Special announcement and Indie Comics for Kids.

After I realeased my middle grade novel Daisy Dunlap and the Cartoon Carnival I expected to get asked to read more middle grade for fellow authors. What I didn’t expect was to be asked to read so many middle grade graphic novels. Oh wait … It’s the cover art isn’t it? People think Daisy Dunlap is a graphic novel don’t they?

Unfortunatly it’s not a comic book. It’s all words. BUT….

now available in audio!!! https://amzn.to/3Qh2cmo

Now on to some actual graphic novels.

The Spirit Seeds by Miranda Markley Volume one (Affiliate link): https://amzn.to/4aK3oYF

The Spirit Seeds has a really neat premise.

Basically a spoiled, ill-mannered young girl is placed inside a cursed house. But rather than being punished for her bad behavior, she is given the responsibility of finding the titular Spirit Seeds to break the curse.

The art is fantastic, with a very Alice in Wonderland feel to it.

This first graphic novel is a solid start that will leave you eager to start the next adventure to see what happens next.

The Spirit seeds Volume two (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/3EhrWMy

In the second Spirit Seeds graphic novel, our protagonist finds an entire carnival inside of a board game, inside of the cursed mansion.

The storyline is a cautionary tale about the dangers of giving into or selfish impulses.

This book’s artwork is fun, whimsical and slightly gothic. Which we can all agree that slightly gothic is the best kind of gothic.

The ending of this installment left me wanting more, it was quite the cliffhanger. I am looking forward to seeing more from this author. If only graphic novels didn’t take so long to make.

For anyone interested in checking out The Spirit Seeds for free, the author is currently in the process of uploading both volumes to Webtoons. You can also read it completely free on her website: https://www.mirandaartz.com/ And sign up for her newsletter to get a free printable game.

Silk by E.B. Roshan Graphic Novel (Affiliate Link): https://amzn.to/3WKUbtv

Silk is a graphic novel suitable for middle grade readers.

The art style is fun and unique. I also liked that the story was set on another planet that has a good mix of technological industry and also people who did things traditionally.

While there is certainly a message here about how progress shouldn’t replace tradition it wasn’t aggressively hostile towards progress or technological advancement. This graphic novel has characters on each side of the argument and takes a very balanced approached to the issue. It was a refreshing change from some of the ecological messages that have been pushed in recent media.

I also like how at the end the characters decided to do something about what was wrong with their society without resorting to drastic measures or violence.

I was given a free review copy of this book, and the opinions expressed above are my personal and honest opinions of the provided work.

E.B. Roshan has enjoyed a nomadic lifestyle for several years, living in the Middle East and Asia, but is now temporarily settled in Missouri with her husband and two sons. When she’s not chasing the boys or cleaning the house, she’s writing the latest installment in the Shards of Sevia series.

To learn more about E.B. Roshan and her books, visit https://shardsofsevia.wordpress.com

The Most Magnificent Dragon Silmaril Awards Ceremony 2024

Well that could have been worse. I guess. Julio and Norbert were polite house guests. But the other three. All I can say is, well just look at what’s left of my family’s barn:

This is what I get for housing three full grown dragons in the barn. Though maybe they were just upset about having to stay in the barn.

It’s finally time to go through the interdimensional portal for the awards ceremony itself. Shardas, The Dragon and Vollys fly though first while Julio, in his human guise, and I walk through pushing Baby Norbert in a pram.

As we enter the back stage area, we catch snatches of arguing. “I said, I don’t want to wear it.” Whines a prepubescent voice with an English accent. As we enter the giant green room where finalists and hosts wait. I see a boy who almost looks like he deserves the name Eustace Scrubb. He is holding a fancy gold cuff and staring down a large menacing dragon. I can only assume that this magnificent fire wyrm is Smaug the great and powerful.

Smaug points a menacing claw at the child and says, “This is an award for Dragons, and if you are going to cohost then you must be a dragon.”

Eustace sighs and slides the cuff onto his forearm. “If I’d known when they made me official cohost, that I’d have to do this every year then I never would have agreed to it.” Once the Cuff is firmly in place Eustace Scrubb starts growing scales all over his body. In seconds the transformation from boy to dragon is complete.

“That’s my cue as well.” Julio says before he too transforms into a fierce green dragon.

