Jane Dystel rings in the new

This last year, 2007, was the most successful Dystel & Goderich Literary Management has ever enjoyed. We had a number of bestsellers including Dr. Robin Smith’s LIES AT THE ALTAR, JOY BAUER’S FOOD CURES and Barack Obama’s DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. And we had huge successes with David Morrell’s SCAVENGER, Lidia Bastianich’s LIDIA’S ITALY, Jacqueline Carey’s KUSHIEL’S JUSTICE, Michael Weinreb’s THE KINGS OF NEW YORK, and Michael Tucker’s LIVING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.

Now it is time to look forward to the exciting titles our clients will be publishing in the coming months.

Mary Doria Russell has a wonderful new novel titled DREAMERS OF THE DAY, the story of a bookish spinster who travels to Egypt after losing her family to the Great Influenza and who is swept up in the drama of post-World War I politics through her friendship with Lawrence of Arabia and her spirited acquaintance with legendary figures such as Winston Churchill. Her own bittersweet romance is set against the machinations of these great men whose actions during this period would have serious, if not tragic, repercussions for the Middle East as we know it today.

David Wood, a splendid travel writer and avid golfer will publish AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 ROUNDS about playing his favorite game in exotic and outrageous locations throughout the globe. This is a unique and entertaining read even for those who are not golfers.

Then there is financial guru Michael Farr’s A MILLION IS NOT ENOUGH about how much money each of us needs in order to retire comfortably and how to achieve that goal. Certainly, this is an area of huge interest for the baby boomer demographic.

From Lynne Rosetto Kasper and her MPR producer Sally Swift we’ll see THE SPLENDID TABLE GUIDE TO HOW TO EAT SUPPER based on content from the enormously popular national public radio show The Splendid Table. Long awaited, this new book is bound to be a bestseller.

Jacqueline Carey’s latest fantasy novel will debut in the spring and her huge cult readership will be all over it. KUSHIEL’S MERCY is the final adventure of Imriel de la Courcel. It brings an unforgettable end to the second of Jacqueline’s celebrated trilogies set in the brilliantly realized world of Terre d’Ange.

Well-known actress and author Adrienne Barbeau and bestselling author Michael Scott have an enormously entertaining novel entitled VAMPYRES OF HOLLYWOOD about, well, vampires in Hollywood and a murder mystery involving one of the most (in)famous of their clan, a beautiful and legendary actress.

Journalist and author Gregg Zachary’s latest is a memoir titled MARRIED TO AFRICA about his romance and marriage to Chizo, his spirited Nigerian wife, and their cross-cultural adventures as newlyweds in the San Francisco area. It is an incredible, often funny, sometimes poignant story of love, romance, and race relations.

And, in the fall, bestselling thriller author David Morrell’s THE SPY WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS will reinvent the Christmas novel with a taut, suspenseful, action-packed and ultimately heartwarming tale of good and evil. This is truly one of his best and most original works.

Along the way, I am hoping for more surprises – which is what keeps all of us happily plugging away in this serendipitous business: New authors, new ideas and new successes. All in all, 2008 looks to me to be a very promising year.