Because Friend Janet reminded me to remind people:

I was puttering around the interwebs this morning, and ended up on one of my favorite sites: the Library of Congress's WPA collection.

"Huhwah?" some of you might be asking, and because I'm nothing if not diligent about fulfilling my readers' needs, I shall explain. Or rather, I'll let the LoC explain.



According to the website: By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943 collection consists of 908 boldly colored and graphically diverse original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.



These striking silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia. The posters were made possible by one of the first U.S. Government programs to support the arts and were added to the Library's holdings in the 1940s.


Propoganda posters, you might be thinking. And yes, some are...but they are fabulous propoganda posters. Thrilling posters. Posters to make you laugh, and then post them online to share with others.



And the best part is that if you check the rights advisory section, it will tell you whether or not you can freely use the images (i.e. to make a notecard, or use in an art project, etc.). I haven't found an image yet that wasn't available to use, which just makes my crafty heart all sorts of happy.



One last image...because the syphilis ones are the best (how many times do you get to say THAT?):



You can view the WPA collection here. Enjoy!

So, let's talk about what's coming up in the future, book-wise.

As many of you know, last year was far from the best year I'd ever had. My husband had some issues that severely interrupted our lives, and in July, he was killed in a car accident. That horrific event happened while I was in the middle of writing Time Thief, and it not only threw my life into a hellish nightmare of grieving, coping with the death, and piecing together my own life, but it also meant that I stopped writing Time Thief for two months. My editor and publisher were very supportive, and allowed me to turn in the finished book much later than it was due, but that delay also meant that the schedule for the second book was way off. I'm used to writing under deadline, but turning a book in five months before it's going to be published is really, really scary--there's just no wiggle room, no extra time should something happen to delay the finish of the book.

Luckily, nothing horrible happened. The book was turned in, Editor Kate loved it, and it's in production now, moving ever forward toward the September release.

The combination of the hub's issues, his death, and the delays in the two books, however, have taken their toll on my muse. Early in the year she demanded some time off to catch her breath, mellow out, and basically recharge her mental batteries. I agreed that she deserved some time. Which is why I told Editor Kate that  rather than accept a new contract offer and get right to work on the next book, I am going to take the summer off and basically do nothing.

Well..kind of.



You see, during the last few years, I've received a number of e-mails from librarians and readers who want print copies of my out-of-print historicals. Although I have the rights back to those books, and they are available as e-books, there are still a lot of readers who prefer print books (I'm one of them!), and right now, they can't get copies of any of the three Noble historicals.

That fact made me sad.



So one day, I told Darling Agent Michelle to look around for a publisher who would take my historical backlist and do spiffy, exciting things with the books. And she talked to various people, and in the end, I decided to go with a publisher who has been doing excellent things with historical reprints: Sourcebooks. All of which means that beginning next spring, Noble Intentions, Noble Destiny, and The Trouble With Harry will be reprinted in lovely paperbacks once again, and will be available for everyone who likes to hold an actual book in their hands.



But there's more! Egmont Lyx, my German publisher, has also bought the rights to the books, so they will be releasing them starting later this year. I'm super thrilled about that, because I know many German readers have been wanting to read my non-paranormals.

All this historical talk got me thinking, and after some discussion with the folks at Sourcebooks, I agreed to write a new historical. I know! It's been years since I've written one! Heaven knows I get a ton of e-mail from folks asking about a Nick and Thom book, so it really is about time I return to my historical roots. And I'm happy to announce that although the book will not have Nick and Thom as the main characters, they will be in it, so everyone will be able to catch up with them.

So I'm still going to get my summer off...I'll just be writing (at a leisurely pace, because my muse really is quite adamant about recharging her batteries) the as-yet-untitled historical (I refer to it as The Importance of Being Ernst because it makes me giggle), and slowly start bringing my mind around to what I will want to write at the end of the summer.

The new historical will be out, I believe, in August 2014. The Nobles will be re-released in May, June, and July 2014. And after that...well, we'll have to wait until September before I make a decision. Yay for some non-stress time!

