The executive editor of Ballantine Books, Joe Blades, evidently spent Black Friday calling up some of his notable authors to inform them that he'd be leaving his post. Why? Though Blades hadn't responded to email queries as of this writing, burnout seems to be the biggest issue, according to a recent post by one of his authors. Though Blades isn't certain what his next move will be, it won't have anything to do with the publishing world.

Blades was especially known for editing mystery and crime fiction, and his author list included Anne Perry, Sandra Scoppettone, Terrill Lee Lankford, Rochelle Krich, Mary Logue, Gillian Roberts and William Bernhardt. It remains to be seen how many of these folks will be kept on by Random House, but Blades will be meeting with various RH brass to discuss which editors get custody of which authors.