Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Robert Jordan, author of a seemingly endless Wheel of Time series, died peacefully on Sunday afternoon. He had been ill with amyloidosis for some time so the end was not a surprise. Fans of the series expressed sadness as Jordan’s death and frustration with the lack of conclusion to the series.

RIP JOrdan.

Via Media Bistro.

I heard at the signing from Sue Grimshaw that Ronda Thompson had died, maybe due to pancreatic cancer. Thompson was recently well known for her books on the Wulfs of London series.

Condolences to the Thompson family.

Kathleen Woodiwiss is often credited by my generation of readers as having penned their first romance novel. She set a standard with books like The Flame and the Flower that others would attempt to emulate decades later. According to a post on a fan forum, she passed away on July 6, 2007.

Hello. I am very sorry to inform you all of the death of my mother Kathleen. She took the death of my brother a bit harder than we thought and the cancer came back with a vengence. She passed away Friday morning at 0630 in Princeton, MN. I just want to thank you all for all of your support and being such great fans. My Mom was amazed at all of the people that supported her. Her final book is done, but not finished. We will be trying to polish it up for her. Her editor at Harper Collins has been a great source of stress for my Mom and the rest of us as well, so I am not sure how that will work out, but we are trying to get the book published as fast as possible. We …

Acclaimed author Kurt Vonnegut died last night. He was 84. Vonnegut had suffered a fall several weeks previous and could never recover from the ensuing brain trauma. His seminal work is probably Slaughter-House Five published in 1969. It was science fiction novel which explored the effects of bombing during war.

Via New York Times.

Last night, two time Pulitzer Prize winning author, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr died as a result of a heart attack last night in New York City. He was 89.

Schlesinger won the Pulitzer Prize for the books The Age of Jackson and A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House. A Thousand Days was also a recipient of the National Book Award.

His most recent work, War and the American Presidency, was a critical look of President Bush’s foreign policy.

Via Shelf Awareness, Wikipedia, and the New York Times.

In a tragic occurrence in her home, Ms. Fleming became trapped in her basement studio as rainwater flooded the home. Ms. Fleming, as Anna Fields, was the voice of several Susan Elizabeth Phillips books and was once nominated by the Audio Publishers Association “Audies” for her work on Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Breathing Room. In 2004, she won an “Audie” for reading of Ruth Ozeki’s novel All Over Creation.

Thanks, Sybil. Via the Seattle Post Intelligencer.