“72 Virgins” by Avi Perry

Name of Book: 72 Virgins
Author’s Name: Avi Perry
Publisher: Gradient Publishing
Genre: Fiction, Action/Thriller
ISBN: 9780615280516
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Author’s Website : www.aviperry.org

About the Book:

 72 Virgins is a novel about Jihad terrorism and the security agencies’ struggle to thwart its stratagem and trounce the perpetrators. Abu Musa is an Islamic Terrorist with an agenda, a ticking bomb inside the US. Arik Golan is an Israeli who tries to bring him down and pull the plug on his terror organization. Stanley Cramer is an FBI agent on a hunting mission, seeking to place both Abu Musa and Arik within his crosshair. The FBI, the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service—the Mossad, the US-based Iranian clandestine terror network, and the Islamic Jihad fraternity are engaged in a timeless conflict, playing out to a crescendo that comes to a head before the dramatic conclusion.

The book draws on current world events, politics, cultural divisions, international intrigue and religious fanaticism. It is masterly plotted, thrilling, captivating, replete with stealth, and above all, enlightening.

The story offers an ample dose of realism, a cast of intense characters who engage in love, lust, and violence. It portrays the Jihad culture with its rationale and the volcano that breeds an irrational obsession with death. Moreover, it builds on the Jihadists’ motivation for targeting so many innocents and exploiting the victims’ massacre as a stepping-stone to their dream of eternal paradise next to Allah’s throne.

The real question is not whether Jihad terrorists’ plots will ever cease to emerge – there is no chance of that. The question the book seeks to answer is—will the next one be stopped before it’s too late?

72 Virgins is built on the author’s life experiences that combine technology know-how, familiarity with spy craft and human intelligence (HUMINT), understanding of Middle Eastern cultures and history, a great sense of humor, and a talent for writing—all breathe authenticity into the setting.

Although 72 Virgins is a suspense-thriller, focusing on a countdown to a terror attack on US soil, it is, nevertheless, highly instructive. The story and its associated subplots are fiction, but the setting is real, the places where conspiracy is instigated are fictional, even though they’re based on genuine events; the characters are deep and distinctive, while at the same time, they embody their unmistakable cultural heritage. Ronald L. Donaghe, Winner of the 2008 Jim Duggins out-standing Mid-Career Novelist Award., characterized it best—”Perry’s style and approach, makes for a great, entertaining read, in addition to being suspenseful and intriguing, from start to finish.”

Where did you get inspiration for your book?

Many Americans do not understand the reasons and purpose of Islamic terrorism. People on the left side of the political spectrum blame the US foreign policy for the insane violence and the eruption of the volcano that breads that kind of hate movement. They are wrong. They simply need to examine the facts. Most Suicide bombings take place in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other Muslim countries, where the majority of the victims are innocent, accidental out-of-luck Muslim bystanders. There are many non-fiction books written about the violent nature of Islam. But, for me, Robert Spenser’s books: the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam, and The Truth About Islam, have been the ones that triggered the spark for the idea of writing a novel, an action/thriller, which would attract and educate a different segment of the population, a segment whose main focus is entertainment rather than education, whose learning and enlightenment would be achieved indirectly.

As a university professor, at Northwestern University, and as a Vice President in NMS Communications, I always looked for ways to coach and educate—my students, my direct reports, my customers and colleagues. I discovered that winning an argument, gaining attention, and convincing, may, sometimes, be difficult, since my views may be considered tainted by my background and upbringing. However, when these opinions and counter arguments are delivered by fictional characters, they wear a different color uniform. Arguments can be extreme, more outrageous, less politically correct, and if I can add a bit of sarcasm and humor, they may stick.

Book Spotlight: THE SPIES OF WARSAW by Alan Furst

Author: Alan Furst
Title: The Spies of Warsaw
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Fiction
Language: English
ISBN: 0812977378

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An autumn evening in 1937. A German engineer arrives at the Warsaw railway station. Tonight, he will be with his Polish mistress; tomorrow, at a workers’ bar in the city’s factory district, he will meet with the military attaché from the French embassy. Information will be exchanged for money. So begins The Spies of Warsaw, the brilliant new novel by Alan Furst, lauded by The New York Times as “America’s preeminent spy novelist.”

