Duane Louis Lives!

Not two days after I post about the 1989 death of my pseudonym "Duane Louis" comes his name on a book cover, for the first time ever. Ah, life has a perverse sense of humor.

This is the cover of the German edition of The Blonde, which has been retitled Blondes Gift. Translated, that means "Blonde toxic" or "Blonde poison." Which is fucking awesome, either way. It will be published this August by Heyne, a division of Random House which also publishes two of my favorite writers, Charlie Huston and Jack Ketchum. (In fact, we all share the same editor, Markus Naegele.) Such great company to be in.

So why the name change? Well, they asked me to. And I don't think it's a huge deal, especially considering that I'm being introduced to a new group of readers. (I also take heart in the fact that fellow Philadelphian Lisa Scottoline is published as "Lisa Scott" in Germany.) If German thriller fans dig shorter names, so be it.

Anyway, this is the first foreign translation of any of my novels, and I couldn't be happier. Even if this Duane Louis chump is taking all of the credit.