Dan Brown's Next Book Ready?

Sitting in the lobby of the Hilton today, I was chatting with Brent Morris when his Blackberry popped to life. I didn't check my iPhone, but I discovered a similar message on it later. The message was shot around the publishing world today that has them popping the champagne corks in bookstores everywhere.

Dan Brown is finished with his next manuscript.

Entertainment Tonight is reporting the following story today;

Ron Howard tells ET that The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons author Dan Brown has completed a third book featuring Professor Robert Langdon.
Director Ron Howard tells ET's Mark Steines that Dan is very excited about the book. Ron tells ET that he has not had the chance to read it yet, but tells us he can't wait to do so.
Internet rumors have swirled that the new book will be titled The Solomon Key and will take Robert Langdon to Washington, D.C. and focus on the Freemasons.

We'll see if there's any truth to this in the coming weeks. I'm guessing there's been a guy on 24-hour duty with a briefcase full of cash sitting by the front door of Doubleday in New York for the last three years, waiting for Brown to walk in with his Kinko's box. And only time will tell if the book really turns out to be about the Masons.

Brown's coy remark about when the book will be released suggests that it will be tied to some significant date. If it is Masonic, might it be St. John's day, June 24th, when modern Freemasonry began in England in 1717? The U.S. Capitol cornerstone ceremony on September 18, 1793?

We'll all know soon enough.