Tag Archives: books

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Preview Skull Creek Stakeout

The Caden Chronicles series

Skull Creek Stakeout

The good news is, vampires aren’t real. The bad news is…you can’t believe the news.

Nick Caden is a normal fourteen-year-old kid with a “supernatural” knack for finding trouble, ghosts, vampires, and all sorts of undead–or so it seems.

After solving the ghost story murder at Deadwood Canyon, Nick lands a job as a roving reporter for The Cool Ghoul Gazette, a website on paranormal or supernatural disturbances. When the editor sends Nick to investigate a murder in Transylvania, North Carolina, the young super sleuth finds a corpse with fangs, bite marks and a stake driven through the heart. If Nick proves vampires are real, his job as an investigative journalist is set for life! But once he begins to peel back the clues surrounding the mystery of Skull Creek Nick finds his new job is not only scary and dangerous but about to suck the life out of him.

The Skull Creek Stakeout – a story middle-readers and adults can sink their teeth into.

The Caden Chronicles – winner of the 2013 Selah award for Young Adult fiction.

 

Click on the Look Inside > link below!

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Preview Dead Man’s Hand

The Caden Chronicles series

Dead Man's Hand

In an authentic old west ghost town where the dead don’t stay dead, Nick Caden uncovers the body of Jesse James … and other deadly secrets.

Awards for Dead Man’s Hand
Winner of the 2013 Selah award for Young Adult Fiction

2013 INSPY Award nominee ( Literature for Young People )
2013 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award nominee
Book Summary
It’s All Just a Show…Right? Just Hollywood theatrics?
“This is an authentic old west ghost town, son. Around these parts the dead don’t stay dead.”Nick Caden’s vacation at Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town takes a deadly turn toward trouble when the fourteen-year-old finds himself trapped in a livery stable with the infamous outlaw Jesse James. The shooter whirls, aims and… vanishes. Great theatrics, Nick thinks, except now he’s alone in the hayloft with the bullet-riddled body of Billy the Kid. And by the time the sheriff arrives, the body disappears.Soon Nick is caught in a deadly chase—from an abandoned gold mine, through forbidden buffalo hunting grounds, and across Rattlesnake Gulch. Around every turn he finds another suspect. Will Nick solve the murder? Will his parents have him committed? Or will the town’s infatuation with Hollywood theatrics conceal the real truth about souls, spirits and the destiny that awaits those who die.

Click on the Look Inside > link below!

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Print Is Back

Print Is BackWhile ebook sales plateaued in 2014, print books staged a comeback. According to Nielsen BookScan, print sales rose 2.4% in 2014, with total units topping 635 million. The 2014 figures provide evidence that print books are selling better than they have since sales of e-books took off in 2010 and Borders closed its doors in 2011.

  • Trade Paperback increased 4.3%
  • Hardcover increased 3%
  •  Mass Market Paperback declined -10.3
  • Audio remained flat at 0.2
  • The mystery and romance categories had the largest market shares at 32% and 36%

 

The Revival of Bookstores
After several solid years, independents are beginning to add locations and taking back some of the physical bookshelf space they lost during the Great Recession and the ebook explosion. Some are focusing on underserved towns where Borders once flourished. Other stores are creating reading environments by partnering with local restaurants and coffee shop in order to increase foot traffic. Used bookstores fill a void by offering popular titles and discounted prices. For the author, local bookstores remain a bright spot and many will find their local bookstore eager to host an author event.

Print and ebook Live On

Declines in print revenues will slow over the next five years and, in the long term, the market will plateau, with printed books still seen as desirable to own. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

 

As the economy continues to improve, consumers have demonstrated a willingness to spend money on print books. That said, the struggles at Barnes and Noble and bankruptcy proceedings at Family Christian Books might continue to drive consumers towards online sales and independent bookstores.

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Write to the Wound

Write to the Wound

Write to the Wound

First comes the purpose: then the person.

Your shape comes from the pressure placed upon you as God delivers you into your role as writer.  We feel God’s joy when we do what God created us to do.  This is also your purpose, so write from your place of pain.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”

You were wounded for a purpose—His purpose—so write to the wound.

Your pain provides the power in your words, so look beneath the scars and remember the hurt. It is there you will find inspiration, a wellspring of empathy, and your voice.

You were made by God and for God to speak about God. This is your gift and His glory.

He placed this dream in your heart, not you. If you write for yourself you will become weary. Writing is hard work and too often the pay is paltry.

But if you write to touch the wounds of others your words will have eternal value.

So Ask Yourself

  • What has God revealed to me through my pain?
  • What wisdom can I glean from the experiences of Biblical characters?
  • Are there lessons in your daily journal that God placed on your heart? (You do keep a prayer journal, right?)
  • How has God shaped you for this book?
  • Is now the time to write this book?
  • Who needs this book? Think of a specific individual. Picture them reading your book.

Imagine how your words might touch them in their moment of grief.

Writing Through your Wound

Your past doesn’t control your future so don’t focus on your inadequacies.

Focus instead on the greed, resentment, loneliness, guilt, anger, fear, addiction or materialism you see in others.

Ask: “How has God worked through my wound to change me?” Then write through your wound.