Robert Treskillard's Blog — Epic tales reaching beyond the wisdom of the ages™

For all my loyal blog readers, be aware that my ISP is upgrading the EpicTales.org servers any time now, and that means all of our blogs will be down until I figure out everything that broke.

I helped LB Graham through these same troubles last month, so hopefully it won’t be long before we’re back up.

-Robert

First of all, I announce to you that THE SONG OF ALBION will be re-released by Thomas Nelson in hardcover on August 31st!

This is fantastic news for what I consider one of Lawhead’s greatest fantasy series, and one of the best I have ever read. It has been available in softcover, but now you can get a hardcover keeper for your bookshelf.

And August 31st, 2010 will be special for one other reason…!

Stephen Lawhead’s breath-taking new fantasy, THE SKIN MAP is now available for PRE-ORDER!

Yes, that’s right, Bright Empires Book 1 is right around the corner! Not only, but the new cover is displayed to the left, and the description for the book is as follows:

“He had a sensation of being told a secret he knew to be true, but which would be far, far easier–and much safer–to ignore; all the more so since he strongly suspected that acknowledging the truth meant his life would change utterly.”

Kit Livingstone’s great-grandfather has re-appeared with an unbelievable story–the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legends but truly are pathways to other worlds. So few people know how to use them, though, that doing so is fraught with danger.

But one explorer knew more than most. Because of his fear of being unable to find his way home, he developed an intricate code and tattooed his map onto his skin. But the map has since been lost and rival factions are in desperate competition to recover it. What none of them yet realize is that the skin map itself is not the prize at the end of this race . . . but merely the first goal of a vast and marvelous quest to regain Paradise.

Enter the ultimate treasure hunt–with a map made of skin, a playing field of alternate realities, and a prize that is the greatest mystery of all.

Okay. You may now commence drooling.

By God’s grace, MERLIN’S BLADE MADE IT! It is now one of the 1,000 Young Adult novels selected to go on to the next round.

Keep in mind, however, that this judgment was only based on my pitch, and not the book itself. Now Amazon Editors will read my first three chapters and decide which 250 get to move on to the next round, which begins March 23rd.

Two other compatriots also made it:

• S.D. Smith ~ Shadwell
• Pete Peterson ~ Fiddler’s Gun

If anyone else I know made it, let me know and I’ll add you to the list!

Also, my Authonomy.com ranking has climbed during the last 3 days from around the mid-40s to the mid-20s. No, I am nowhere near the top 5 in the Christian section, but I’m a lot closer than I thought I would be! Maybe next month, or the month after that.

What? you say… you’re back to editing?

Yes, it’s true, and all for the better. Three weeks ago Scott Appleton and his wife stayed with us while he was on his road-trip signing and selling books, and I had him review a few sections of Merlin’s Blade.

What he found showed me I needed to take one more pass through the entire novel to clean up a few things. Thanks, Scott!

As part of this editing, I’m also making my novel a little more Young Adult friendly by toning down two parts. Don’t worry, though—the novel will still be immensely enjoyable by adults.

So that you can see my progress, I have updated my “red bar” in the upper right corner of my blog to reflect my editing progress.

Getting the manuscript in tip-top shape is especially important because I am doing three things, all of which are groundbreaking for me:

I Submitted Merlin’s Blade to Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest

The timing was barely right to officially enter the Young Adult category of Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I was able to finish up basic editing to fix the things Scott identified, and so I beat the deadline! (I still have more detailed fixes, though.)

This contest is a way-way-way long shot, with 5000 entries in the Young Adult category, but I feel that I do have a chance. Here are the rounds:

I Submitted Merlin’s Blade to the Christian section of Authonomy.com

Authonomy.com was setup by HarperCollins, who is the owner of Zondervan. Both Baker Book Group and Zondervan have promised to look at titles that rise to the top of the Christian section of Authonomy.

Since both of these publishers are closed to unsolicited manuscripts without an agent, this is my way of hopefully getting their attention.

In order for Merlin’s Blade to rise to the top, however, I’ll need support from all my blog and Facebook followers, so go on over to Authonomy, register, and add my book to your bookshelf.

At this point if you have only read the first chapter of my novel, you can NOW read the first ten chapters—all of Part One at authonomy.com

NOTE: Because authonomy.com was originally a site for secular novels, anyone living with their parents should get their permission and involvement before visiting.

Submitting Merlin’s Blade To Publishers

Although there is some positive movement on the agent front (one just requested my full manuscript ) I am considering submitting MERLIN’S BLADE to a few smaller publishers that do not require an agent. (This probably won’t happen until late March.)

I don’t know my chances, but I feel they can’t be any harder than trying to find an agent!

