February isn't just for skiing.

Something else exciting is going to happen, too. And although it has nothing to do with skiing or women and skiing, I'm so proud that I have to put it out here:

You see, my husband recently sold his first novel to Random House. It's called Finn, and it looks like it'll be in book stores everywhere in February, 2007. Way cool.

Here's the description from Random House's catalog:

Wicked meets Cormac McCarthy -- a masterful debut centered on one of the most notorious characters in American literature.

In this resonant, remarkable novel, Jon Clinch tells the story of Finn, Huckleberry Finn's brutal and mysterious father. Finn begins and ends with a lifeless body, the mirror of a corpse glimpsed but unnamed in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, drifting down the Mississippi. The circumstances of the murder and the secret of the victim's identity comprise Finn's story.

Along the way, Clinch introduces the reader to a mesmerizing cast of characters: Finn's own fearsome father, known only as the Judge; Finn's brother, the sickly, sycophantic Will; the hermit Bliss, a blind moonshiner; the strong and quick-witted Mary, a former slave who becomes Finn's mistress; and of course young Huck himself (and the mysterious secret regarding his birth).

Finn is a novel about race, about the stain of slavery, and about the burdens of paternity. Written in a style both precise and thunderous, understated and violently elemental, it draws from our literary heritage to create something original and new. Finn is a hypnotic, completely original, distinctly American story.

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I have to say, too, that it's one of the best books I've ever read. And I'd say that even if it wasn't my husband who wrote it; it's that good. What's more, Jon's a great skier and a terrific guy. ( I know that's totally unrelated, but I thought I'd throw it in.) Film and foreign rights are for sale, too. Anyone interested?

By the way, you don't have had to have read Huckleberry Finn to enjoy Finn. It's great all on its own.

Jon has a blog you can visit, too: The Horsehair Couch. Be sure to drop in.