Taking the Plunge

The contract's signed and in the mail, and Grace has put my ugly mug up on the authors page, so I'm now officially a member of the Splashdown Books team. I'm excited to be here, and honored that Grace has chosen to publish my novel.

A little personal information to start. My name's Fred Warren, and I hail from a little town in eastern Kansas, just south of Fort Leavenworth, where I work for a government contractor that provides computer simulation support for Army training exercises. I've been happily married for nearly 25 years to the world's most enchanting woman, and have three kids--two boys in college, and a teenage girl.

My faith background is Protestant Christian. I grew up in the Foursquare Gospel Church (pentecostal), have spent time in Southern Baptist and Nazarene congregations, and am currently a member of a Nazarene church in Olathe, Kansas.

I've been writing on and off since my college days, and decided a few years ago to get serious about it and start putting stuff out for publication. I've sold several short stories to a variety of online and print magazines, but this is my first novel sale.

You can find a list of my published stories, with links to them, on my writing website, http://frederation.wordpress.com/. If you want to know a little more about my writing style and philosophy, that's a good place to start.

Grace lists me as a writer of "fantasy and spiritual thrillers," and I suppose that's as good a label as any for my novel, The Muse. I think it's got something for everybody--mystery, suspense, humor, adventure, action, horror, romance, and underlying values that affirm faith, family, and loyalty. It's the story of a frustrated author who finds his muse, but the inspiration she provides is nothing like what he expected, and it just might kill him--before he knows it, he's fighting for his soul, against forces beyond imagination.

I encourage you to follow this blog. It's a unique opportunity to observe the progress of a new publisher and a first-time novelist from inception to final product. Grace and I will be providing regular updates on our experiences and will be glad to answer any questions you may have. There will be side-splitting comedy, moments of sheer terror, heart-wrenching despair, and soaring triumphs! Hey, this could be a novel all by itself.