The Mysterious Lisa Valdez and Having Patience
I’m getting hits on the blog for folks looking for info on Lisa Valdez. Sooo….why not post about it? Especially when I saw in comments in a previous Valdez post that there’s release date of January 2009 now?
For the past two or so years, people have been wondering when Lisa Valdez’s second of her Passion Quartet series, Patience, will be releasing. At one point it was May 2008. There have been other release dates (release DATE probably, but I’m not sure) before that. But now, it’s “January” 2009, according to AllBookstores.com. It seems as if, due to this thread at the Romantic Times forum, that the book may have had a spot on Amazon at one point, but no longer does (the link is now defunct).
There are lots of other places people have discussed when they might be able to get a copy of Patience, but if it does indeed surface this month, I’ll be surprised. There’s been no updates to the news portion of her site since May 31, 2008.
So where is Ms. Valdez, and when might we expect the years of patience to be fulfilled? It’s hard to say. Her contact form is no longer working and is being updated (So contact her publisher, Berkley, maybe?)…one really does start to wonder what has happened to an author whose first book made many a reader clamor for more. I know I did. Passion was pretty damn hot.
There is one explanation, and for readers that haven’t seen the post at the Good, the Bad and the Unread, here’s the link. A month before Patience’s second release date in May 2008, some knew we weren’t going to get it on said date.
So my question is, has anyone out there heard anything about Patience since May of 2008? I know people still want it. I honestly don’t know if I do anymore or not. The cup of patience no longer runneth over.
ETA: Katiebabs very graciously contacted the publisher who had this to say in an email:
This book is not currently scheduled.
Sybil of The Good, The Bad and the Unread says she has news as well, so I’ll wait to see what hers is. Unfortunately, with Berkley having no current plans for a release, it doesn’t look good.
ETA: Lo and behold, we now have an update from Ms. Valdez’s site.
November 2009
October 2009
September 22, 2009
December 1, 2009
July 28, 2009
May 26, 2009
May 5, 2009
August 2009
August 25, 2009
October 13, 2009
November 3, 2009
August 4, 2009
July 28, 2009
September 1, 2009
November 3, 2009
May 2009
August 4, 2009
October 28, 2008
Is Passion really that good??? One wonders
Hey look at that! I got meself an avi!
WooT!! Great avi! Does this mean you’re officially A WordPress junkie? I’m so glad yall are migrating over here. And today no less!
Passion was oh-my-goodness hot right off the bat. Some think the story lagged a bit in the last few chapters, but I really enjoyed the whole book. It doesn’t show though. I’d meant to review it when I opened this place, but didn’t have time.
But now that people have waited so dang long for the second, I fear if we ever do get it, it won’t live up tot he hype.
I have, should have a post up soon.
Sybil, I wondered if you would. Great, can’t wait to hear some news. :) Thank you.
Passion is on my Purgatory stack at home. It’s been there for close to a year now. I don’t really feel like reading it, but I don’t really feel like giving it away either.
Does anyone know why Patience got pushed back in the first place? I’ve heard bits and pieces of rumors here and there. Most of it was on the Amazon Romance forum, which is basically one big gossipy hen party, so I’m not sure how reliable any of that information was.
What’s the big deal?
If you click that Good, Bad, Unread link, Jen, it’ll take you to a letter that Valdez penned on her reasons, those being that her muse left her after she received nasty emails on her first book. I had a lot of sympathy for her at first, I know the demons of self-doubt, but it’s been years. I hope we here soon if a book will ever arrive or if she has stopped the series altogether. I really liked the first book so it would be nice to know.
I heard now Patience was pushed to April 2009. I really want to know what has taken over 3 years to finish? I really don’t think it is all because of the nasty emails she received. I wish her the best, but I am suprised Berkley is not fed up and hasn’t said, bye bye.
I just asked my contact at Berkley and Patience is not scheduled for release in the future.
Katiebabs, thanks for taking the initiative to find out for us! I’m going to edit that into the post.
Ladies, gents if we had any, I’m disabling comments here because this has gotten severely off topic. I didn’t want to stifle anyone’s free speech, but it is more than clear that there is some misunderstanding going on here from multiple directions. That’s not helping.