Smaug and Eustice step out on stage and introduce the finalist one by one. Fist Shardas, then Vollys, The Dragon, and Julio. I follow quickly with Norbert in the pram. Eustace takes the large envelope and slides a claw across the wax seal.

“And the Winner for 2024 with 23% of the vote…”

All of the finalists puff out their chests in anticipation.

“Norbert from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” He looks up from the card. “That can’t be right. I’m sure the book was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone.” I chuckle as I realize that of course Eustace would have read the British version.

Julio rushes over and steals the poster sized card away from Eustace. “Does it say what place I got?” He scans for a moment. I expect him to be disappointed but he actually looks cheery. “Second place again, and I didn’t even have to share it.” He shoots a smug grin over at Shardas.

He comes back to the Pram and picks up Norbert. “And if I have to lose to a baby at least it’s a cute one. Come on Norberta, Let’s get your award.”

“Wait, did you just call him Norberta?”

Julio looks down at the baby dragon. “Yes this dragon is female, I thought that was obvious.”

“Ah, okay. I guess I hadn’t thought to check that.”

Eustace is clearly getting flustered now. “i don’t understand why everything is wrong. The title of the book is wrong the gender and name of the dragon are wrong. Why is this happening my first time on stage?”

“Ah well,” says Julio. “If the baby is disqualified then does that mean I get the award?”

Smaug roars. “No one is disqualified. If the readers voted for this dragon, then this dragon is The Most Magnificent Dragon.” Everyone quickly calms down.

Julio hands Norberta to Eustace and Smaug gently lays the Silmaril around her neck.

With the ceremony over I see the other three finalists turn to me.

Vollys speaks up, accusation in her voice. “So you allowed the first and second place dragons to stay in your house, while the three of us were relegated to the dirty barn.”

I hold up my hands. “It wasn’t like that, I didn’t know the results ahead of time. I promise, it’s just what was most convenient. I mean Julio can literally turn into a human, how could I not let him sleep int eh house?”

The Dragon starts morphing. “Julio is not the only one who knows such a trick.” When he is done shifting I see a towering humanoid that resembles something out of the Slenderman horror franchise.

I think this is my cue to leave. I run back through the interdimensional portal and shut it behind me.

I hope you enjoyed the Most Magnificent Dragon Ceremony. Be sure to check out all the other Silmaril awards happening this week and next.

Award Ceremonies schedules

Most Magnificent Dragon: Mon. Sept 16 – cobonham.com (You are here.)

Most Faithful Friend: Tues. Sept 17 – https://imperialscribis.wordpress.com/

Most Nefarious Villain: Wed. Sept 18 – https://www.hlburkeauthor.com/blog

Most Devoted Couple: Thurs. Sept 19 – https://catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com/

Most Silver Tongue: Fri. Sept. 20 – https://tpssarahlightshadows.wordpress.com/

Most Epic Hero: Mon. Sept 23 – https://bardonpilgrimage.wordpress.com/

Wisest Counselor: Tues. Sept 24 – https://samsbookshire.blogspot.com/

Most Epic Heroine: Wed. Sept 25 – https://djedwardson.com/blog/

Most Wayward Soul: Thurs. Sept. 26 – https://mackenziekwrites.com/blog/

Most Mischievous Imp: Fri. Sept 27 – https://www.jenelleschmidt.com/blog

DOSA Files blog tour: Inspiration for my story and secret code!

It’s my Birthday and to celebrate I am going to talk about something I wrote! As you know I had a story accepted in the upcoming DOSA Files Anthology of superhero stories.

Superhero fans rejoice! The DOSA Files: Tales from the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project Anthology is launching June 27th.

If you love epic tales of heroism, humor, and heart, you’ll adore this collection.

Featuring stories from:
H.L. Burke, Sarah Pennington, Amber Gabriel, Karen Eisenbrey, Rena Gail, Jake Tyson, K.M. Carroll, C.O. Bonham, Michelle L. Houston, and Jenelle Leanne Schmidt.

About the Book:

10 Authors, 10 Stories, Endless Ways to Save the Day!

The Award-Winning Supervillain Rehabilitation Project series expands with this new ten-story anthology of exciting superhero (and villain!) tales.

Enter a world of superpowered heroes… and villains. Of epic adventure and hope.

In this collection you’ll find tales of humor, action, and suspense. Meet brave heroes, quippy villains, and desperate vigilantes.

