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.

The Duke's Handmaid gets a New Cover!

I recently signed a contract with Splashdown Books to re-release my previously self-published novels in the Ascendancy Trilogy, The Duke's Handmaid and its sequel, Nor Iron Bars a Cage. The new cover for book one appears above.

The twin suns picture was part of the package I paid for when I self-published with Xulon Press, so you will see that on all the old covers. But we wanted something that made the new cover standout as different as well as a way to tie-in the first book with the second. (If you go to my website, you can see the older versions, which will probably continue to be available until the new ones come out.) So Grace framed the suns-set picture with a burlap background [which will also frame something in the sequel] and then we discussed adding an extra item of visual interest which would capture a plot element.

The plot of the first book includes a magical key (as well as a character named "Kee") so we settled on adding a key. But deciding we wanted a key and finding one that would look like it belonged in my fantasy world of Byntar was a much more daunting task than we had ever imagined. After both of us scoured the internet to no avail, Grace decided to appeal to the Lost Genre Guild for a lead on an artist to create something suitable. Kat Heckenbach stepped up to the plate and drew us the key of our dreams.

So the new cover features Kat's key and I couldn't be happier with it. Look for second edition (newly edited and revised!) of The Duke's Handmaid sometime this summer. Watch this blog for news on the exact release date.

The Muse: Making Movies

Despite my limited technical skills and computer gear, I've always been fascinated with the idea of making movies. So I set out once again to make a movie for a book advertisement, using only a point-and-shoot camera (albeit a slightly better one bought for the occasion) and a five-year-old editing program with a tendency to crash.

As you know from yesterday's post, I already had the main actor, Andrew. He turned out to have out of this world skills in an area he'd previously done nothing in! Great for us :) So I just needed to find a couple more people. Another housemate, Steph, stood in for Jilly the vampire author, and I was able to recruit Phil on the Internet (don't worry, we go way back!) to be the sci-fi author. He recorded his own scenes to send me by email.

The perfect finishing touch was the fairy princess, also an inhabitant of the house where I lived last year, which also happened to be very handy to a beautiful big forest.

Here's the finished trailer, followed by the credits reel:








Check out these member blogs this week for more info.

The Muse: Cover Design

I used to be a great artist. Not in the sense of being great, no way, but in the sense that I loved it and used to doodle all the time - in my schoolbooks, when I was supposed to be writing essays or doing sums or whatever, I peopled the margins of my pages with fanciful images and also spent a good deal of time putting paintbrush to paper. That has carried over to graphic design and photography, and hopefully my results will continue to improve.

Anyway. Once it was settled that I was going to publish Fred's book, we began to cast about for a suitable cover idea. I wanted something striking and unique, and for that purpose a black background is always pretty good.

I messed around until I had a suitably spooky glowy text and spirally thing which I somehow got out of one of the effects in my ten year old graphics program. Yep, 10 years old and counting, and it still does everything I want it to.

Next I really wanted a picture of Stan, the main character. But who could it be? The answer turned out to be quite close to home, as I ended up photographing none other than my own brother when he came to town for a visit. My housemate at that time happens to own a wonderful fantasy sword, and things just came together after that. Over there you see one pic of many taken during that photo shoot. I was up on the veranda with the camera, and Andrew was down on the driveway so I could get that oblique angle. The black sheet was an aid to later pasting "Stan" onto my mostly black background.

All this of course in consultation with Fred. It's his book and he ought to like the cover, right? :)


Here's the final result a little larger:

Check out these member blogs this week for more info.

Inside Publishing: The Soundtrack for The Muse

There's a wonderful story behind the soundtrack of this novel. I have always loved books with songs that belong to them, and it's an idea which has not been exploited to its fullest potential - I feel. Anyway, as soon as Fred was contracted to publish The Muse with Splashdown, I went on the hunt for a suitable musical accompaniment.

It didn't take much thinking to go straight to Shoutlife. I already knew Clank a.k.a. Brian from England, whose sounds I first heard on Frank Creed's book trailer - and later I commissioned a couple of tracks from him myself, but that's off topic :) So back I went to the instrumental category. Just a few clicks later I stumbled upon Eleon a.k.a. Mike from Texas and I knew we'd found our man. I proposed the idea to him and explained the purpose.

Mike was enthusiastic - always a good sign - and very promptly delivered exactly what we needed. The soundtrack for The Muse provided an inspirational backdrop for much of the work needing done on the book.

What's that you say? I can hardly hear you over the music! Oh! Of course you want to hear it! Here ya go:


You can also go to http://virb.com/eleonmusic for more of Mike's great music. I admit, I've become quite the fan!

In time things came together to create the book trailer using this very piece of music, but there'll be more on that another day. Watch this space!


Check out these member blogs this week for more info.