After multiple hundreds of hours of work by many, many individuals, we have finished the Curse of the Spider King book trailer video!

If you like the video, rate it 5 stars, as that will help raise its profile and help sell more books. The Curse of the Spider King is a YA Christian fantasy novel by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper.

The main contributors to the video were:

• Christian Miles—filming, editing, and directing
• Jon Maiocco—original music
• Leighton (my son)—3D CGI animation & sound effects

For my part, I helped Leighton with the animation of the large warspider. It was quite a trick to get the spider to integrate in with the video and to animate it correctly because physical cameras wiggle, pan, and zoom. We had to get the software camera in the 3D world to duplicate every little movement or else the spider wouldn’t appear to be part of the film.

We learned a lot in the process, and hope you enjoy the video … and the book!

I found a great interview with Frank Peretti over at CBN, done by Craig von Buseck. Among other things, Peretti talks about making characters come alive and the prospects of future movies based on his books.

Frank’s thrilling style has inspired my writing, and I hope one day to achieve even a tenth of his craft.

Take a look!

Here’s an added bonus for the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour where we are covering the young-adult fantasy novel, North! or Be Eaten in The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.

The bonus? My son, Leighton who is 15, wrote his own review:

NOTE: PLOT SPOILERS BELOW ! BEWARE !!

^ OR B E-10. LOL. Awesome book, I was often surprised when Andrew Peterson led up to a pretty cliche plot thing… only to do the exactly opposite of what I expected.

Gammon for instance, he’s the Robin Hood type leader of a rebel group who live in the icy ice prairies of the north portion of Aerwiar. He is planning (as far as we know for most of the book) to betray the asylum seeking Igiby family.

He goes so far as to have them bound and is about to deliver them to the new Gray Fangs of Dang, when he reveals that it was a spectacular ruse, and takes the evil Fangs by surprise and slays them in his own castle!

And then… The High King of Annieria, a.k.a. Tink Igiby, is taken by the black carriage and changed by evil sorcery into a Gray Fang. Woe to his family! LOL.

All I can say is: READ IT! 100,000 out of 10 stars!

Welcome to our third day of the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour review of the young-adult fantasy novel, North! or Be Eaten in The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.

Today I’m sitting down with the irascible Podo Helmer—grandfather of the Igiby children and former Pirate—to ask him a few questions.

RT: First off, Podo, could you not scratch the polished wood floor with that … that horrendous looking peg-leg of yours?

PODO: Slimy as the bottom of the Blapp!

RT: Really, now, where have you been walking? Here’s a towel so you can clean up a bit.

PODO: (wipes floor and peg leg). Aye. That’ll help, for a little while at least.

RT: Hopefully longer than that, yuck! So now, I hear you and the Igibys have been doing a bit of sight seeing … any special place you all stopped by?

PODO: Fingap Falls!

RT: Wow, that must have been quite a visit! Kind of like Niagra, would you say?

PODO: It’s not as bad as I thought.

RT: Well, the travel brochures might need some work, I suppose. What with trolls and fangs and all! Hopefully they didn’t ruin your vacation, old chap. Tell me what you all did next—didn’t you have a nice walk along Glipwood forest, and that … err … rather nice river Blapp?

PODO: By the light of the Hanger Moon.

RT: Perhaps your dim conditions combined with your myopia caused you to get your peg leg … err … slimy. Did, mayhap, any daggerfish bite you?

PODO: Hardly a scratch, ye big baby!

RT: Really now! No need to call names, my dear man! But surely something injured you … I see your right shoulder’s all bandaged up.

PODO: Arrows.

RT: Oh my! You don’t say? Here, would you like me to pull that arrow out? That looks like it hurts.

PODO: No need to do anythin’ drastic.

RT: Well, you might say that, but what if it gets infected? We couldn’t have an old salt dog like you laid up while you have your family to care for. I really think I should take it out…

PODO: Aye. Sounds like our best option.

RT: (removing arrow while Podo yells) Pipe down, man! You’d think I was your tax-assessor!

PODO: And you’re the first one I aim to lay my teeth and me bushy eyebrows on.

RT: I’m not sure this interview is going as expected. If you don’t behave yourself, you’ll have to leave. Anyway, you’ve lost a lot of blood.

PODO: Old Podo’s not got much left in ‘im.

RT: Well, maybe a trip to the doctor can fix you up after our interview. So tell me, who shot you?

PODO: Thieves and killers.

RT: Right. Well now, how did you get away?

PODO: The tree!

RT: You must be very spry to be climbing trees at your age. How did you think of it?

PODO: I’m old and one legged, but I’m no fool.

