I'm having such a good time doing research for Lost Things' sequels right now! Steel Blues and Silver Bullet are both set in 1932, and it's such a fascinating moment in history, and so much like the present in ways that are really interesting to write. For one thing, there is so much more that is knowable than even with the Age of Revolution books. What movies were playing which week? What did the Hotel Denechaud (now Le Pavillion) look like? Which radio stations were on the air and what were the top hits? Who was playing in the Thanksgiving Day pro football game and who won? (The Green Bay Packers won.) What went in period recipes for Mexican Wedding Cookies and Budapest Torte? Just tons of lovely things!

Right now I'm listening to my playlist for 1932, with songs each character would like, though I admit it tilts more heavily Mitch than anything else. Let's see -- the one playing this moment is The Way You Look Tonight by Fred Astaire, for Lewis who is the dyed in the wool romantic in his quiet way. (Someday, when the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you, and the way you look tonight.) Alma gets You're Getting to be a Habit With Me by Bing Crosby, as she's a little more reserved, and she does have a sense of humor about it. Jerry gets All of Me by Billie Holliday, as he's given to big emotions and he's not having his happiest moment in the first couple of books. Mitch gets either Night and Day or House of the Rising Sun. (Yes, you probably know the 1960s version done by The Animals, but House of the Rising Sun is a much older song first recorded in 1931.) And the whole gang gets Cole Porter's Anything Goes, which is pretty much the ultimate team song for them!

Oh I can't wait until Lost Things comes out! Just a little more than a month until it goes up for sale on Barnes & Noble's Nook First program on July 9! And then the paperback on August 1!

ALSO! A really good review of Lost Things now up in Geek Speak Magazine here! It's only mildly spoilery, but very informative! Go see!