War is coming to Europe. French and German intelligence operatives are locked in a life-and-death struggle on the espionage battlefield. At the French embassy, the new military attaché, Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier, a decorated hero of the 1914 war, is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal, and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of Warsaw. At the same time, the handsome aristocrat finds himself in a passionate love affair with a Parisian woman of Polish heritage, a lawyer for the League of Nations.

Colonel Mercier must work in the shadows, amid an extraordinary cast of venal and dangerous characters–Colonel Anton Vyborg of Polish military intelligence; the mysterious and sophisticated Dr. Lapp, senior German Abwehr officer in Warsaw; Malka and Viktor Rozen, at work for the Russian secret service; and Mercier’s brutal and vindictive opponent, Major August Voss of SS counterintelligence. And there are many more, some known to Mercier as spies, some never to be revealed.

Alan Furst is widely recognized as the master of the historical spy novel. Now translated into seventeen languages, he is the bestselling author of Night Soldiers, Dark Star, The Polish Officer, The World at Night, Red Gold, Kingdom of Shadows, Blood of Victory, Dark Voyage, and The Foreign Correspondent. Born in New York, he now lives in Paris and on Long Island. You can visit his website at www.alanfurst.net.

THE PYEWIZ AND THE AMAZING MOBILE PHONE by Herbert Howard Jones

Author: Herbert Howard Jones
Title: The Pyewiz and the Amazing Mobile Phone
Paperback: 532 pages
Publisher: YouWriteOn
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Language: English
ISBN: 9781849230278

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Journey to a frozen planet to find a long lost twin. An amazing crystal phone with incredible powers. A cunning old pirate wizard who must be stopped.

Schoolboy Terry Mctrain thinks the new tenant in his parent’s guesthouse is strange. Stranger still is the reason why she is here. Then Terry learns about a twin brother he never knew he had, kidnapped by a pirate wizard years ago. Baffled by all this, Terry realizes there’s a mystery to be solved, and a secret to be uncovered. But when he discovers that the fate of the world is also in his hands, he wonders..

Could this turn into the adventure of a lifetime?

Perhaps, but unless Terry and his friend Will travel to the other side of the solar system to solve this puzzle, there’s a danger that the world would be destroyed, and his twin brother lost forever.

Herbert Howard Jones was born in London in 1955, and went to Eccles Hall, a boarding school in Norfolk. He left after a couple of years and attended IIford County High School in Barkingside where he where he met Bram Tovey, now conductor of the Vancouver Symphony orchestra, and pianist Derek Smith who later played with the Johhny Dankworth ensemble. They inspired Jones to take up music, which he still practices today.

Jones attended Lisburn college in Ireland and then worked in a wide variety of occupations. These included in law, as a porter at the BBC, in jewellery manufacture, publishing, and commercial art. As a BBC porter he was required to hump equipment between studios and could be spotted riding shotgun around London in the old green BBC vans of that time. He was eventually sacked for lateness!

He then found a job in a Hatton Garden jewellery firm in London. As an apprentice jeweller he was required to assemble twenty-two 14 carat gold gate bracelets a day. In the two years he spent in the business he had personally made nearly 12000 bracelets, which was quite a feat, but was mind numbing work, and not something he wanted to do with the rest of his life. At this stage he didn’t know what avenue to go down next.

But the clue lay in his early life. As a young boy, he showed an early interest in the arts, particularly writing, musical composition and painting, and has pursued them as interests ever since. At this time he met the daughter of the captain of the Titanic, which sank in 1912, and consequently became obsessed with the myth which surrounded the subject. Jones remembers handling Titantic artifacts in the lady’s cottage country, and thinking that they made beautiful art ornaments! They inspired Jones to start creating collages using old bric-a brac, attaching small objects to canvas and applying paint to them.

In his teens, Jones lived with the family of author Julian Branston, whose mother was a close confidant of British comic Kenneth Williams. They introduced Jones to writer and poet John Pudney, famed as the author of wartime poem ‘For Johnny’. As busy as he was, Pudney would give kindly critiques of Jones’ earlier writings, urging Jones to say ‘more with less’. Jones described his writing efforts at this time as pretentious and undisciplined, and was frankly lucky, that ‘Pudney gave him the time of day,’

Jones found John Pudney fascinating as, among other things, he knew Pablo Picasso personally, having met him as a reporter during the war. To the aspiring and awe struck Jones, this was all glamorous grist for this artistic mill. At this time he became fascinated by celebrity, which was hardly surprising considering that his benefactors frequently had prominent people down to dinner, including the Bishop of Liverpool and others.

When Jones worked for a firm of ‘showbiz’ solicitors in London, he ran errands for screen star John Mills, and composer Tony Hatch, but felt that life as a London commuter just wasn’t for him, and so he ‘dropped’ out and went to live in Deptford. Jones justified this to himself by saying this was his ‘down and out in Paris and London period’.

Jones moved around South London and finally settled in some lodgings in Lewisham which were also being occupied by the now international artist David Mabb, presently Head of Masters at Goldsmith’s college, from whom he acquired wonderful discarded art pieces. Mabb’s charismatic and confident personality had an inspiring effect on Jones who began to look at art in a new light. In Jones’ eyes, David Mabb was ‘one of the solid group of British artists who are exponents of a new kind of socially responsible art, which is dynamic and very much at the cutting edge.’ In Jones’ view, Mabb’s art not only succeeds powerfully as a room decoration, but it invokes a strong visceral response in the viewer. If Jones was going to paint, he wanted his art to be as eloquent as Mabb’s! At the time of writing, Jones is still struggling to achieve this goal. Jones cites US artist Ron English, as his other influence.

Meeting well known people and those active in the arts and entertainment industries had the effect of shaping Jones’ view of the world, and he vowed that one day, he too would make a contribution. It was only in his fifties that Jones has seriously sought publication. The Pyewiz and The Amazing Mobile Phone is his first book.

At the present time Jones is busily writing his second book and is painting. He hopes to have his first exhibition of art in London in the near future.

Jones’ most thrilling life moment: ‘being six feet away from Frank Sinatra when he came to the London Palladium!’

You can visit his website at www.science-fiction-fantasy.com.

“Ouch!” Terry McTrain screwed up his face in agony. The sharp point of the other boy’s cutlass nicked his shoulder, and blood oozed through the jagged tear in his shirt. His mum would go crazy!
The boy he was fighting was a good swordsman. If Terry wasn’t careful he would end up with another wound.

He swished his own weapon ambitiously through the air, but missed his opponent by a mile. It gave the strangely familiar boy a chance to jab him in the belly, and this time it really hurt. Terry dropped his own cutlass in shock. More blood, even redder than before, oozed through his shirt.

Shaking, he reached down to unbutton it, but found himself grabbing the edge of the blanket instead. With a start he sat up in bed and looked round. He had been dreaming!

Still shaking slightly, he let out a long slow relieved breath and glanced over at the clock on the desk by his bed. It was nearly seven, time to get up. Then almost against his will, his eyes came to rest on the mess of papers next to the computer. Homework! Tons of it and his form master wanted it handed in today.

But this was simply not possible, unless he did it on the bus. Unfortunately the journey to school only took twenty minutes, which was hardly enough time to think about the homework, let alone do it. Terry got out of bed, his mind pondering. He would just have to think of an excuse.

“Where is it?” said Mr Ibsen, his form master, after class had been dismissed that afternoon.

“Where’s what, sir?” said Terry playing for time and gaining three more seconds.

His form master grinned humourlessly. “Don’t be cute with me, McTrain. You know what.”