All featured stories are PG or lower, making this a great read for all ages, but especially for fans of superhero fiction, heartfelt moments, and snarky humor.

Featuring New Superhero Stories from Award Winning authors as well as exciting new voices in the genre.

Are you ready to save the day?

Available on Amazon June 27th! Get your copy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5JS32QJ

Add it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212327283-dosa-files

My Inspiration for “Letting Off Steam.”

My story “Letting Off Steam” is a very fan service filled story filled with cameos from established SVR characters. But did you know it actually ties into another novel in the universe? Power Through is book three in the Supervillain Rescue Project. (The one with Marco on the cover.) From this book, I borrowed the setting, the villian, and of course Marco.

The truth: I just really wanted to write a story with Marco in it.

The more interesting version of the story behind the story:

As soon as Heidi mentioned that she wanted to open up her superhero universe to other authors, I knew I wanted to be included. I have read all the SVR books and had a wish list of all the things I wanted to know more about or include in a story.

I knew I was going to use Marco and an early draft actually had the story almost entirely from Marco’s POV. But once I realized that Violet was the more important of the characters I slowly took away Marco’s POV to make room for hers. But the more I wrote Violet, a.k.a. Valve, the more I figured out who she was and the more this became her story.

For Violet’s backstory, I took a cue from Stephen King. I always thought that Carrie was not a horror story but a superhero origin story in which the person chooses the wrong path. Why does Carrie become the villain? Because she has no support system or safe place to go. Her home life is just as bad as her school life.

So Violet also needed to have nowhere to go. Her dad hates sables and school is only survivable by pretending to not exist. There’s also the whole girls attacking her in the locker room thing too.

Next I needed a villain, and I needed one that would have a good reason to visit the abandoned steampunk park without knowing that someone was already living there. Who better than the man who used to use it as a lair. I also included Seth Wallace’s sister who appears in Captured by a Supervillain book three in the Supervillain Romance Project series, because I wanted the satisfaction of the two villains named Wallace actually interacting with each other.

But the real reason I wrote this story is — I really wanted to use the abandoned steampunk park as a base for a vigilante steampunk superhero.

My favorite part of the story was fleshing out the Jules Verne theme park. I went through the original descriptions and tried to make sure nothing I added contradicted them while also not repeating anything. After fleshing it out I really want to go there.

I used to work at an amusement park when I was younger. I pulled a lot of the feeling of walking through an empty park from that experience. Amusement parks are so different when you’re alone. They’re suddenly too big and too quiet and you feel so small walking through them.

The DOSA Files: Tales from the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project Anthology is available on Amazon June 27th! Get your copy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5JS32QJ

Add it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212327283-dosa-files

DOSA Needs Your Help!

The Cryptographer is targeting DOSA and scrambling their communications. We need your help to solve the codes and unscramble the messages.

Scattered throughout the various blog posts are six clues. Find them all and solve the puzzles to get a secret passcode. That passcode will give you entry to this form: https://forms.gle/55fAGSXAyyjDEFCw9

If you succeed DOSA will give you a chance to win a library of books written by the DOSA archivists.

One lucky puzzle solver will win a mini-ebook library of titles from our authors. (Winners chosen July 1st, 2024)

OR

One lucky puzzle solver will win a mini-paperback library of titles from our authors (US shipping only).

Decrypt Message Two:

ᛏᚺᛁᛜᛊ ᚨᚱᛖ ᚷᛖᛏᛏᛁᛜ ᛊᛖᚱᛟᚢᛊ, ᛊᛈᛖᚲᛟᚨᛚ ᚨᚷᛖᚾᛏ. ᚹᛖ ᚨᛏᛏᛖᛗᛈᛏᛖᛞ ᛏᛟ ᛊᛖᚾᛞ ᚨ ᛗᛖᛊᛊᚨᚷᛖ ᛏᛟ ᛚᚨᛚᛖᚺ ᚨᛊᚺᛖ, ᚺᛟᛈᛁᛜ ᚺᛖᚱ ᛏᛖᚲᚺ ᛈᛟᚹᛖᚱᛊ ᚹᛟᚢᛚᛞ ᛒᛖ ᛖᚾᛟᚢᚷᚺ ᛏᛟ ᚢᚾᛞᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚲᚱᛁᛈᛏᛟᚷᚱᚨᛈᚺᛖᚱ’ᛊ ᛗᛁᛊᚲᚺᛁᛖᚠ, ᛒᚢᛏ ᛁᛏ ᛊᛟᛗᛖᚺᛟᚹ ᚱᛖᚹᚱᛟᛏᛖ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛗᛖᛊᛊᚨᚷᛖ ᛁᚾᛏᛟ ᚨ ᚱᛁᚲᚲᚱᛟᛚᛚ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛊᚺᛖ ᛒᛚᛟᚲᚲᛖᛞ ᚢᛊ. ᛁᛟᚢ ᛗᚨᛁ ᛏᚱᚢᛚᛁ ᛒᛖ ᛟᚢᚱ ᛟᚾᛚᛁ ᚺᛟᛈᛖ. ᛏᚺᛖ ᛊᛖᚲᛟᚾᛞ ᛚᛖᛏᛏᛖᚱ ᛟᚠ ᚦᛖ ᛈᚨᛊᛊᚲᛟᛞᛖ ᛁᛊ ᛟ.

