| Hi, it’s Sarah Graves, here. Do you remember when Lea Wait interviewed me in this blog, and I said that I hoped I’d have an announcement, soon? Well, I don’t think I can do it any better than my agent, the lovely and talented Christina Hogrebe, did it in PW, so here it is, just as she wrote it:Sarah Graves’s WINTER AT THE DOOR, the first in a new series of thrillers set in Allagash, Maine, featuring a from-away cop whose unwelcomed arrival in town coincides with the controversial release from prison of a man perhaps wrongly convicted of murder, just as more little girls — including her niece — begin disappearing, and the 16th book in the “Home Repair is Homicide” cozy mystery series, BATS IN THE BELFRY, again to Kate Miciak at Bantam Dell, in a good deal, by Christina Hogrebe at Jane Rotrosen Agency(NA).Which if you want to raise your heart rate, your blood pressure, your anxiety level, your alcohol intake, and your hopes all in one swell foop, just try reading something like that about yourself. I’m torn between (or amongst) feeling immensely proud, vastly relieved, and wildly optimistic at the same time as I’m also just a teensy bit…
Well, scared witless would probably be a nice, concise way of Don’t you think? And while we’re on the subject of moi, here’s a first look at the cover of DEAD LEVEL, the new “Home Repair is Homicide” mystery due out December 27th, just in time for those of you who have gift cards burning holes in your pockets. As far as I know, DEAD LEVEL is the only mystery novel in which the attempted-murder weapon (one of them, anyway) is a beaver dam. (Although the villain is not a beaver. I hope I’m not spoiling anything by saying that.) Anyway, that’s my big announcement. I’m thrilled about all of it, and so is my accountant who had begun making noises about how I’d probably really enjoy being a Wal-Mart cashier, and was I sure I had to turn on the furnace this winter instead of just burning old manuscripts in the middle of the kitchen floor? But then, that’s an accountant for you. No faith, none at all. While I, on the other hand…well, let’s see, now. 90,000 words times 2, divided by 250 words per page, divided by 5 pages a day (or 4, or 6)… Stay tuned!
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Charlene D’Avanzo 
Congratulations, Sarah! Can’t wait.
Yea, Sarah! Great news but not surprising given your talent and Christina’s ability as an agent.
That’s wonderful news, Sarah—and a lot of work you’ve signed up for!
And a “good deal” in PW code is indeed a good deal!
Dammit! Now I’m going to have to go back and toss the beaver dam murder scene in my latest! Curse you, Sarah Graves!
And congratulations. It’s a darn good thing winters are so long up there in Eastport. It’ll give you plenty of time to get all that writing done!
Thanks, everyone. I appreciate your good wishes! And — please, Julia, don’t toss your beaver dam murder scene, I am so looking forward to reading it! And there are enough beaver dams in Maine for each of us to have our own.
Congratulations, Sarah! I’m so excited for you! Hope you’ve been imbibing champagne like frazy! (You DO have a wine cellar in that wonderful house of yours, don’t you? And if not — now you can build one!) Wonderful, wonderful news!!
Congratulations, Sarah!! What lovely words to read. I have several friends with Kate and hear she is stupendous. I hope you enjoy everything about this next phase!!