I’ve been avoiding this until the time was right — by which I mean the contracts are signed and everything’s a go — but here’s the big announcement: my Pocket Guide series of books has a new home! Having finalized everything over the last few weeks, I’m now officially obligated to write and deliver three books in the series to Jossey-Bass by this time next year, aiming for a summer 2009 pub date.

I’m thrilled to have moved the series from RELEVANT (which is no longer publishing books) to Jossey-Bass. Jossey-Bass is an imprint of Wiley, a huge international publishing group that puts out a bunch of well-known reference series, including the …For Dummies brand of books and Cliffs Notes. They think the snarky, religious-themed Pocket Guides will be a good, pocket-sized addition to the family. I happen to agree.

The first title — the book I should be working on instead of blogging — is Pocket Guide to Sainthood. It’s actually a book I proposed before writing Pocket Guide to the Bible, but for various reasons the project never came together. I’m excited about it, because 1) it’s been stewing around in my brain for three years now; and 2) there’s some seriously good content in the world of sainthood. Great characters (St. Francis of Assisi), crazy stories (check out the life and times of Christina the Astonishing), and thought-provoking religious content (mortification, anyone?). All the perfect ingredients for a good Pocket Guide book.

That said, you can start expecting some sainthood-related stuff from time-to-time in this blog, as well as regular updates about the writing process. More to come…