This Year's Lineup

I have been assembling publicity blurbs for all the books due out from Splashdown in the coming months. So here they are all in one place for your perusal! These texts may change before final publication, but this should give you some idea...

The Duke's Handmaid by Caprice Hokstad
Slavery...loyalty. Torture...honor. Betrayal...selflessness. All the young orphan wanted was security in a world that destroyed her family and left her despised and rejected. Can the simple farmgirl find a new family through voluntary enslavement to the duke's household? Crafted in a highly precise writing style so smooth it slips right from the page into your imagination, this fantastical storyworld examines timeless social issues that inform global justice today.

Legendary Space Pilgrims by Grace Bridges
On a planet that has never seen the sun, a harvester hears a Voice from beyond. It's time to leave the oatfield. Mario and Caitlin escape the mind control of Planet Monday, following the Voice to unknown worlds where wonders and challenges await. Have you got what it takes...to be a legend?

Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham
Mild-mannered janitor and superhero fanboy Dave Johnson gets all his wishes at once when an alien symbiot gives him supernatural powers. But what's he to do with them? Follow his laugh-a-minute progress as he fights crime and corruption while trying to keep his family together and avoid being sued for copyright infringement.

Alpha Redemption by P.A. Baines
When Brett loses everything in a tragic accident, he gladly accepts an invitation to take part in a prototype speed-of-light trip to Alpha Centauri, knowing that he may not survive. His only companion is the ship's on-board computer, Jay. At first he finds Jay an annoyance but, as time passes, the two become friends. With the voyage drawing to a close, Jay develops a sense of self-awareness and a belief in God. When it becomes clear that they cannot both survive the return trip, one of them must make the ultimate sacrifice. 

Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Caprice Hokstad (Sequel to The Duke's Handmaid)
In a last-ditch effort to find his missing son, Duke Vahn sends his most trusted servant to pose as a runaway slave in the hostile country of Ganluc. Meanwhile, the challenge he faces at home is no less daunting. This beautiful story is full of images: leadership by serving, ungrudging chivalry, and faithful romance.

Also in November, provided I can get it ready in time, is my pet project CyberDublin, in which Oodles rules the world. But when its global hyperweb network falls prey to sabotage, society spins towards chaos. In Dublin, the heart of the fallen cyberworld, an orphan rebel and her housemates face a reality far less virtual than they're used to.

How the Sith Slipped Into a Novel

This is my first post on the Splashdown blog. In Tales of the Dim Knight, there are many quite intentional inferences of great superheroes past. From the well-known Superman and Batman to the less appreciated Darkwing Duck and Underdog. In fact the only superhero fav I can think of that we didn't make reference to was Super Chicken. I've really got to figure out a way to get that in, even if causes me to sprain a mental muscle.

Well, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.



In addition to the above named superheroes, we have fun with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Crocodile Hunter among others. Of course, sometimes pop culture pops up unexpectedly. In 2002, I worked on a novel and I thought I'd written such a cool line. "We always had three roommates. No more, no less."

I sent my brother a draft and in his own (not so) gentle way, he reminded me that had been in Star Wars: Episode 1. ("There are always two Sith, no more, no less.") I sheepishly removed the line. It was not in this particular novel, but an unpublished work about a dying minister hospice called, Two Sides of the Hill. If that line had made publication, some people would have wondered how the Sith got into the novel.

Please Welcome...Adam and Andrea Graham!

Andrea and Adam Graham have signed a contract with Splashdown Books to publish their first novel, Tales of the Dim Knight, a superhero spoof. The book is tentatively set for release late this summer.

 

“I’m excited to acquire this laugh-a-minute adventure by a phenomenal husband-and-wife team,” says Grace Bridges, Publisher of Splashdown Books.

 

In Tales of the Dim Knight, Dave Johnson is a mild mannered janitor by night, ultimate superhero fanboy by day until an alien symbiot enhances all his human abilities, including his imagination, giving him the power to create anything he envisions. The opportunities for comedy are plentiful and the authors pay humorous tribute to every superhero known to man, from Batman to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The story is currently being serialized Laser and Sword Magazine and on the Laser and Sword website.

 

Adam Graham is a regular political columnist for Pajamas Media whose commentaries also appear at http://adamsweb.us/blog. He has short stories included in the anthology Light at the Edge of Darkness, and in Laser & Sword, of which he is editor in chief. He is also host of the Truth and Hope Report podcast, as well as the Old Time Dragnet Radio Show, The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio, and the Old Time Superman Radio Show. He holds a general studies Associate of Arts degree from Flathead Valley Community College with a concentration in Journalism.

 

Andrea Graham has two short stories featured in Light at the Edge of Darkness (2007, the Writer’s Cafe Press.)“Chosen of God” (co-authored with Adam Graham) and her solo “Frozen Generation.” Andrea studied creative writing and religion for three years at Ashland University. She is Assistant Editor of her husband’s magazine, an active member of her local American Christian Fiction Writers chapter, and a founding member of the Lost Genre Guild.

 

Adam and Andrea live in Boise, ID with their cat, Joybell, and enjoy Frisbee golf, walks in the park, and of course, superheroes.