Check out the other stops on our blog tour to decode all the encryptions and enter to win!

June 20th:

https://www.hlburkeauthor.com

https://jenelleschmidt.com

June 21st:

http://Cobonham.com (You are here, obviously!)

June 22nd:

https://authorambergabriel.com/blog

June 23rd:

https://corinnejet.wordpress.com/2024/06/23/hl-burke-exclusive-interview/ (post goes live 6/23/2024 6:30 AM PST)

June 24th:

http://creatingforcreator.wordpress.com

http://kmcarrollblog.wordpress.com

June 25th:

https://www.rachaelritchey.com

June 26th:

https://kareneisenbreywriter.com/blog/

June 27th:

https://Whichwaywriting.com

Don’t forget: once you’ve solved all the clues and discovered the passcode you can enter to win one of two epic prizes here: https://forms.gle/55fAGSXAyyjDEFCw9

Game On: SVR the next generation.


I’m back with even more SVR news. The Anthology Kickstarter is closed and We are getting the Audio version! Thank you to everyone who backed it. If you did back the Kickstarter then you may have seen a new SVR book available as an add on. That book just released today and it’s all about the next generation of teens in the SVR universe.

NEW RELEASE!
From the Award Winning Superhero Universe by H.L. Burke comes a brand new Young Adult
Series set in the world of the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project.
Follow the next generation of young superheroes as they compete to prove themselves, forge
new friendships, and strengthen family bonds.
The book is now available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Buy it now to experience the
continuing saga of the Powell family.

Game On
Supervillain Legacy Project Book 1
The Department of Super Abled has announced the first-ever teen competition: a multi-stage
challenge to find the next great superhero talent … and Ruby Powell wants in.
The daughter of superheroes, fifteen-year-old Ruby has spent her whole life waiting to be old
enough to start saving the day. When the Sable Games are announced, she sees her chance.
Step 1, convince her superstar mother to lead her team. Step 2, prove herself the most valuable
member of her team and win the hearts of the viewing public. Step 3, win the game and set
herself up as DOSA’s next big thing.
The son of a supervillain, Oliver Shelby has a lot to prove. When his application is rejected due
to his history of heart issues, it looks like he’ll be sidelined. The Powells’ new underdog team
might be his last chance. All he has to do is fudge the paperwork about his extensive medical
history and hide the huge surgical scar on his chest. No big deal, right?
With some teens willing to play dirty for the top spot, Oliver and Ruby’s team struggles to stay in
the running. If Oliver’s secret gets out, will they even be allowed to compete?

Author Bio
H. L. Burke is the author of multiple fantasy novels including the Supervillain Rehabilitation
Project Series, the Spellsmith & Carver Steampunk series, and Ashen. She is an admirer of the
whimsical, a follower of the Light, and a believer in happily ever after.
Author Links
www.hlburkeauthor.com
https://www.instagram.com/burkesdragons/
https://www.facebook.com/hlburkewriter

My Review

Author H.L. Burke has done it again. That’s right, even more superhero books. Game on is the first book in a new series featuring the next generation of heros, AKA the children of the characters from her previous series.

Usually, I like to tell people were to start reading but there are too many books in this universe and Game On has a shiny #1 on the cover so I guess well go with that. Besides, nearly every previous character makes a cameo so I can’t even go by who is in the book. Still there is an inate joy in seeing character grow and change over time.

