Visit the NEW Book Store in Mount Dora!

Hey! There's a great new bookstore in Mount Dora, Florida and you know what's really cool? It's located right next door to the old bookstore (sadly closed several years ago), that Ryann, Liddy and Terell meet in to plan all their adventures.

Barrel of Books and Games - 144 W 5th Ave, Mount Dora, Florida 32757

Phone 352-735-1950

www.barrelofbooksandgames.com

I stopped by today to visit with the owner, Crissy, who is now carrying my books. I signed, stamped, and put a gold sticker "signed by the author" on every copy and they come with our glossy, full color bookmarkers as well. Before I could leave the store 2 books were already sold!

Crissy is coming up with a date for a book signing at the store, probably the beginning of April. I will keep you posted here and on my Facebook page.

She indicated that the online store has been open for 5 years and they just recently opened the retail location. Games are a big seller on the website, but books dominate the sales in her store. New books and games are up front and there is a large section of used books in the back of the store. New books are 25% off and used are 50% off list prices.

Check them out the next time you visit Mount Dora and tell her I sent you!

Eric

TIM TEBOW's 316 yards have fans keeping the faith!

Article from Washington Post (on faith) by Elizabeth Tenety

The Denver Broncos’ playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night was unlikely enough, but Tim Tebow’s passing yardage — the Christian quarterback threw 316 yards — sent commentators over the edge. The Associated Press reported that he also averaged 31.6 yards per completion. The religious connotations to John 3:16, a famous Bible verse, were too much for many to chalk up to chance.
For the true believers, it was no coincidence.

The quarterback for the Denver Broncos has become a polarizing figure in football, in part because of his outward displays of Christian faith.
Tebow has said previously that the Bible verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” is his favorite. When he wore the Scripture verse on his eye black during the National Championship Game in 2009, the term “John 3:16” was reportedly Googled more than 90 million times.

The Christian athlete has faced repeated criticism during this NFL season for wearing his faith on his sleeve. Bill Maher criticized Tebow (and Jesus) in a controversial Tweet after a Denver loss, and “Saturday Night Live” mocked the quarterback in a skit in which Jesus suggested that the quarterback “take it down a notch.”
Some say that the religious significance of Sunday’s game went deeper than the stats.

In a column this weekend for The Washington Post’s Outlook section, David Kuo and Patton Dodd set up the showdown between Tebow and Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this way:
“Tebow and Roethlisberger point to the essential aspects of evangelicalism, the ones that make it persist — its missionary, proclamatory character on the one hand, and its private, searching piety on the other. The former wants to appeal to the whole world, which is why Tebow’s family raised him not only to preach, but to persuade others with a winning demeanor. The latter wants a changed life; Roethlisberger, in evangelical parlance, rededicated his life to Jesus after a period of backsliding, because he knew no other way to break his pattern of misbehavior.”

The Broncos’ win Sunday means that, for a week at least, Tebow mania is here to stay

CHRISTMAS SALE - Deepest Discount Ever While Supplies Last!

In anticipation of a re-release of books 1 and 2 in the Ryann Watters series in paperback, I am having a BLOWOUT Christmas sale of the remaining inventory of the First Edition Hard Cover books. You can get books 1 and 2 for ONLY $5 each. I know that's crazy low since they retail for $17.99 and $19.99 each.

To get them at this price you need to put in the SPECIAL COUPON CODE: "christmas2011" at www.ryannwatters.com (click on the "store" stone)

Pick up a set for friends or relatives for Christmas or buy a set to donate to your church or school library. I was overwhelmed with the number of orders coming in after the announcement and had to enlist the help of my daughter and son to help pack and ship. Order soon while supplies last. Pass the code along to your friends via facebook and e-mail.

All books are signed and they come with a special full color, glossy bookmark. Have a Merry Christmas!

Eric

Getting close to a BIG announcement...

I know it's been quite awhile since I've posted on my book series and the movie project, so I wanted to give a small update, which I am hoping becomes a major announcement before Thanksgiving.

If you've been following the progress, the movie is still on with Gold Pictures, which has completed scripts for books 1 and 2. The casting director has been hard at work and while I'm not at liberty to divulge the 3 teen actors for Ryann, Terell, and Drake,(you obviously know that Taylor Boswell is playing Liddy), I can say that we've signed the actor for Terell and it's someone you will recognize from the Disney channel and another popular show on TV. Ryann and Drake are being narrowed down as we speak.

The budget for the two films is approximately $3 million each, so that it a big jump from the previous budget and in line with other faith-based movies that have done well at theatres. Speaking of which, "Courageous" was great ($2 million budget and has grossed $27 million so far at the box office). If you haven't seen it yet, make a point to do so or at the very least rent it or buy it when it comes out on DVD. *** Warning: there are numerous scenes where you will have uncontrollable laughter and others where you will need the kleenax. ***

Yes, that's me in the fox mask as the character Griffon from "Ryann Watters and the King's Sword." In the first attempt to film the movie the plan was to have real life acting in Aeliana versus the new version where it will be animation. So this was the hollywood mask for that role.

I have been getting lots of e-mails asking when book 3 will be published. I'm still working on the book but it was put on hold with the movies. I can tell you that it is action packed and very fun. My agent is going to be working on a contract with a new and bigger publisher after the annoucement of the movies comes out. The plan is to do some rewrites for books one and two and have a new publisher bring them out in paperback in conjunction with the movies and get a contract for books three and four. I promise it will be worth the wait.

Thanks for your prayers for the funding of the films, actors that are cast, and the filming to be on schedule for April of 2012.
Be blessed,
Eric

Great News on Faith Based Movies - recently in Forbes Magazine

Family Friendly Movies Make Big Money: Hollywood Noticing By Paul Jankowski

Movieguide, which has been analyzing how movie content compares with its cash intake since 1991, has found repeatedly that family-oriented movies make more money, while the movies with higher instances of sex and violence do not fare nearly as well.