It had a Jan ‘09 release date @ B&N, and being the optimistic (i.e. naive) person I am, added it to my order. Needless to say, it’s not in the shipment I’ll be getting in a few days. Sigh…
Stacy, the news that Katiebabs gave may not be good, but it doesn’t exactly rule out a release either, now that I think of it. I wish more sites would take it down if it’s not going to actually be released. It’s giving people false hopes. Not cool.
Okay, I re-read the letter. It’s not very informative. It’s basically just a bunch of lame, vague excuses. It kind of makes me not even want to read the first book now.
Seems like if her publisher was really concerned about her having more books published, they’d have her work on something else. I can’t think of a single author whose debut was so magnificent that I’d be willing to be teased with a sequel for three years and then listen to countless excuses as to why I’m not getting it.
But I’m mean. And red-headed (which my husband equates with evil).
That letter really didn’t gain her a lot of…eh, patience. That really is an unfortunate title given the situation.
So I am stunned….simply stunned. I had never heard of this Lisa Valdez or Passion, Patience *whathaveya* I am to believe that this book, according to Ms. Valdez, was originally scheduled for release in August of 2006?!!! And she is a stay at home mom of children who are at school during the day, giving her the time she needs to write ( I raised 6 of the creature features myself).
Aand according to this interview- http://karenknowsbest.blogspot.com/2006/01/tuesday-special-author-interview-lisa.html , she herself says that she was thrilled with how Passion was received. So I have a few Q’s….*grins* You knew I would KMont!
#1 Was she lying back when she said she was thrilled with fans reactions or just delusional?
#2 Or…is she lying now with all those lame excuses?
#3 Or…is she delusional in thinking that she would be well received at this point, what with all her prevaricating and procrastination??
I’m not into torture, so while tempted (cuz y’all do so dearly seem to have loved Passion? or was it his *er* *ahem* that was lusted after?) LOL….I pass; it would drive me absolutely batsh** to have to wait 3 years…and have no Patience!! *snickers* (pun intended).
Flower, lol, you are evil! I think that’s why we’re friends though, right? Trying to one-up each other in the evil department? :D
I’ve not heard of her so am not anxiously awaiting anything from her. ;)
LOL, good for you, Tracy. Wondering if Patience will ever come out seems to have a LOT of people looking for info. I’m glad the author finally updated.
LOL!! Toil and trouble! *giggling*
“Ebil is as ebil does…” says she in her best Duck Dodgers voice!
Personally I think that what she’s done is career suicide. She’s not a Judith McNaught or Linda Howard. I loved Passion. I thought it was an amazing book. After all that’s gone on with Patience, I’m not sure that I’m even interested anymore.
Here’s the possible scenarios I’m pondering… I think Lisa Valdez may NOT have written that entire first book. I think she could have claimed someone else’s manuscript as her own (maybe a dead relative’s manuscript, or it was inside something she bought at a garage/antique sale, or she co-wrote it with someone who is no longer around or chooses not to write with her– could be because they worked with her thinking they would get co-writing credit/pay but SHE claims they were just someone to bounce ideas off of.
The other option is that she just plain only had one book in her.
Any and all of those ideas could explain why she can’t deliver on a second book.
Bev: WOW the scenarios you mentioned may have some merit. I never thought of that. But there was an excerpt from Patience in Passion.
I would not be surprised if Patience never comes out because like Casee said, she is not a big time author. She may have killed her career.
KB, do you really think something as insignificant as FACTS can stop me?! HAH!
I say that the excerpt from Patience that was published in Passion was merely part of an uncompleted (incomplete? whatever) manuscript that Valdez acquired at the same time (and in whatever way) she acquired that first manuscript.
She subsequently found out that writing a Romance book was NOT the easy-peasy, nothing-to-it task that she assumed it would be when she promised to release that second book and therefore has been unable to complete the story on her own.
Now, see? This is really explaining EVERYTHING, isn’t it? Particularly HER odd behavior.
Ohhhhhh….BevQB….I love the way your mind works!!!!
Now which one of her children (they do see ALL, let me tell you!) do we have to bribe to find out if it’s so?? LOL
If “Passion” is the only book that Lisa Valdez writes, it will have been enough! Personally, I’m not impressed by some of the comments made on this blog.