It's release day, it's release day, huzzah! (You have to imagine me singing that while dancing with my dogs until they lose interest and go off to stare out the window)

Today is the release of Time Thief, and as usual, I've prepared a newsletter about it with all sorts of links 'n stuff, including a contest for a Romance Sampler! If you didn't get a copy of the newsletter for your very own, you can read it here.

As many of you know (and if you don't know, consider this your head's up!) tomorrow is the release day for Time Thief. Yay! I'm super excited about it coming out because not only do I get all Kermit the Frog sorta happy and run around on release day with my hands in the air shouting, "It's release day! Yaaaaaaay!" but also because this is the first book in a new series, and I'm waiting around with a hands clasped, and a hopeful look on my face that readers will enjoy the new book.

Tomorrow is also the release day of Charlaine Harris's last Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead Ever After. And it should be a wonderful day for Charlaine and her readers alike, but now it's going to be tinged with some unhappiness. You see, one of Charlaine's European readers got hold of an ARC and posted a huge spoiler for the book. And evidently many fans saw that spoiler, and rather than being unhappy with the person who ruined the book for them, they vented their displeasure with the way Charlaine chose to end the book. To her. On her Facebook page. In e-mails to her. Some with threats. All of them nasty.

I love Charlaine. She is not only one of the smartest women around, she's also the sweetest, and most supportive. Although I understand that not all books are right for all readers, even fans, I don't think it's right that people should bash Charlaine for the choices she's made with her own books. And I'm sad because Charlaine has had to deal with all this backlash, all the hate mail, and all the petty people who feel like she owes them something beyond the book she's written.

If you're a Charlaine fan (and you should be!), you might want to send her a word of support. And join me in celebrating both books' release day tomorrow in a positive, Kermit-arms-in-air manner that will garner odd looks from passers-by. Because sheesh--what is life if you can't get silly and wave your arms in the air for a new book, right? Right!

The lovely peeps at Spanish Peacock recently made available their custom-designed knitting needle gauges in support of breast cancer research, and I bought a metric butt ton of them. Some I'm giving to friends, but I have five to give away to knitting readers. The gauges are as you see above, and are in US sizes only (although they do have some available in metric if you'd like to purchase one).

If you'd like to be entered into a little mini contest to win one of these handsome "Save the ta-tas!" needle gauges, send an e-mail to contest@katiemacalister.com with your name and mailing addy. I'll pull five names from the pool of entries on Thursday, May 2nd, and get them off to the winners.

It's sunny and gorgeous here in the PNW. I spent much time sitting out on decks braining up an outline for the next book.

I'll have more about what book is up next for me in the near future. Want to make sure all the duckies are in place, first. :)

And just because, here is a picture of the deer that were in my front yard yesterday. Ignore shaggy grass. Lawn dudes weren't able to mow last week because of all the rain...

Many of you know that I'm very much addicted to old Victorian magazines and newspapers. So much so that I have an expensive subscription to a British newspaper archive just so I can go through all the issues of the Illustrated Police News (amongst others). And when I found that many British women's magazines were available for print-on-demand binding, I went a bit berserk and ordered a good dozen or so different volumes in dates ranging from the 1870s through 1910-ish.

The page below is from one of those volumes, a handy little publication titled Home Notes (for October to January 1895-6). This is their general interest page. I was highly amazed to read about some of the things that I had no idea ever existed. Who knew that earrings were so shocking? Or that Alaska women (one assumes they mean the indigenous peoples) put bones in their lips. Or that an American millionaire lived in a house that was 300 feet high.

Um. Yeah.

I know this is a few days late, but I was busy getting the Book That Would Not End edited and off to Editor Kate. And since having a book out in September is probably more important than prompt wallpapers...well, you get the idea.

A note about this quarter's wallpaper. Assistant Sister Karen is, as some of you might recall, an artist in addition to helping me out with many things, and I asked her to make me some custom graphics for a book video for Time Thief. She's been busily doing that, and we decided to use one of the images from that for this quarterly wallpaper. So instead of the normal type of wallpaper image, you get a highly artsy version. Yay for culture, right?

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