For the new year I've lowered the prices of Every Tear, A Captain's Heart, and Finding Faith by $2.00. Now you can get my Pirates & Faith series for the following prices:
The Pirate Daughter's Promise - $9.99
Every Tear - $14.99 $12.99
A Captain's Heart - $14.99 $12.99
Finding Faith - $13.99 $11.99
Haunted by memories of a violent past, Alastair Coldhollow wagers his life on the hope that a sword will appear in the stars and the foretold Halfainin, the Pathwalker, would come. Meanwhile, tensions simmer between Anglinore and the murderous Gorrack Nation, threatening war on a cataclysmic scale. The fate of all could rest on an abandoned child and the decisions of those who desperately seek to identify him. Sword in the Stars is the first release in The Dark Sea Annals series.
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Ever since reading The Door Within Trilogy, the first books I'd ever read by Wayne Thomas Batson, I am a fan for life. Through those books, Mr. Batson became my favorite author right up there with J.R.R. Tolkien. So when I first started hearing about Sword in the Stars, I was incredibly excited and anxious to read it. Now that I have, I can say it did not disappoint. Five stars, most definitely. The world he created was very interesting with all the different races and I loved the characters, especially Alastair. I am such a fan of characters who struggle with a dark past. I very much enjoyed the plot twists and turns. Many times I'd gasp or exclaim, "Oh, this is not good." Usually, if I'm that verbal while reading a book, it has me highly interested. :) And there were also several scenes that made me laugh. I love the allegorical plot and thought it very well done. I can hardly imagine what all will happen in the next books and waiting will be torture. Sword in the Stars will definitely be on my shelf of favorite books as I'm sure the rest of The Dark Sea Annals will be as well. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good fantasy read.
You can visit Mr. Batson's blog here: http://enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com/
The prices are lowered on Every Tear, A Captain's Heart, and Finding Faith Kindle books. Now you can get each of the books for my Pirates & Faith series for $4.99.
A wonderful review of Every Tear and A Captain's Heart. Thank you, Angie!
http://www.myfourmonkeys.com/2010/12/great-reads-young-adult-books-from.html
From the time I first considered publishing my writing, I hated the thought of trying to write a query letter. When I came to the point recently where that was what I needed to do, I procrastinated it for days. It turned out not to be quite as horrible as I thought. What I found was things always seem worse until you actually start them. Once I started my query letter, the first draft really came together pretty quickly. But before I started, I spent days on my laptop researching how to write a query letter. There are endless sites with tips and examples. These three sites are the ones I found most helpful in my attempt to write a good query.
http://noveljourney.blogspot.com/2010/05/guest-blogger-camy-tang-on-query.html
http://suzanne-hartmann.blogspot.com/2008/03/query-letters.html
Yesterday, I finally gave my website a makeover. Instead of the boring blue layout I had, I've changed it over to much more interesting layout that fits me and my writing perfectly.
In the last couple weeks, I spent many hours searching for and reading through literary agency websites. It's not as easy as I thought finding reputable agents who represent Christian fiction. Many don't even accept queries unless you've met them personally at a writing conference or you've already been published before. In my search, I found two blogs with good lists of agencies who represent Christian fiction. A lot of the same agencies are on both lists, but there are a few different ones. Make sure to read the guidelines closely and look through the authors and books they've represented. It's a good sign when you recognize some of them. Before you choose one, I highly recommend looking them up somewhere like Absolute Write Water Cooler. It's a great site for all things writing. A lot of the writers have had experience with many of the agencies on these lists:
Literary Agents Who Represent Christian Authors by Michael Hyatt
Christian Literary Agents by Tamera Lynn Kraft
You could also check out AgentQuery. There you can do a customized search for agents who specifically handle your type of fiction.
And, since it is vitally important to watch out for scams, here are two helpful links. One is a list of the 20 Worst Agents and a page full of information on bad agents and how to spot them.
I've come to the moment of taking a new step in my writing career and ministry. A step out of independent publishing and, hopefully, into traditional publishing. I've begun my search for a literary agent. I never imagined reaching this point, and let me tell you, nothing in writing has been quite as scary as sending out that first query letter.
Writing a query letter has always been something I've adamantly avoided. I hated the thought of it because it just was not something I thought I'd ever be able to do with any degree of skill. (Turns out to be easy when compared to trying to put together a book proposal.)
Over the last several weeks, I have spent hours on my computer doing all kinds of research on queries and agents until my eyes would hardly focus. I found some great sites that were invaluable when I sat down to write my query letter. Time will tell whether or not it will be enough to interest an agent, but while I wait, I thought I would share some of the most helpful pages I discovered. So be sure to check back in the next few days.
Rejoice always!
1 Thess. 5:16