RT: Well, don’t take offense—really, you can put your sword back. Podo, please, I didn’t mean to offend you. I guess this means our interview is at an end, eh?

PODO: That’s right.

RT: So, this is Robert Treskillard, signing off, hopefully not for the … gulp … last time. Podo, I hope you’ve … err … enjoyed our little interview?

PODO: We’ve wasted precious time.

RT: Right, well, you don’t have to jab me in the ribs so. Perhaps you might … no, no, not the plank! Anything but the plank! Please, there are sea-dragons down there. PLEASE!

(splash, gobble)

p.s. Actually, I’m in the process of interviewing Andrew Peterson himself, and as soon as the interview is finished, I’ll post it here. So come back, probably next week, to see if I fare any better than with Podo Helmer. Hmmmmm…

Also, to read my reviews of North! or Be Eathen, see Day One and Day Two.

Footnote: Podo’s quotes come from North! or Be Eaten, page 105, 59, 47, 66, 103, 66, 59, 98, 75, 103, 55, 89, 89, 103, 106, and page 47.

Today is our second day of the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour review of the young-adult fantasy novel, North! or Be Eaten in The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.

Today I’m going to unfurl my wings and cover some things in depth.

This also means:

past the “Click to Read More“, so don’t click if you want to be surprised when you read this wonderful novel. Really, I’m serious. Don’t click.

The Author

First up, here is the blurb on the back of the book:

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, book one in The Wingfeather Saga, and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats.

He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of several albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in a little house they call The Warren near Nashville, Tennessee.

But this doesn’t tell you all. He has recorded 12 albums, and is, as I write this, in the middle of writing and recording a new one.

One album that stands out from the others (that is not mentioned above) is Behold The Lamb, a Christmas album of all new songs recorded with many other recording artist.

When I listen to Andrew’s music (and I am listening to it right now!), I am reminded of the heart and soul of Rich Mullins, and I am carried away to places where truth, beauty, and mercy play:

Its a window in the world, a little glimpse of all the goodness getting through, and all along the way the days are made of little moments of truth.

As well, Andrew is a man who is inspired to walk in the godly footsteps of C.S. Lewis. For instance, the popular website he began ("The Rabbit Room") is named after the room where Lewis and the Inkling’s met in Oxford, which Andrew visited on a trip to England.

Based on these first novels, I would say that Andrew is well on his way to leaving us a rich legacy (similar to Lewis) of literature that will encourage generations of children to come.

=> Read more!

This book is filled with the brightness of children’s dreams, and the blackness of their nightmares.

Today marks the kick-off of the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour reviewing the young adult fantasy novel, North! or Be Eaten, by Andrew Peterson.

North! or Be Eaten is book two in The Wingfeather Saga, and what a book it is! I enjoyed book one, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, immensely, but book two was even better.

Filled with non-stop action, touching scenes, and the chilling evil of the world, North! or Be Eaten will leave you breathless, teary-eyed, and cheering all at once.

The Plot

How would I describe this book? The quickest way is to call it a cross between Oliver Twist, Goonies, and The Return of The King. Here is my take:

Lost and runaway children are caught in the mechanations of an evil overlord and must escape through wild adventure to the far north where they think they will be safe.

But safety cannot be found when even their friends betray them, and the final, wild ride to the utter end of the earth reveals an evil lurking where they least expect it.

This book is an incredible journey, one not to be missed by young or old alike.

And don’t judge North! or Be Eaten by its cover or title (even though the artwork is great), because you will soon realize that everything you believed about the book is false, and the real truth will shock you. Andrew Peterson spins a tale with beauty, tragedy, triumph, and deep mysteries, and the notions you think are true after reading book one will turn around and bite you in book two.

The Characters

The Writing

Overall, EXCELLENT! A few minor spots here and there could be improved, but nothing even worth mentioning.

Andrew weaves the tale so brilliantly that, as an adult, I often forgot it was a YA novel—the dark parts can be really dark, and Andrew doesn’t pull his punches.

These Igiby’s get themselves into heaps and heaps of trouble, is all I can say, and Andrew knows how to move the action along, yet keep the themes prominent of family love, judgment for sin, and the need to fight against evil. And remember, there is ALWAYS A WAY OUT!

The amazing thing about these novels is that even though there is a lot of fantasy spoof and good humor present, the writing is actually very serious.

Recommendation

Highly recommended for all ages except the very young. If your reading tastes include Auralia’s Colors, The Wilderking Trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia, or even The Lord of The Rings, you will not be disappointed in these novels.

Great job, Andrew! I eagerly look forward to book three!

Come back for Day 2, when I will talk about the author and give a peek at some of the scenes that touched me in North! or Be Eaten.

And be sure to check out the other tour members’ reviews: