2010 Festival of Reading in Lake County, Florida

Adventures in Paradise
March 17-20, 2010

The Lake County Library System Festival of Reading presents the highest quality literary and cultural events and activities to encourage the love of reading and to promote the programs and services of the libraries. The program connects readers and writers in a way that enriches both by providing informative and entertaining programs to the community. The 7th Annual Festival of Reading will be held March 17th through the 20th with the theme, "Adventures in Paradise". We will feature writing workshops and author events and host a Friday evening special gala reception celebrating all the authors at the Leesburg Public Library.

http://www.mylakelibrary.org/festival_of_reading/2010/authors.aspx

This link will connect you to all of the authors that will be in attendance as well as the schedule of events and locations. The locations are all over Lake County, so be sure and check before driving out. Thanks for spreading the word and I hope to see you there.

Festival Appearances by me!

Wednesday, March 17 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Authors' Roundtable Cooper Memorial Library, Clermont

This event features numerous local authors who will be signing, selling their works and speaking with fans. Local authors include: Art Adkins, Colleen Avelli, Doris Bloodsworth, Brenna O’Shea Cagiano, Dara Edmondson, Valerie Hart, Catherine Kean, Ronald Johnson, Jeffrey Lamb, Paul McElroy, Mark Miller, Regina Peeples, Eric J. Reinhold and Michelle Young.

Wednesday, March 17 at 3 p.m. Writing for Young Audiences Tavares Civic Center, Tavares

Award-winning authors M.C. Finotti, author of The Treasure of Amelia Island; Vic DiGenti, author of the Windrusher series; and Eric Reinhold, author of the Ryann Watters series, will share tips on writing for teens and tweens.

Friday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. Gala Author Reception Leesburg Public Library, Leesburg

More than 20 authors will meet and greet fans at this gala reception. A silent auction will be held to benefit library programs.

For More Information:
Call Judy Buckland at (352) 253-6167 or email jbuckland@lakeline.lib.fl.us.
Cost: free
Categories: Festivals and Events
Website:
http://www.mylakelibrary.org

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/.