News and Notes

Hi, all! Lots of news and announcements! If you have an interest in my books or in Fantasy Fiction, read on!

#1: It's looking very probable that the movie option for The Door Within will be purchased. Before you go crazy, know that what this means is that a well connected talent scout in Hollywood is optioning The Door Within for a limited time--to get a script written and shop it around to producers with the hopes that a Door Within movie might be made someday. It's a thousand miles away from a movie actually getting made. That said, it's a critical first step, so I'd appreciate your prayers.

#2: 3rd month in a row that The Door Within is on 2 Bestseller lists.

CBA YA Bestseller #6 for August

ECPA YA Bestseller #8 for August

ECPA also has: Isle of Swords at #17 and The Final Storm at #18

Thank you, readers, for being so faithful. Time is a precious thing--that you would spend some of yours reading my books still amazes me. I'm honored and very grateful.

#3: 

2010 Clive Staples Award Voting Begins Today!

Curse of the Spider King has been nominated for the new Clive Staples Award. Please read the following and consider voting for Spider King. Remember, this award is not for Christopher and me personally...it's about glory for God.

Here are the details and the link: 

Please read these instructions carefully, then proceed to the ballot by clicking on the link below.
CSA is not a popularity contest. The award has been established to recognize the work of fiction which readers designate as the previous year’s best. Consequently, voters must adhere to these basic rules.
    •    You MUST have read at least two of the nominations.
    •    You may vote only once for a first, second, and third choice.
    •    You may not vote for the same book as your second or third option that you voted for as your first choice.
    •    Your votes for second and third options may not be for the identical book.
    •    You may mark the “none of these” option if you do not have a second or third choice.
    •    Voting will close September 1, 2010.
    •    Second and third choice options will only be considered if a clear winner is not determined by the first choice vote.
To vote, click here and answer all the questions.

News Galore: Moonbeams and Spiders and Audio, Oh My!

Greetings, all! How are you? I'm crazy busy and crazy wonderful. Please read on and find out why.


Item #1: The Amazon Blitz

Christopher and I are absolutely FLOORED by the devotion and generosity of our readers. In an attempt to kick of the release of Curse of the Spider King, we launched the first annual Amazon Blitz, asking readers if they were planning to purchase SK anyway to purchase on the same day (Oct. 7th) and drive up the Amazon Sales Rank Number. Now, we knew it would be good because our readers have always blessed us silly. But 70,000+ places good? Yup. CotSK's sales rank climbed from 70,617th to 449th in less than one day. It remained under 3,000 for three days and under 20 for seven days. For that kind of effort, we say thank you. We're honored.




Item #2: The Silver Moonbeam Award

Curse of the Spider King releases nationwide November 3rd, so Christopher and I were absolutely shocked to learn that our cowritten book was reviewed and awarded the Silver Moonbeam for Young Adult Fantasy Fiction. Click Here to see all the winners including a BRONZE for the Miller Brothers, YESSS!!

Item #3: Curse of the Spider King Audio!

For the first time ever, one of my books has been made into an audio book. Voiced by the incredibly talented Greg Whalen (Disney, Veggie Tales, etc) and produced by the audio wizards at Oasis, CotSK is done right. I listened to the first chapter today and practically jumped around my classroom. Mr. Whalen just nailed the voices of some of our main characters. You can listen to the first chapter of the audio book by clicking HERE.

Item #4: Webcast with the Miller Brothers!

I had the spectacular opportunity to be live with author's Chris and Alan Miller (Hunter Brown) tonight on their weekly webcast. 174 viewers joined us. It was a great time to talk author stuff, book stuff, and writing. If you'd like to listen in, click HERE.

Item #5: Spider King Releases in Maryland!

Christopher Hopper is on his way to Maryland. He and I will be officially releasing Spider King to fans this Friday and Saturday. Barnes & Noble Long Gate Shopping Center on Friday Night (6:30-close) and then His Way Christian Books Ellicott City on Saturday, 6-close. There will be swordfights, ridiculous banter, dramatic readings, music, contests, games, prizes, and a giant spider named "George." If you live within three states of Maryland, come on down. You will not want to miss this!

Two Cool!

What was supposed to be just one announcement has turned into two. My publishers just let me know that Isle of Swords Won the 2008 Silver Moonbeam Award. This is a mighty cool award to win because winning books are those that most inspire young people to read. As a reading teacher and an author, I am very grateful that my books are getting kids to read.

And now, for the big announcement...

Do you recognize the two rogues dueling in these two pictures?


If you said, well, that's you, Mr. Batson, dueling with author Christopher Hopper, you'd be 100% correct. And in spite of the way it must seem in these two photos, we are actually very good friends. So much so that two years ago, we began traveling to Scranton to write together. We found that our styles are very similar and our interests as well. We even joked that it might be cool to someday write a book together.

God tells us to trust in Him, and He will give us the desires of our heart. And well, to my complete joy, He has. Christopher Hopper and I have just contracted with Thomas Nelson to write not one, but two books together. It will be a Fantasy Series (surprise, surprise) and will quite literally turn the "Portal Fantasy" cliche on its head. More on the books as soon as we are at liberty to reveal. But for now, I thank God because writing with Christopher is an honor and a great, great bit of fun. We're about 20,000 words in, and all I can say is, you're going to LOVE this!