The Weaver Takes a Wife by Sheri Cobb South

It was a good idea in theory, but I soon realized I’d written myself into a corner. Ironically, that gap was also three months, from November 1808 to February 1809. I’d had some success with a prequel novella called Pickpocket’s Apprentice, so I decided to write a short piece to self-publish in March, something that would fill in the gap in the timeline between the end of Dinner Most Deadly and the beginning of Too Hot to Handel. I felt like I owed fans of the series something to make it up to them. Granted, it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt like I’d lied to them.

I had assured readers they wouldn’t have long to wait for resolution on this, since the next book would be out in only six months, rather than the more typical ten to twelve, and now I discovered that I was wrong. I’d left them a romantic cliffhanger at the end of the previous book, Dinner Most Deadly, which concludes with John Pickett recklessly declaring himself to Julia, who is too stunned-and too moved-to respond. My bookmarks had already been printed with “March 2016” as the release date-and I didn’t even want to think about what the interruption meant as far as ARCs, which would probably go out much too late for the major reviewers such as Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.īut the people I felt the worst for were my readers. Now, a three-month postponement may not seem like much, but when marketing plans are measured in months, not weeks, every one of those months is crucial.

Too Hot to Handel was originally scheduled for March 2016, but just before Christmas my publisher, Five Star/Cengage, announced that due to unforeseen circumstances, the entire 2016 publishing schedule was being delayed three months, pushing my March release date back to June. How did it happen? It’s a long story-no pun intended. I’ve so looked forward to this one, for a couple of reasons: it’s my personal favorite and, not coincidentally, it’s the one that finally resolves the romance between Bow Street Runner John Pickett and the widowed Julia, Lady Fieldhurst, whom he first met, quite literally over her husband’s dead body, in the first book of the series, In Milady’s Chamber.īut before there was Too Hot to Handel, there was Waiting Game-a novella that was never intended as part of the series at all, and yet sold more than 1,500 copies in the last month alone. Last Wednesday marked the release of Too Hot to Handel, the fifth novel in the John Pickett series of mysteries set in Regency England.

The Weaver Takes a Wife by Sheri Cobb South