RButler, what do you mean Passion will have been enough? Does that mean you didn’t like the book? That you did? Sorry, I’m just not following ATM. May just have been a long day for me.
I have met and spoken with Lisa Valdez and while I am not privy to everything, I believe she’s had some serious family dramas (death, illness) in the last few years that may have impacted her creativity and ability to write. She’s a good person. Please cut her some slack.
Jen, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt until the author says otherwise. Personal family business really has no business in the reader scope of it all, unless the author personally wants to share that information. I simply wondered about the books she apparently has a contract for. I enjoyed the first one enough to read it more than once and therefore I want the second should it ever see the light of day.
I’m sorry wondering about it out load has garnered some less than enthusiastic responses, but you’re going to see some of that kind when an author goes on this long with no communication. I think for the most part it speaks positively that so many wonder where she’s gone and where the next two books are. Or rather, the second at the very least. I honestly don’t understand the reactions that simply trying to find info about the next book is getting.
To me, whether or not she’s “good” isn’t the issue. It’s just about the books and while I wish it would remain just about the books, people will talk, and I’m not going to slash their right to free speech. She may not be well, a family member may not be (and whatever the case is, surely no one wishes her ill), who knows. That however is her personal business and it doesn’t need to be used as an excuse to readers. It’s invasion of privacy.
On the other hand, your right to free speech is noted too…and I agree to a point as you can tell.
I enjoyed Lisa’s book immensely, as she well knows (in answer to your question kmont), however, I treasure the human being more and while “talk” may satisfy the Beast, “charity” moves the soul heavenward.
Well, RButler, thanks! I do believe you’re the first anywhere to accuse me of furthering Satan’s plans. All those nine years of Catholic school, down the drain.
And ah, I see now. You are a personal acquaintance of the author. Good for you for sticking up for her.
Only nine? And why would you internalize my comment? We all further Satan’s plans from time to time. I believe that is called “sin”. To wound or edify is a choice and I simply feel that the latter of the two is more beneficial to the soul.
Whether I am a personal acquaintance of Ms. Valdez or not is a moot point as I would behave the same way for anyone at the blunt end of this sort of verbal abuse.
Look at it this way, Elizabeth Elliott has been gone for 13 years and now she is coming back with a new novel and it took Thomas Harris 10 years to write Hannibal.
So in Lisa situation, anything is possible.
Perhaps. I suspect Ms. Valdez is a woman of conviction and has her priorities in order…A-God, B-Family and C-Work. If that is the case, more power to her and anything she produces will be worth the wait. And, as I wrote in my January 15 post, if Passion is the extent of her efforts, for whatever reason, it will have been enough.
Oh this is amusing.
oh oh me me
I am privy to the first excuse and the 2nd and err 3rd? maybe even 4th…
I think she is a very cool person. Being a cool person you can still be fired from your job, life sort of sucks ass like that, feel free to call me satan I am way cool with that.
BUT from what I know of it or last I knew of it she didn’t want any of the details public so sort of blows you saying anything about anything and should prolly leave that up to her yes? Great fan that you are? Or omg could you be satan too?
tacky tacky lil rabbit you bes… tis tis no soup for you
Yes, Sybil, life sucks from time to time. So why do we need to make things worse for each other? Or have you all been doing this for so long that you’ve forgotten how to care?
I read Lisa’s book. It made an enormous difference in my life. I realize that sounds strange and I don’t wish to go into detail as to how. I sent Lisa some emails to thank her and she responded. I found her to be a woman of character and faith whose family meant everything to her. My comment regarding Passion being “enough” came from my admiration for someone who could write something so profound as to positively affect my life and perhaps the lives of other women like myself in a way that nothing and no one has ever been able to.
I have never commented in any of these sorts of blogs before but I found this one when I thought to find an updated email address or some word as to how Lisa was faring in life as it has been almost two and a half years since our last communication. I was shocked by the unkind things written here. In light of what Lisa did for me, I thought to do something for her by defending her. If you all feel it was wrong of me to do so then I’m sorry for you. Additionally, at no point on this blog did I call anyone Satan. Conviction is a funny thing, isn’t it?