Oh, It’s Tuesday: Missing Marian Keyes

I was informed in a roundabout way that one of my favorite authors, Lisa Tucker, will be releasing a new novel called THE WINTERS IN BLOOM this September. I was filled with a rush of joy, because Tucker never tells the same story. She tries new things and she makes you have to trust her in the journey that she takes you on. Because of this, I’m now willing to read anything she writes. She could decide out of the blue to write a historical murder mystery, two genres I don’t particularly care for, and I’d read it in hardcover, just b/c it was written by Lisa Tucker.

However, as often happens when one hears that a favorite author will be gracing us with a new book, my thoughts turn to the authors who will not do the same in the current year. I won’t go into those authors who have only written one book and have yet to write another. To my everlasting sadness, there are too many of them to name, especially when we start talking about black authors.

But I’m particularly blue about the authors we get to know through more than one book, who then keep us hanging. Melissa Banks (THE GIRL’S GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING, THE WONDER SPOT), Khaled Hosseini (THE KITE RUNNER, A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS), Junot Diaz (DROWNING, THE BRIEF AND WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO), Judith McNaught (a slew of romance novels), and most heart-pangingly for me, Marian Keyes.

Employing the perfect blend of chick-lit, women’s fiction, and Irish melancholy, Marian Keyes is the writer that I look forward to hearing  from the most. Not many of my official grown-up years have gone by without her producing at least one new work, be it non-fiction or fiction. However, in late 2009, she announced that she would be closing her laptop until further notice to deal with crippling depression. And we haven’t heard a word from her since. It doesn’t look like we’ll be getting a new book from her in 2011 and probably not in 2012 either.

I only know Ms. Keyes through her books, but I find myself spending a lot of time missing her and wondering if she’ll ever produce again. I also spend a lot of time wondering if she is on the mend, stable, or only getting worse. I’m scared for her. I’m scared for myself as one of her most devoted readers. And most of all, every time another author that I love comes out with a book, I find myself longing for one of hers.

But my question is what authors do you want to see new work from this year? As much as I love the ego strokes, you can’t say me, especially since 32 CANDLES only came out last year. In order to be fair, it should be authors with books more than a year old. Sound off in the comments!