Terry was just going reply but Mr Ibsen interrupted him. “I’m afraid it will have to be detention for you, young man. This is the third time this week that you haven’t handed in any homework!”

“But Mr Ibsen, sir,” replied Terry worriedly. “I had to help my parents clear out a room in our guest house for a new tenant. I was going to do the essay on the bus this morning, but I was too tired.”
His form master glared at Terry in a most horrible way. “Did you say on the bus?”

Terry face reddened.

Mr Ibsen shook his head. “You’re not supposed to do your homework on the bus, now are you? Homework is work that you do at home. Schoolwork is work that you do at school..”

“Yes Mr Ibsen..”

“If we wanted you to do your homework on the bus, we wouldn’t call it homework, now would we?”

“No sir,”

“You had a week to do the essay on Victorian children’s classics,” continued Mr Ibsen. “And it was easy enough, to compare any two popular children’s stories of your choice. And I only wanted a page.”
Terry nodded, badly wishing he had done the essay last night, instead of watching that talent show with his best friend Will.
“You’ve got one more chance McTrain,” said Mr Ibsen rising from his desk and packing his briefcase. “I want the essay on my desk promptly at nine am tomorrow, or you’ll be kept behind to do it in your own time.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir,” said Terry.

“And what’s the matter with your left eye?” demanded his form master giving him a strange look. “You don’t wear mascara, do you?”

“Mascara, sir? No!” said Terry completely bemused by his teacher’s comment.

Mr Ibsen frowned. “Its your eye, its gone a funny colour!”

“Has it?” said Terry rubbing his eyelid.

“Go and wash it off!” said Mr Ibsen striding out of the classroom with his briefcase. “And read my lips, homework on my desk, nine o’clock tomorrow, no excuses!”

“Yes sir,” said Terry. He followed Mr Ibsen out of the class room and then went home.

LESSONS FROM THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA by Vicki Hopkins

Author: Vicki Hopkins
Title: Lessons from “The Phantom of the Opera”
Publisher: Xlibris
Genre: Performing Arts
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1-4415-2374-7
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Leroux weaves the tale of a deformed man living in isolation underneath the Paris Opera House, who desperately loves a beautiful girl named Christine Daaé. The masked man has many names – Phantom of the Opera, Opera Ghost, Angel of Music, and Erik. His desperate search for love takes him down a road of obsession and violence, and the cry of his despair echoes in our hearts. “All I wanted was to be loved for myself.”

Lessons from “The Phantom of the Opera” steps behind the scenes and examines the symbolism hidden in the characters, emotions, sets, and events. The book leads its readers on an emotional journey studying the motivations of the characters and the numerous symbols hidden throughout the Opera House. It examines not only Leroux’s original work, but also analyzes the play and movie. Personal reflection is encouraged, and the author poses questions to incite further thought and revelation. As a result, lessons and life applications emerge from a timeless masterpiece for everyone to enjoy.

Where did you get inspiration for your book?

It started as an obscure blog on Google Blogger that gained worldwide readership from Phantom fans who requested my posts in book form. The story so profoundly touched my life, I felt compelled to write about the symbolism.

Visit the author’s website here.

EQUALITY: THE QUEST FOR THE HAPPY MARRIAGE by Relatonship Expert Tim Kellis

Author: Tim Kellis
Title: Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage
Hardcover: 440 pages
Publisher: Gilgamesh Publishing (Dec. 2007)
Genre: Relationships
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0979984807
ISBN-13: 978-0979984808

First Sentence: “A most remarkable and curious fact about our society today is that in consideration of all our collective accomplishments – specifically, our democratic system of government, nor discoveries in medicine, in science, in technology, along with our unprecendented material success, particularly in the last twenty years where we experienced growth not seen since the fifties and, before that the twenties – that we have not yet cracked the code of the relationship!

The journey through “Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage” includes a trip through history, where the most significant lessons civilization has learned over the last few thousand years are used to demonstrate not only the way to set up a positive relationship, but the causes of that relationship turning negative.

