessing from clues left behind or trying to decipher earlier writings. Also remember, that Theodosia was working with information from 100 years ago. We have learned about archaeology and interpreting the past since then. So just because Theo’s story of the origin of the benu bird is different from yours, doesn’t make it immature research. She is just using different sources.

Okay boys and girls, I know I have only been able to post here every month or so, but now that I’ve met so many of my deadlines, I would like to post here more often. One of the things that would help me is knowing what YOU’D like to hear about. Do you have any questions about the books (ones that don’t include spoilers!) or about the writing process or about anything at all. I’ll do my best to answer them. Leave your questions in the comments and I’ll use them for blog topics in the next few weeks.

I’ve also done some updating of the site, most notably adding information about school visits on the Teacher and Librarian pageI wan since I get asked that question so often, and links to a number of interviews I’ve done on the About the Author page.

And no, they don’t really have anything to do with each other.

There has been a fair amount of confusion in the comments so I thought I’d post here to clarify.

The third Theodosia book, THEODOSIA AND THE EYES OF HORUS, is out now.

The fourth Theodosia book, THEODOSIA AND THE LAST PHARAOH, will be out May of 2011.  Hopefully that will clear things up for those of you wondering when the next Theo book will be out.

And now for the owl, because Theo readers are smart and clever and owls are smart and clever, this one especially so. I never knew owls could be so versatile!

P.S. Also, if you leave your comments on really old posts, it is harder for me to find and respond to them.

For all you budding Egyptologists out there, I thought this article was fascinating. It mulls over the possibility that Cleopatra did not die from the bite of an asp, but from poison instead! bit.ly/dm5XlK

And as if that weren’t enough ancientness and history in the news, another article talks about the discovery that the ancient beast, Leviathan, was real! And they have the fossils to prove it! (Although really, any of the beastologists from the Nathaniel Fludd books could have told them that.) http://bit.ly/cGv5tP

Seriously though, this is why I love writing historical fantasy. There are just so many mysteries out there we don’t really know the answers to!