On that note, I really loved getting to know the new cast of characters, especially Oliver. He was introduced in Burke’s most recent release Wishing on a Supervillain and it was interesting getting to see him all grown up.

Game On is a different kind of superhero book though. Instead of a villain to fight or a world to save, This is a sports book. Camp Sable’s Team needs to win the game and defeat the rival team to win the first ever Sable competition. I don’t normally read sports stories, but as always, everything is better with superpowers.

Buy Links
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1NXMW2R

Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211316346-game-on

Additional Extras:
The Cover as a jigsaw puzzle https://im-a-puzzle.com/share/4261384c891ac41

Monthly Musings Anthology

So last year I participated in the Story of the Month Club. I wrote three stories each one themed around a different month of the year. If you missed them in 2023 those stories are now compiled into an anthology along with the other stories written last year.

About:
This book is a compilation of 12 short stories–one for each month of the year. The four authors, C. O. Bonham, Meagan Myhren-Bennett, Ichabod Ebenezer and Michelle Francik each wrote three short stories. The only rule was that the story had to have something to do with the month it was written four.
The result is an eclectic mix of genres, story-telling styles and themes.
C. O. Bonham wrote the stories for January, Corvid Poe and the Poet’s Pen, April, Stained Glass Fantasy, and November, Cupcakes on the Brain.
Meagan Myhren-Bennett wrote the stories for February, True Love’s Wish, September, Hobbit Day in Hobbiton, and December, The Decorator.
Ichabod Ebenezer wrote the stories for March, Nox and Equinox, June, The Third Age, and October, The Founder’s Tree.
And Michelle Francik wrote the stories for May, For the Love of Maybelle, July, When Freedom Rings, and August, Augi and the Dog Days of Summer.

Monthly Musing amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3S6oGaf

In case you were wondering the Story of the Month club is continuing for 2024. However, I will not be writing for it. It is still worth a read though. This year authors Michelle Francik and Meagan Myhren-Bennett are taking turns writing one twelve chapter story from alternating POVs.

The first chapter is avilable now at: https://mfranciktheauthor.com/story-of-the-month-club-2024/

New chapters will be loaded on the fifteenth of every month.

Dear Author cover reveal

Hello C. O. Bonham here, today I have the pleasure of hosting a cover reveal for a fun book. Dear Author is a wonderful tribute to our favorite authors and the joy they give us through their work. I have already read an advance copy of Laura A. Grace’s book and it makes my bookish heart happy.

The beauty of Laura’s book is that it can be read by both author and reader. A struggling author may read this little book to find encouragement. An avid reader may read this to remember that there is a fellow human being behind their favorite characters and stories.

Dear Author: Letters from a Bookish Fangirl
Laura A. Grace
Genres: Self-Help, Motivational
Publication date: December 3, 2019

About the Book

Think your words might not matter? Think again.

Words have the power to change lives, especially when they are used to create meaningful stories. In this collection of letters, bookish fangirl Laura A. Grace addresses topics related to every writer’s journey. From “character conversations,” to embracing one’s unique writing style, to celebrating a release day—there is a letter for every author no matter where they may be in sharing their story with others.

“Dear Author” includes six illustrations by Hannah S.J. Williams.

Pre-order links:

Signed PaperbackAmazonBarnes & NobleBook Depository (Coming soon!)

Laura is also offering free gifts to anyone who preorders her book. Just fill out the form below to get these fun items: Quote card, illustration, notepad and book mark.

Dear Author Pre-Order Goodies.jpg

Pre-Order Goodies Form

About the Author

Laura A. Grace had a lifelong dream of getting to know authors behind the covers of her favorite reads. Little did she know that one day she would become an author too! Now an avid book blogger at Unicorn Quester and writer of clean, Christian manga, Laura creatively balances her passions of supporting indie authors and feeding her readers new stories. In between, she wields plastic lightsabers with her children and binge-watches anime with her husband. Join her quest to find wandering unicorns for your favorite authors at unicornquester.com!

WebsiteNewsletterFacebookTwitterInstagramYouTube

 

 

To the Realm of Makers and Back Again

I am back from another year of Realm Makers, the only place to go if you are a Christian, fantasy and science fiction writer.

But, before I tell you more I’m going to update you on my last post. The Escape anthology contest is over and I can now tell you which story was mine.