Additionally, I dive into the science of psychology to answer the most basic question anyone asks who goes through the pain of divorce, “why didn’t we work out”?

The basic premise of the book is that we have a 50% divorce rate yet there doesn’t appear to be anything happening to help solve this problem. Just because divorce has become a significant part of our culture doesn’t mean we should simply sit back while countless families suffer through the agony of splitting up.

The toll to society tomorrow because of our culture of divorce today is impossible to determine but future generations will have to deal with this change to the culture that has occurred over the last two generations.

For the first time in history I elaborate on a psychological solution to our psychological problems so that couples can learn how to change the direction of their negative relationships. In essence, the psychological objective is to understand what happens mentally between two people who make one of the most important decisions of their lives, to get married.

The objective of this book is to provide real, logical help to couples so that they can learn how to stay out of the divorce trap. The bottom line is to learn how to set up your relationship so that you can maintain a happy, healthy, harmonious, loving, affectionate, intimate marriage.

Renowned Wall Street analyst Tim Kellis takes on what could be considered society’s biggest problem today: divorce. The journey that led to him tackling such a significant issue was both personal and professional. After a successful career that eventually landed him on Wall Street, Tim met what he thought was the girl of his dreams, only to see that relationship end with bitterness and anger. The journey included work with a marital therapist, and after he discovered the therapist wasn’t really helping decided to tackle the issue himself.

Ambition and a strong aptitude for math helped lead Kellis to discover how to make relationships work. His math skills led directly to an engineering degree, nine years in the telecommunications industry, an MBA in finance, and finally on to Wall Street, where he became the very first semiconductor analyst to focus on the communications market.

After publishing a 300-page initiation piece entitled Initiating Coverage of the Semiconductor Industry: Riding the Bandwidth Wave, Kellis became a leading semiconductor analyst at one of the biggest firms on Wall Street. The experience he gained as a Wall Street analyst provided an excellent backdrop for becoming an expert on relationships, and resulted in his relationship book entitled Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage.

You can visit his website at www.happyrelationships.com or his blog at www.questforthehappyrelationship.blogspot.com.

KEYS TO LIVING JOYFULLY by Life Coach Sheri Kaye Hoff

Author: Sheri Kaye Hoff
Title: Keys to Living Joyfully
Hardcover: 158 pages
Publisher: Createspace (Aug. 2008)
Genre: Nonfiction; Spiritual; Inspirational
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1440403945
ISBN-13: 978-1440403941

First Sentence: “Friends, I am writing this book for you; every one of us has a tragic moment, event, or deep sadness that changes our lives forever. .”

Keys to Living Joyfully is an inspirational book on experiencing joy, peace, passion, and energy in daily life. It is designed to demonstrate the powerful roles of thoughts, action, and faith. The book is a merging of Sheri Kaye Hoff’s spiritual life and lifelong interests in leadership and motivation. The ideas presented in the book are techniques and processes that have worked for the author and clients. Foreword is written by Michele Caron, creator of MyLifeCoach.com.

The book, Keys to Living Joyfully, was born out of a heartfelt desire to share the keys that lead to living a transformational life. Ms. Hoff is a personal and executive coach working with individuals, small businesses, and corporations. Her words on faith are derived from her own Christian walk and spiritual self-discoveries. Her action steps are a mix of faith. love, leadership skills, and management experience. Chapters include topics such as: Is your heart thinking right? And how to tap into intrinsic motivation. This book, Keys to Living Joyfully, offers the techniques and insights that move people towards more peace, joy, energy, and passion in everyday life.

Sheri Kaye Hoff resides in Parker, CO with her husband and three children. She is a Life Coach and owner of the Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company. She teaches college classes as an adjunct faculty member and has earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Management. Her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully ,offers a way of living a meaningful, successful and joy filled life.

Ms. Hoff is a personal and executive life coach. Spirituality is a vital part of her life’s work. Prayer and meditation are integral pieces of her daily ritual, which enables her to pursue her life’s passions and live a truly joyful life.

Her words on faith are derived from her own Christian walk and spiritual self-discoveries. Her action steps mix faith and years of leadership training, mentoring, and management. Sheri Kaye Hoff suffered the tragic death of her younger brother when she was a teenager and struggled for years to rediscover the capacity to feel joy and to enjoy her successes. She has a heart felt desire to pass on her knowledge and discoveries that have led to a truly transformational life.

Ms. Hoff publishes a free weekly inspiration newsletter, Coach Sheri’s Weekly Inspiration Tips. The Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company also offers:

* Teleclasses.
* Webinars
* In person small and large group Coaching
* Corporate Training
* Keynote speaking
* Seminars
* Individual Career and Life

Coaching (For a limited time- receive a free introductory one hour life coaching session)

You can visit her website at www.lifeisjoyful.org.

AXE OF IRON by J.A. Hunsinger

Author: J.A. Hunsinger
Title: Axe of Iron: The Settlers
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Vinland Publishing (Aug. 2008)
Genre: Historical Fiction
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0980160103
ISBN-13: 978-0980160109

First Sentence: “The sun appeared as a dull orange orb through the haze and sea mist as it began to rise above the horizon..”

The first novel of a continuing character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland.

Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land.

Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the western ocean.

Standing in their way are uncounted numbers of indigenous people, the pre-historical ancestors of the Cree (Naskapi), Ojibwa (Anishinabeg), and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Indians. From the outset, these native people strenuously resist the incursion of these tall, pale-skinned invaders.

Two calamitous events occur that pave the way for the hostile beginnings of an assimilation process to occur between these disparate peoples. The way is rocky and fraught with danger at every turn, but the acceptance and friendship that develops between the Northmen and the Naskapi over an affair of honor, the eventual acceptance of a young boy of the Northmen by his Haudenosaunee captors, and a scenario that seems ordained by the will of the gods, makes it all begin to fall into place, as it must for the Northmen to survive.

See the saga unfold, in this first book of the Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of the characters as each day brings a continuation of the toil, love, hardship, and danger that they come to expect in this unforgiving new land.

J. A. Hunsinger lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife Phyllis. The first novel of his character-driven, historical fiction series, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, represents his first serious effort to craft the story of a lifelong interest in the Viking Age—especially as it pertains to Norse exploration west of Iceland—and extensive research and archaeological site visitations as an amateur historian. He has tied the discovery of many of the Norse artifacts found on this continent to places and events portrayed in his novels.

Much of his adult life has been associated with commercial aviation, both in and out of the cockpit. As an Engineering Technical Writer for Honeywell Commercial Flight Systems Group, Phoenix, AZ, he authored two comprehensive pilots’ manuals on aircraft computer guidance systems and several supplemental aircraft radar manuals. His manuals were published and distributed worldwide to airline operators by Honeywell Engineering, Phoenix, AZ. He also published an article, Flight Into Danger, in Flying Magazine, (August 2002).

Historical Novel Society, American Institute of Archaeology, Canadian Archaeology Association, and IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, are among the fraternal and trade organizations in which he holds membership.

You can visit his website at www.vinlandpublishing.com.

THE SAGA OF BEOWULF by R. Scot Johns

Author: R. Scot Johns
Title: The Saga of Beowulf
Hardcover: 640 pages
Publisher: Fantasy Castle Books (Oct. 2008)
Genre: Heroic Fantasy
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982153805
ISBN-13: 978-0982153802

First Sentence: “Flames rose in the darkness, illuminating the scarred face of a grim warrior.”

The Saga of Beowulf is the first complete and accurate novelization of the epic Old English poem Beowulf, chronicling the tragic wars of the rising Nordic nations, the endless blood-feuds of their clans, battles with mythic creatures in an ancient heroic age, and the final, futile struggle of one man against the will of Fate that made of him a Legend.

The story follows the young Norse warrior Beowulf as he embarks upon a fateful quest for vengeance against the creature that slew his father, setting in motion a sequence of events that will bring about the downfall of a nation, all the while fleeing from the woman he has sworn to love. Based on extensive historical research and steeped in Nordic myth and lore, the saga unfolds across the frozen fields of Sweden and the fetid fens of Denmark, ranging from the rocky heights of Geatland to the sprawling battlefields of ancient France, as our hero battles men and demons in a quest to conquer his own fears.

“An epic adventure 1500 years in the making,” this classic tale now comes to life once more in a bold new retelling for a modern audience.

R. Scot Johns is a life-long student of ancient and medieval literature, with an enduring fascination for Norse mythology and epic fantasy. He first came to Beowulf through his love of J. R. R. Tolkien, a leading scholar on the subject. As an Honors Medieval Literature major he has given lectures on such topics as the historical King Arthur and the construction of Stonehenge. He owns and operates Fantasy Castle Books, his own publishing imprint, and writes the blog Adventures of an Independent Author, where you can follow his progress as he writes The Jester’s Quest, his second novel.

You can visit his website at www.fantasycastlebooks.com.

Where did you get inspiration for your book?

Being a fan of Tolkien, as most fantasy authors are, I was interested to learn more about the stories that inspired the professor’s epic work. Foremost of these was Beowulf and the mythologies of the north. I immediately fell in love with Beowulf. It captivated me. Something about this ancient folk tale from the cold northlands called out to me, and so I followed. Not content merely to read the work in someone else’s words, I studied Old English and undertook my own translation, that I might read it in its original language. Throughout that process, while enjoying the work immensely myself, I became consciously aware of how negative the experience of reading this ancient tale was for the average college student, a multitude of whom would groan beneath its weight each midterm, and how few speakers of the modern language could appreciate this oldest of English epics. So it was that I decided to bring the story to a modern audience, in as accurate and entertaining a way I could manage. I had devoured Gardner’s Grendel, and plodded my weary way through Crichton’s mess, but no one had yet attempted to tell the entire story as it lurked within those lines of ancient verse. From the fog-bound fenlands of the Danish isles to the battlefields of ancient France, The Saga of Beowulf is the result of ten years’ effort, the first complete novelization of that earliest of English tales.

How did you get your book published?

I started my own publishing company. While waiting for months and months to hear back from trade publishers I began to look into print-on-demand technology and learn about the changing face of the publishing industry. Never one to sit around and wait for others to do what I could do myself, I was quite excited to learn that I could now publish my own book – not in the vanity press sense of bygone days, but by producing and promoting my own work using newest technology. Having always been a hands-on, do-it-yourself type – I wrote, edited, typeset, illustrated, and did the cover art and layout for my book before ever sending it out -, this was my ideal solution, akin in many ways to those earliest days of printing when pamphlets were hand-printed and peddled on the corner.

Of course, publishing my own book meant I also had to market it, and this has been a very steep learning curve: from building a rich website to creating promotional videos and ebook editions, things I’d never thought to be a part of becoming a writer. But I likely would have had to do all that myself anyway, even had I gained a trade contract (I stopped bothering after only the third rejection), given the low budget a genre novel like mine generally receives. Owning my work has allowed me to control every aspect of its production, from page layout and artwork, to the price and discount retailers are given. But the best part is the pride of ownership my effort nets.

Any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?

Read. Read all the time. But most of all, read what’s good. Read the classics. “Good stuff in, good stuff out,” I like to say. Sort of a “you are what you eat” philosophy for the mind. We are all very much the products of our environment, and if you read crap that’s what you’ll think good writing is. Be critical of everything your read, and especially your own work. Develop your ability to discern what is good writing, and adhere to it at all cost.

THE DEAD GUY by Doug Hewitt

Author: Doug Hewitt
Title: The Dead Guy
Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: Aberdeen Bay (December, 2008)
Genre: Mystery
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0981472575
ISBN-13: 978-0981472577

First Sentence: “I wanted to get up.”

Jack Thigpen works in Detroit, nicknamed The Motor City, the perfect place for a fraud investigator who specializes in car insurance scams. He is on a case he believes is a typical, low-level crime, but it quickly turns into a situation with ominous international consequences. Ironically, as he is targeted for death because of his investigation, Jack is diagnosed with a fatal disease that is untreatable, a disease that will end his life within months. And instead of killing Jack, the hit man shoots Jack’s best friend. Struggling to come to terms with his impending death, Jack vows to track down his friend’s killer.

Jack plunges into the world of corrupt car dealerships, chop shops, and fraudulent auto repair shops. He is soon swept into the darkness of Detroit’s criminal underbelly to uncover the truth about power struggles within organized crime rings. Death is staring him in the face, but Jack doesn’t back down. He pushes ahead, plowing through perilous roadblocks planted by his enemies, propelling himself toward the finish line and a teeth-gritting, heart-pounding conclusion.

Doug Hewitt was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan and now lives in North Carolina. Along the way, he did a four-year stint in the Marine Corps and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. He has been writing short stories for over 20 years and has been getting them published for most of that time, with over 80 stories in print. His stories have appeared in anthologies such as The Dead Inn and 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories. He has appeared in the premier issue of Apex Digest and has seen his chapbook, Slipstream, published by Scrybe Press.

He turned his attention to longer works and had his first novel Spear published in 2002. The Midwest Book Review calls Spear “a thrilling and deftly crafted novel.” After remarrying in 2004, he and his wife, Robin, founded HewittsBooks.com. In addition to authoring a non-fiction parenting book, The Practical Guide To Weekend Parenting, Doug and Robin teamed up to write The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

Doug returned to his original passion, writing fiction, and wrote The Dead Guy, which St. Martins author Lynn Chandler-Willis calls a “high-octane, pedal-to-the-metal ride through the criminal underbelly of the automotive world.”

You can visit Doug Hewitt and read a free PDF chapter of The Dead Guy at www.HewittsBooks.com.

GRAYRIDER by Bruce Skye

Author: Bruce Skye
Title: Grayrider
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Eloquent Books (October 28, 2008)
Genre: Fantasy
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1606935011
ISBN-13: 978-1606935019

First Sentence: “A sentry on the north wall was the first to see him: a figure in a silver gray cloak mounted on an immense black warhorse.”

Gabriel, the exiled king of Rivalin, comes before King Airell to warn him the Ansgarian army will invade his kingdom before the night is over. Airell tells him he has no one to send. Gabriel wants revenge for the murder of his family by the Ansgarians. He decides to fight the incursion without help.

As this takes place, Deirdre (Airell’s daughter), flees the kingdom of Cynyr north of Boadhagh. She knows now her mentor, Morrigan, created the Ansgarian army her father has fought for years. She goes south to warn him of her. Because Deirdre does not believe in herself, the young sorceress has difficulty in performing magic.

Once she is reunited with her father, she tells both he and Grayrider about Morrigan. Her power is growing; only Gabriel’s magical sword may yet destroy her. He must go to Cynyr to fight her. He agrees if Deirdre attends him, seeking her counsel. On that journey they fall in love and foil many efforts by Morrigan to kill Gabriel by both armies and sorcerers.

Grayrider fights Morrigan and sees his beloved slain by the sorceress before he is finally able to kill her. He returns to Rivalin brokenhearted. The ending is a complete surprise the reader will not expect at all.

A former technical writer, detail is important to Bruce Skye. His research for the Deathsong Chronicles included medieval armor and fortresses, as well as Celtic names and magic. “If you create a world, it must be consistent. And that’s what I strive for Grayrider’s world to be. I’ve built a database of material for each of the Deathsong Chronicles. Those databases aid me in keeping the world the same from book to book.

“When I wrote Grayrider, I followed the advice of Stephen King. I did not write the book following any sort of outline. I have no more idea than my readers do when I write a novel what will happen in the midst of the story. It makes it more exciting for both the readers and myself.”

You can visit his website at www.bruceskye.com.