Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I NOW HAVE A REALLY GREAT CHRISTIAN AGENT!



If I seem to be dancing...there's a great reason. I've just been informed that the agent of my new friend, Wayne Batson, has agreed to represent my book, The Chronicles of Soone: The Rise of Lucin to Christian book publishers this July at the International Christian Retailers Show in Atlanta.

I can't thank the Lord enough or Wayne for his help. The book had been on the plate for publishing this November at Breakneck Books, but was not yet under an official contract. Breakneck Books is wishing me well on this and removing the book from the schedule.

This is a great opportunity for me and my work and I certainly hope the Lord has opened this door so that the book will be published and in bookstores where it can really get a chance to take off with readers. Online is nice, but to really have a fighting chance, brick and mortar is still the best way to reach readers.

I ask for any prayers on the matter that I can get...the book still has to sell, so I'm not out of the woods just yet, but at least I'm riding with a good guide in a Hummer!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Return of the Guardian King



RETURN OF THE GUARDIAN KING by KAREN HANCOCK: The powerful finale to the Christy Award-winning novels in the LEGENDS OF THE GUARDIAN-KING series. Believed dead by all but the handful of supporters who rescued him from his Mataian enemies, Abramm Kalladorne has fled his homeland to the high mountains of northern Chesedh. Traveling under a new name with a group of bitter and increasingly desperate fellow exiles, Abramm hopes to reunite with his wife in Chesedh, where he will offer his services to her father in fighting the invading armies of the Black Moon. But with every step he is hindered, delayed, and diverted from the direction he desires to go, and it soon becomes clear Eidon has other plans for him. In the royal city of Fannath Rill, Maddie alone believes Abramm still lives. But since she has no proof, her friends, family, and public opinion press her to remarry. With its neighboring realms now under enemy control, Chesedh has become the last bastion of Eidon’s Light. Desperately overmatched, it cannot survive on its own. Yet the rich, handsome eastern warlord who is openly courting Maddie has a vast fleet of galley ships that could turn the tide in Chesedh’s favor....

WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE SAYING:

"Return of the Guardian King is a fantastic ending to a fantastic series. Honestly, it may be the best of the four. A wonderful representation of the self-life man and finding our true rest in Christ and dependence on him. Awesome representations of spiritual warfare with one of the biggest principles being: the refusal to believe the enemies lie over our Lord's truth. And on top of that...just a wonderful wonderful story with great characters. Hopefully Karen will revisit this world."

" Like its neighbor nations Kiriath has fallen. The Shadow rules with an iron fist oppressing any opposition. While most of his countrymen assume he is dead, a few close advisors are fleeing with distraught Abramm Kalladorne as they are forced to take flight way from his beloved Kiriath to take temporary sanctuary in the desert. He hopes to reach his wife Maddie in Fannath Rill in the last realm of Eidon's Light, mountainous Chesedh. Once there he plans to assist his father-in-law fight the Black Moon legions of the Shadow. However no matter how hard he tries to reach his spouse's side, he stumbles until finally Abramm assumes that for whatever reason Eidon has a different fate in store for him. Meanwhile her family insist Abramm is dead having fallen nobly in combat and that to save their country from being the next and final domino to fall she must marry a suitor who can provide the realm galleys that could turn the tide in their favor. Without this aid, Chesedh will lose. Maddie tries to resist the pressure as she believes in her soul she would know if her beloved died, but saving her people and her family seems the right thing to do as the conquerors head in their direction. The fourth tale in the "Legends of the Guardian-King" (see THE LIGHT OF EIDON, SHADOW OVER KIRIATH and THE SHADOW WITHIN) continues the exciting fantasy war between the Dark Moon forces of the Shadow and that of the Light of Eidon. However in this tale the hostilities play more of a doomsday countdown backdrop to the dilemmas of Abramm and Maddie as each ponders what to do next as duty supersedes their personal relationship. Fans of Christian Armageddon sagas will enjoy the fight between the light and dark due to the quandaries confronted by the lead pair, who put human faces on the supremacy war."

Friday, April 13, 2007

CHRONICLES OF SOONE: PODCAST!



Very soon, The Chronicles of Soone: Heir to the King will be making it's way to the podcast arena. I'm already hard at work putting together the audio files and hope to be up and running with the series in the near future. A fellow author and podcaster, who has a very popular podcast with several of his novels has offered to host Chronicles on his show once I'm ready to go. Hopefully this will generate some very strong exposure right out of the gate. This is a new thing for me and the learning curve is high for an old 35 year old like myself, but as it turns out, I already had the sound equipment necessary and I've even taken on the task of performing the background music myself. The podcast will be free, but it will not encompass the entire novel. For that, fans will need to purchase the novel from Amazon.com or other online booksellers. Hopefully I can gain strong support for the series in advance of the upcoming release of the second book, The Chronicles of Soone: The Rise of Lucin.
If all goes well with the podcast for COS1, then I fully intend to podcast my other novels in advance of their print releases...so, stay tuned!

Friday, April 06, 2007

A WORLD WITHIN ACCEPTED TO FANTASY ANTHOLOGY



I've recently received word that my new young adult fantasy, A WORLD WITHIN, has been accepted in it's original short story form for the Gallery Seven Fantasy Anthology coming later this year.
The short story version features a little over 30 pages of the novel I'm currently working on for release sometime in the near future. It's always a happy day to submit one's writing and find it well received. I have two novels on submission right now and hope to hear good news in the near future.