My vacation is over, the move is complete, and here I am back to work. Okay, so I kept popping in even while I was on vacation here and there, but, you know, mostly I was unpacking and exploring our new town.

And while I was off having new adventures, Dean Wesley Smith was, too. Writing adventures among them, like another new novel in his popular time-travel western series, Thunder Mountain.

Melody Ridge, which we’ll release in December, will tie together the Thunder Mountain novels (Thunder Mountain, Monumental Summit, Avalanche Creek, The Edwards Mansion, Lake Roosevelt and Warm Springs) with Dean’s Jukebox series of stories.

The Jukebox stories, if you’re unfamiliar, revolve around Stout, the owner of the Garden Lounge, and his time machine of a jukebox that allows the traveler to visit the past for the duration of one song. The Garden Lounge and the adventures its wall contain are just one of the many creative visions of the incomparable Mr. Smith.

So, to have that series meld with the Thunder Mountain series? Well, let’s just say I can’t wait to read Melody Ridge and see what happens!

But for now, you and I will both have to wait. You longer than me, of course. Perk of being the publisher <g>.

In the meantime, if you haven’t read the Jukebox stories or the Thunder Mountain novels, now’s the time. If you have, Dean has many other worlds for you to explore, including his galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe, the adventures of Poker Boy and the Ghost of a Chance agents, and his hard-boiled Cold Poker Gang mystery series.

So, you know, a few options. Maybe Dean should take a vacation. Shh, don’t tell him I said that…

Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer.