Massive "Curse of the Spider King" Contest!

Author friends of mine, Wayne Batson and Christopher Hopper, have a great contest going on to promote their new book, Curse of the Spider King. Follow this link and check it out!

http://enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com/2009/09/biggest-contest-in-history-of-men-and.html

As you may recall (or not if you are new to my blog), I went on the Fantasy Fiction Tour this time last year with 7 amazing authors: Wayne, Chris, Donita K. Paul, Jonathan Rogers, L.B. Graham, Sharon Hinck, and Bryan Davis. The tour took us from Vancouver, BC down through Seattle, WA, Portland, OR and the Coast of California to our final destination - San Diego. The Miller Brothers joined us for the Northwest portion of the trip and it was an amazing 9 days of 3-a-day visits to schools, churches, and bookstores. If you haven't seen the videos, check out my archives from Oct. and Nov. 2008 or find them posted on Youtube under "the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour 2008.

I'm excited for Wayne and Christopher and their co-authored series. I recall them working furiously on their lap tops as we bounced down the highway in the 15 passenger van, periodically yelling out, "does anyone have a good synonym for ________?" These guys are crazy fun... so I'm sure it will be reflected in their joint effort! Get in on the contest and be a part of promoting Curse of the Spider King to all your friends!

If you want to see there zany side right now... check out the video below.

Eric

Congrats to the Book Winner - Evergreena!

The winner of the book drawing for a copy of Scott Appleton's "Swords of the Six" is a new blog follower who goes by the name of "Evergeena." Congrats! For those of you who did not win, do not despair... keep following my blog and we will have more give-a-ways and contests. In addition, if you are on Facebook, look me up under Eric Reinhold or the Ryann Watters Book Fan Club.

Be blessed,
Eric

FREE BOOK Give-a-way & Interview with "Swords of the Six" author Scott Appleton

Alway on the look-out for good Christian fantasy books for youth, I stumbled across Scott Appleton the other day and so far we've hit it off. Scott is a freelance writer living in the northeast corner of Connecticut. He's the author of such published short stories as Moses & the Lamb, The Woodland King, and Splintered Sacrifice. Swords of the Six is his first novel and he lives happily with his wife in their small appartment (his words).

TO ENTER THE BOOK GIVE-A-WAY, JUST BECOME A "FOLLOWER" OF MY BLOG AND YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED!

Here's a short summary of the first novel in Scott's series: "Swords of the Six."

In ancient times the dragon prophet was betrayed by his choicest warriors. One thousand years later he gave the traitors' swords to six human daughters that he hatched out of eggs and sent them on a mission to find the first of the traitors that escaped retribution. Weilding rusted swords the dragon's daughters set out to find that first traitor . . . with an offer for him to repent.

Now a few questions for Scott:

Q1. What made you choose to write?

Six years ago I was a student missionary in Thailand. While there I wrote down the first ideas for a fantasy story (though at the time I'd never read fantasy) and when I returned to the States I started expanding that story. I worked various jobs, but disliked working for companies and doing tasks that took no imagination. During this time I expended my frustrations and joys into my developing storyline. From that point on the stories grew in my head and I couldn't help but write; I loved it.

Q2. Where do you write best?

Definitely at home sitting down listening to movie soundtracks, but location is dependant on the time of day. I find if difficult to write when a lot of activity is going on around me. Most of my writing for the first The Sword of the Dragon novel was typed into my laptop between 10 o'clock at night and 3 o'clock in the morning.

Q3. Is there a topic you've always wanted to write about?

Yes. I want to delve into the life of Moses through extra-biblical writings and create—what I know could be—a galvanizing novel. It will take years to accomplish, in part because I want to visit Egypt as part of my research.

Q4. How do you get your ideas? Do you use real events in your novels and if so, can you describe one?

I don't use real events in my novels, though my books do (sometimes) mirror my life-experiences. I have to sit and ponder for a while before the stories come to me. Then I ask myself a series of 'What if' questions to determine how far my imagination can take the plot. So, in a way, I guess you could say the ideas just come to me.

Q5. How many The Sword of the Dragon novels will there be?

My series is titled The Sword of the Dragon and I am hoping to fit all the material I've created over the past few years into seven novels. The first four titles are Swords of the Six, Offspring, The Key of Living Fire, and In Search of Dragons

Q6. Are all the books written? If not, do you know plot points for all of them?

The books are not all completed. However, I have a manuscript from which I am working and it tells the entire story from novel one Swords of the Six to the final one, Sword & Savior. I have a couple thousand pages of material for this series and some for a series that I will do afterward called The Death Knight Chronicles. It will take a lifetime to finish them all.

Thanks Scott for spending some time with us. For more info, you can check out his website at http://www.theswordofthedragon.com/ and his blog at http://www.flamingpen.blogspot.com/.

Mount Dora Headlines: Warspiders Invade Quaint Rural Town!

Police are dumbfounded. Last night, on what should have been a typical lazy, end of Summer Sunday, downtown Mount Dora came under what one resident called, "an attack."

The lone eyewitness was a drifter named Noah Johnson, who admitted he sleeps on a park bench out behind the First Presbyterian Church. He was awakened by the crashing sounds of metal trash cans and newspaper boxes smashing on the street. After extensive questioning by police, the rattled homeless man could only say that he saw what looked to be

"enormous spiders racing down the street."

When he got up to take a closer look, he said they "jumped" up on buildings at Dora Drawdy Way and headed down the alley way past the Goblin Market and Mount Dora Coffee Shop.

Police confirmed that the rooftops along the route mentioned by Mr. Johnson had indeed been badly damaged. They followed the destruction to where it ended and taped off the area as a crime scene.

After not being able to get any further answers from police, I walked around the perimeter of the yellow tape and saw a local boy, Ryann Watters sneak out from the far end. Ryann appeared visibly shaken and when I asked him about what he had seen he told me he’d rather not talk about it, but he had taken numerous pictures of the remains they left behind. I asked him to show them to me and as we clicked through his pictures on his cell phone, strangely only one of them had turned out.

Ryann indicated that he’s friends with Mr. Johnson and that when he talked with him, the drifter described the encounter as some sort of attack, even going so far to call them "warspiders."

The idea of this sleepy little town coming under attack by giant spiders seems a little far-fetched to this reporter.

There are many unanswered questions, but my plan is to find a place to get comfortable behind the church tonight and see if the arachnids return.

ATTENTION: I this is the one picture that was developed from Ryann's camera. I finally got a copy and am able to post it today - Oct. 18, 2009!