The old MAVERICK tv series (one of my childhood favorites) had a great theme song with a line about Maverick "living on jacks and queens." In the Wild Cards series, we prefer aces and jokers.And you'll find plenty of both in MISSISSIPPI ROLL, the latest Wild Cards mosaic novel, which we've just completed and delivered to our editors at Tor. This is the first book in what we're calling our 'American Triad' (to be followed, in good time, by LOW CHICAGO and TEXAS HOLD'EM), and the twenty-fourth volume of the overall series... but no, it's not necessary to have read the first twenty-three to enjoy this one.The lineup this time out:Stephen Leigh "In the Shadow of Tall Stacks"John Jos. Miller "Wingless Angel"Carrie Vaughn "A Big Break in the Small Time"Cherie Priest "Death on the Water"Kevin Andrew Murphy "Find the Lady"David D. Levine "Under the Arch"No publication date yet, but you'll be the first to know as soon as we get the word from Tor.HIGH STAKES was one of our darkest books, an excursion into Lovecraftian horror. MISSISSIPPI ROLL will have a much lighter tone, but plenty of fun and excitement.I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did editing it.