When I was writing Beaumont # 13 and told my husband I planned to name it Name Withheld, Bill shook his head and said, “People are going to think you didn’t know what to name the book. Naturally I ignored his advice and plunged on. The week before an appearance in Port Angeles, the local newspaper printed an article saying that on such and such a day “mystery author J.A. Jance will be in town signing her new book. The name of the book is being withheld pending publication.”

Okay, okay. You can stop rolling on the floor laughing now. At least I had the good grace to admit to him that he was right and I was wrong. And now it’s happened again.

Last week we sent out a newsletter in which I thanked my fans for the fact that thirty years after writing my first novel, I had been awarded my first Anthony. (Please do not read this as a complaint. I was and am VERY grateful.) But this week I’ve been inundated with notes of congratulations along with a liberal peppering of “so sorry to hear you’re retiring.” What? Did I say I was retiring? No, I did not. I think my readers decided to read too much into my thank you note. So listen up:

I AM NOT RETIRING!!!

And then people looked at the cover of the novella, entitled, “A Last Goodbye,” and assumed, all on their own, that the title meant that either Bella had crossed the Rainbow Bridge or that the novella was the last thing I would ever write.

So let me repeat and reiterate and chew my cabbage twice: I AM NOT RETIRING. BELLA IS NOT DEAD!!!

If you look closely at the little red Christmas tree ball on the cover, that’s a subtle hint. The Last Goodbye is a NICE story. Yes, it may make you shed a tear or two, but it will also gladden your heart.   

It turns out that when I gave the novella that title, Bill worried about it, but given his experience with Name Withheld, he didn’t bother bringing it up. That was probably just as well because most likely I would have gone right ahead and ignored his advice. Again!

So just for the record, I’m going to set things straight.

I admit it. Bill Schilb has been right.

Twice.