The overwhelming success of movies like Passion of the Christ and The Blind Side, with their overtly Christian themes, stunned a lot of filmmakers and movie critics. Other faith-prevalent, recent releases such as Soul Surfer, with box office receipts of $43 million so far, are also getting a lot of attention. And while such outright portrayal of faith still is by no means common, more and more movies are sneaking faith-based messaging and values into films.

The family-friendly film, “Dolphin Tale” rose to first place in its second weekend of release, taking in $13.9 million at theaters in the U.S. and Canada for Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. studio.

The film unseated the 3-D re-release of “The Lion King,” which ranked No. 1 for the prior two weekends, and edged out four new movies, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office reported.

“Family films are a hot commodity right now, and this demonstrates that,” Jeff Bock, a film analyst for Exhibitor Relations in Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg Business Week.

According to Movieguide, the number of movies that include at least a little Christian content has increased 455 percent from 27 in 1991 to more than 150 movies in 2009.[2]

This past weekend, another faith-based movie stunned the industry with a #4 box office ranking. COURAGEOUS, the #1 new movie of the weekend opened against movies with three times as many screens for a total box office of $9 million.

“Sony picked this up wisely, and this film had a great grass-roots marketing campaign,” Bock said. “It’s amazing when a faith-based film does that much money.”

The Hollywood press was surprised:

Box Office Mojo
“Made outside of Hollywood without any major stars, Courageous managed to fly under most radars (including my own) until very recently. It’s unfair to ignore the vast majority of church-going Americans for whom typical Hollywood fare isn’t of great interest, though, and Sherwood Pictures has impressively found a way to mobilize this subset of the population.”

I had to comment on “subset of the population.” According to a Pew study, roughly 74% of Americans identify themselves as Christian; hardly a “subset”.

Time
Like the Christian-themed Soul Surfer, the Kendrick’s holy-cop film (with a $1-million budget) was pitched to the faithful, who came out fervently this weekend and gave it an A-plus CinemaScore. Opening in just 1,161 theaters, Courageous had the top per-screen average of any movie in the top 25. Even an agnostic would call that heavenly.”

Finding family-friendly content is tough. Many parents rely on word of mouth while others use movie reviews and ratings to find what’s best for them. As a result, a host of online sources have popped up that rate movies based on their family friendliness.

Christian-based and sometimes controversial, Focus on the Family, reviews movies online for things like sex, violence, drugs, alcohol, and other “negative elements.” Their reviews are very detailed and even mentioned a cartoon character’s cleavage and tanks of “some kind of strong drink” in their review of Disney’s Tangled animated movie. I’d love to meet the guy that writes these reviews.

Kids-in-mind.com rates movies based on their levels of sex, violence, and profanity, with notes on specific questions kids might ask after seeing a movie, prevalence of things like substance abuse, and the kind of message a movie sends. Fandango also offers up its picks of the best family-friendly flicks and keeps a calendar of upcoming movies for kids.

I personally don’t rely on these websites to determine what’s right for my kids. And yes, the older ones have seen Twilight and read all of the Harry Potter books, twice. But I need to stress that word of mouth is incredibly powerful in the Heartland, especially when spoken by influencers like a values-based website, friends and members of our extended family.

Regardless of how Heartlander’s decide what to see, the box office results are proof that family-friendly movies ring the cash register and that’s the only sound Hollywood wants to hear.

Scripts for books 1 and 2 Finalized!

This is the prequel to the long awaited update! I know, I know, you want the final details and so do I, but we'll have to wait just a wee bit longer. All I can say for now is that the adaptation of "King's Sword" and "Shield of Faith" are completed, the presentation packages are done and the casting director is in full gear. My hope and prayer is that our first choices for Ryann and Terell come through over the next few weeks so that filming can begin in Mount Dora, Florida in October 2011.

In case you haven't followed some of the previous blog posts, the original project was picked up by Gold Pictures, in Hollywood, CA, and the budget has increased from $800,000 to $4,000,000. Award winning director, Jenni Gold, will be working with Jeff Maynard, who has over 30 film production credits.

Jeff and Jenni came up with a plan to shoot both movies simultaneously and do so in a cost-effective manner. The live action scenes will be filmed in Mount Dora; however, the fantasy scenes in Aeliana will be in animation with voiceovers by various actors, singers, and musicians. Jeff has worked on another youth fantasy movie, "Arthur and the Invisibles," in which a the characters changed into animation as they moved from the real world to the fantasy world (in that case, underground). By filming this way, all the scenes can be filmed for both movies as if they were one, while the animation company works on the rest.

Keep the efforts of all those involved currently and those who are being approached to be a part of the cast, crew and support, in your prayers and I hope to have a BIG update in the coming weeks. Eric

Surprise Choice to play Lord Ekron!

In a surprise choice, it is rumored that Isaac C. Singleton Jr., will play the role of Lord Ekron, in "Ryann Watters and the King's Sword." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0802280/

Fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean will recognize him as one of the pirates, but he has also had roles in "Anger Management," "Planet of the Apes," and "Galaxy Quest." His extensive acting career dates back to 1997.

Isaac is a big dude... and you can tell from one of his pics from Pirates that he can definately play an intimidating role as the evil Lord Ekron.

I have been in discussions with the Producer and Director in regards to the roles of Ryann and Terell, as well as the the voices for the animal characters and all I can say at this point is that if we can get half of our dream list, it will be awesome.

I'm looking forward to getting the names out to you, but the wait is what builds the suspense :) Eric