I wrote the one titled “Raised in Captivity.” It was number eight on the list. I did not win the readers choice award but thank you to anyone who voted for mine. “Raised in Captivity” will still be published in the anthology so it’s all good. The publishing industry is not for the impatient, however, as the anthology publication date is almost a year from now.

The conference was last weekend, August 7 & 8, 2015, in St. Louis, Mo on the UMSL (University of Missouri at St. Louis) campus. This is the same place it was held in 2013.

The Keynote speaker was Robert Liparulo author of the Dreamhouse Kings series. He gave inspired talks. The first one was about the need to, stop worrying about what others think, and to stop doubting that you’re good enough. The second one was the opposite, GO was the message. Go start writing, go do what you need to do.

I did not have time for any sightseeing this year because the conference tried something new, an extra workshop on Thursday afternoon. The Irresistible Novel: by Jeff Gerke. In this class he talked about the brain chemistry of the reader and literally how to make your writing addictive. All this to plug his new book, of the same title; which naturally, sold out. I loved it, Jeff Gerke is an engaging speaker, and he writes exactly how he talks. Every author should have a collection of his books.

Beyond that though, this Early Bird class really helped to extend the Conference experience. It felt like three days instead of two and a half.

This year continued the tradition of the Splickety critique pre-party. During which I was mortified when my submission was read aloud. Some of the feedback was helpful, but 500 words isn’t really enough to get a good critque.

Another new feature this year was the addition of a third track of classes. Though I like having options I will always miss that first year with only one track, everyone went to the same classes and you didn’t have to worry about missing anything. This year featured three main tracks: World building, Editing, and Marketing. In addition to the main tracks there were also electives that also ran in groups of three and ranged in topics from book cover design to dealing with magic in Christian fantasy.

I feel like Editing is where I am in my writing Journey so I chose this course. David Farland was an entertaining speaker, who was very informed on his topic. He even threw in a lecture on what to do when your book is optioned for a movie. However, his anecdotal teaching style made it hard for me to take notes. This is a course where I think I will benefit from purchasing recordings. (Yes recordings are new this year too.) Also I missed a lot of his talk because I was busy attending mentoring appointments.

The highlight, for me at least, was meeting Donita K Paul the author of The Dragonkeeper Chronicles. I love her books so much, that I spent most of my one on one meeting with her, being star struck. I understand that the mentors set aside time in their schedules to talk to me about my writing, but it’s hard for me to talk about my writing, even with people I’m close to. Put me in front of someone I admire and whose own work has been a big part of my life, I freeze up.

One option I am glad I took advantage of was the opportunity to have a mentor critique the opening of my novel. It was an extra fee but worth every penny to be able to sit down with someone who already had feedback for me. I selected L.B. Graham for my mentor, and I would recommend him to anyone looking to do this next year. He is easy to talk with and his critiques were all very constructive, not to mention, absolutely right.

Every year there is a costume/ awards diner on Friday night. This year I dressed up as a Hogwarts student. I had to stand up front when they announced the winners of the anthology contest. You can imagine how uncomfortable I felt.

Saturday night there was a game room in addition to a Nerf war. I chose the game room. It’s easier to talk over games anyway. This was also the night I went around trying to get the rest of my books signed.

My Realm Makers tradition is to always buy more books than I can afford but never as many as I actually want. Sometimes I just have to say maybe next year to a certain book, or author. But yeah, if the Author is there, why not get it signed? In previous years actual book signings had been held. But this year was a giant game of stalk the author.

Thoughts on the conference experience:

After three years you’d think this would be easy for me, but I am very introverted, and I get crowd anxiety. So the first year was great for me, it was small and easy to navigate. The second year was also good, more people but still manageable. This year, attendance exploded. I am happy for the conference but I felt overwhelmed most of the time. Thank you to everyone who was ok with standing in out of the way corners with me.

I always feel torn, I enjoy the experience and I learn a lot, but honestly I feel better after I get home and start reading all the books I bought. I also like the after conference motivation. I have all this feedback to work with, and ideas to try. The hard part is keeping that drive going. I started my novel after the first conference. I finished the first draft after the second one. ( They were less than a year apart, so it’s not as bad as you might think.) After this one I am going to try for a presentable second maybe third draft before next year. My goal is a book to sell at conference five. Ok, maybe conference six.

Holding back on the Holy

Greetings all, It’s me again with another random musing. I know, it’s been awhile but at least it hasn’t been a year.

This Halloween I would like to talk about my pet peeve. It’s related because it’s about Creepy themed shows; it’s when people use Christian Theology but forget Christ.

First offender: Supernatural. TV show on the CW network.

I thought it was pretty good, about two brothers hunting the supernatural, but then they did this god awful storyline where God was well, not around and the angels were kind of jerks and the devil was there but throughout it all there was no Jesus. Lost my viewer ship after Sam and Dean were possessed by the devil and the archangel Michel.

Second Offender: Sleepy Hollow. TV Show on the FOX network.

I love Man out of time stories. So I thought this would be a cool show. So far all it does is irritate me. In the show Ichabod crane is brought to the twenty-first century to defeat the headless horseman again. Turns out that old headless is actually the first horseman of the apocalypse. Now Ichabod must use George Washington’s Bible to save the world from the end times. There’s a Bible, Bible verses are quoted, but there doesn’t seem to be much God. Come on, If part of the Bible is true then the whole thing is true.

Why is Ichabod Crane not bowing his head in prayer to blast Demons in the name of Christ. Come on Can’t you just see George Washington turning in his grave because modern TV writers have no idea what it means to be a Holy Warrior. This would have been a most awesome story if Frank Perreti had thought of it first.

Lost my viewer ship after the sin eater episode. Jesus Christ is the only sin eater that can absolve you of sin. No mortal can do it. Also Revelation is NOT about a final Supernatural battle between good and evil. ( Emphisis mine because it applies to the above show as well.) It’s about Jesus retuning for his faithful in the church. They don’t understand, you can’t stop Revelation. There will be no more Earth. It’s Heaven or Hell and the characters in these shows are not making the right choices.

Third Offender: Constantine. TV show on the NBC network

This TV show is about a man who fights demons and talks to angels. He is based on a Comic book series in the DC universe and I confess to only watching one episode of the show and reading none of the comics. But It looks like this guy managed to get an innocent sent to hell and now his own soul is forfeit.

The problem is that Jesus is the one who decides if your soul is forfeit or not he will redeem anyone who asks. And just like there is only one way to Heaven there is also only one way to hell. Not accepting Jesus as your savior. You can’t send someone to hell they make the choice. Maybe you can help them choose poorly but that is not what the show was implying. They showed her being physically dragged to hell. I don’t think it works that way.

Also Demons can only be cast out in the name of Christ. I know of no other way that will work.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; Mark 16:17 In my Bible these words are in Red. So the “In my Name,” bit refers to Jesus. Just to clarify. Constantine does not use the name Jesus he uses Latin incantations and Symbols.

Sadly it isn’t just TV that does this but literature as well. It’s harder with books because you can be more easily swayed by an author’s words than by a TV shows special effects. But there is a whole Genre built up around my pet peeve. So I will choose two Popular and very addictive instances that penetrated my beloved YA genre.

Book offenders:

Artemis Fowl Book by: Eion Colfer.

I almost let it slide, didn’t think about it too much when I read it the first time but then I read it again. Artemis tries to kill a Fairy using Holy Water. Holy Water. Really. Well boy genius didn’t it occur to you that if a fairy can be killed using Holy Water then there must be something Unholy about them. And if fairies are unholy then there must be a Holy power in the world that decides what is Holy. In a later book Artemis has a side thought, he wonders if saint Peter will let him into Heaven. What? Sorry genius that isn’t Peter’s call.  Artemis needs to decide what he believes. Peter might have the keys but Jesus is the gate.

Interestingly throughout the books there is this consensus among the fairies that Evolution is a fact But they also have this nature goddess that they worship, sometimes it feels like they just worship nature. So that can be confusing.

Also according to book five, Artemis Fowl and the lost Colony, Demons are fairies too. Very suspicious. These are very unholy fairies indeed. Never lost my readership, I cut him some slack, the guy is Irish after all.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Book by: Rick Yancey

This book is about a boy named Alfred Kropp who has the worst life ever. The first few chapters just make you want to cry. It’s so sad. But exciting with a great Arthurian plot line.

Unfortunately in later books it gets into all of this catholic nonsense about Alfred being the beloved of heaven and the Arch angel Michel basically takes over the role that Jesus should have, kind of like in Supernatural.

I read the whole trilogy just to see how it ended. This guys life is sad you’re practically rooting for him to die just so he can stop suffering. I read the whole series just to see what happens to him it ends kind of how I expected it to but it was defiantly a wild ride getting there.

Interestingly Harry Potter did not upset me that much J.K. Rowling did a good job of making her world unique and separate the only complaint I have is the inclusion of Christmas but that’s a different peeve for a different time.

In conclusion I would like to end not with a Bible verse but with a song verse.

The church’s one foundation

            is Jesus Christ her Lord;

            she is his new creation

            by water and the Word.

            From heaven he came and sought her

            to be his holy bride;

            with his own blood he bought her,

            and for her life he died.

 If that verse is not the heart of your message you have no business Quoting the Bible (Unless you are Jewish quoting from the old testament) or calling on our angels or casting out demons.

Publication Validation

Hooray! I got my copy of Cross & Cosmos: year one in the mail today.

Anthology Cover Art

Naturally the first thing I did was flip to the contents page to find out what pages of the book my stories are on. And the answer is pages 347-396. Pages 347-360 are my first TC2 (The Cross & Cosmos) story “Souls are Wild” and pages 361-396 are its companion story “Black Hat Magic.”

This blog post could be a completely selfish tooting of my own flute (an instrument that I do know how to play by the way) or this could be an opportunity to remind myself and you that I am just one of eleven authors in this anthology; author of only two out of twenty-two stories. A 49 page drop in a 453 page book.

So on that humbling note here are some of my favorite (not written by me) stories from the first year of The Cross and Cosmos.

“Christmas Time” By: Kersley Fitgerald (I love time travel stories)

“Power of a Name” By: Avily Jerome (Action fantasy adventure)

“Fungus Among Us” By: Grace Bridges (Who is studying who? the answer might surprise you)

“The Quest” By: J. L. Rowan (Fantasy epic featuring a telepathic animal companion)

Why these four out of all of the amazing stories and awesome writers?

They are all relatively short, they are all from the original first four issues of TC2 so you can go read them online for free HERE, also all four have sequels written only for this anthology so now you have to buy the book not just for my sequel but for these others.

I’ve just had stories printed in a book, what am I going to do next? I am going to read my new book and then write more because seeing your name in print is an instant shot of confidence.

Don’t forget to buy it here: http://www.marcherlordpress.com/bookstore/fantasy/the-cross-and-the-cosmos-anthology-year-1/

Save the Books!

There is an alarming trend occurring in our society. More and more books are being committed to a nonexistent state. Some of them never to see life in print. How can we trust humanities greatest literary works to the digital ether? We have organizations to Save the whales and to save this or that landmark but who will save the books?

 I am not tech savvy. Technology hates me.  I will never be jumping on the E-book band wagon. But, you ask, how can a writer who relies on the internet for publication argue against E-Books? A printer I say. I print everything. Hard copy, hard copy, hard copy, that is the key to preservation.

 The greatest achievement in human history is the Book. The printed word. Not this new fad of downloading electronic books onto portable electronic devices. Nothing can replace the feel of a page between your fingers or the smell of aged book paper.

 Technology is fallible. It will let you down. But words safely written, typed, or printed onto good paper. They will always be there. It’s true that paper decays, becomes brittle, grows mold, and yes, it can even burn. But drives can be erased, Information deleted, computers crash and power go out. Both systems have their faults and both, some would argue, offer advantages.

 Books are idiot proof. Somehow even an illiterate seems to know how they work.

Step one open.

Step two stare into it.

Step three turn the page.

Repeat steps two and three until end.

 You never have to wait for a book to charge or boot up or download. They don’t require batteries, headphones or fancy cases to store them in. No extended warranty needed.

Books will never crash or loose a signal or be disconnected from a network. Once the printed word is in your hand you have total access to it. No IP address needed. No 404 errors, no redirection and no passwords to remember.

 I love books. Let’s keep printing books. Let’s keep making lots of copies. Let’s make sure that the next generation knows what Old books smell like.

Never let the books die.

 Here’s a challenge for everyone who reads this post: Go out and find a real life paper version of Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi novel Fahrenheit 451. DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT. Go to the library, a bookstore, borrow it from a friend maybe you already own it, just make sure it’s a book. Hold it in your hand. Then read it. If you’ve read it before then read it again. Enjoy it. Learn from it. Treasure it. Save it