News for September 24th 2010

This week's updates from Laser & Sword ezine:

http://lasersword.adamsweb.us/the-great-searchpart-three/ Jesse asks Revelator for advice, Revelator responds with reverse psychology. (The Great Search, Part Three)

http://lasersword.adamsweb.us/the-emerald-avenger-v-the-corruptibles-part-two/ The trap is bated (The Emerald Avenger v. The Corruptibles, Part Two)

http://lasersword.adamsweb.us/countdown-part-twelve/ Snyder and Dread have to work together to escape...but they don't have to like it. (Countdown, Part Twelve)

 

Steve Rzasa has posted a new short story based in the world of his novels. You can get it here:
http://steverzasa.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/check-out-hunting-souls/

Janalyn Voigt talks about creating fantasy worlds, and the tools of fantasy writers:
http://faithwriters.com/blog/2010/09/21/tuesday-tips-and-teaching-the-fantasy-genre-by-author-janalyn-voigt/

Here's an introduction to Bill Myers' upcoming release, The God Hater:
http://www.billmyers.com/TheGodHater.html
And a sample preview:
http://www.billmyers.com/TheGodHaterSample.html

News for September 20th 2010

Checked out Tosca Lee's guest blog at The New Authors' Fellowship? No? She shared the story of her journey to publication:
http://newauthors.wordpress.com/

This from Mike Lynch:Taylor Kent at Snark Infested Waters was kind enough to interview Brandon and I about the release of our latest novel, American Midnight: 

http://thesnarkyavenger.com/2010/09/15/snark-infested-waters-for-9152009-michael-lynch-and-brandon-barr-authors-of-american-midnight/


Encounter 10: Jeffrey Overstreet on the how of storytelling from International Arts Movement on Vimeo.

A new review of The Word Unleashed by Steve Rzasa, reviewed by Bill Hayes:
http://holyspeculation.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-review-word-unleashed.html

Marc Schooley reviews Alpha Redemption by P.A. Baines: "Move over, Hal...meet Jay."
http://newauthors.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/alpha-redemption-winner-review-and-interview/2/

Keven Newsome interviews Jay, the computer from Alpha Redemption:
http://newauthors.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/alpha-redemption-winner-review-and-interview/3/

News for September 1st 2010

Terri Main is featured in her local paper to talk about her upcoming novel Dark Side of the Moon:
http://reedleyexponent.com/articles/2010/08/25/community/doc4c75a0e0ac8e8924944140.txt

Steve Rzasa is up this week at Operation Encourage an Author - and you can win a copy of The Word Reclaimed. BUT there has to be 20 encouraging comments for the giveaway to kick in, so head on over!
http://encourageanauthor.blogspot.com/2010/08/author-spotlight-steve-rzasa.html

Sarah Sawyer begins an in-depth look at the origins of The Beauty and the Beast fairytale:
http://bit.ly/aymgLT

Fred Warren is interviewed at WhereTheMapEnds.com:
http://www.wherethemapends.com/Interviews/current_interview.htm

And P.A. Baines is interviewed at Scita > Scienda in connection with today's release of his debut novel, Alpha Redemption:
http://scitascienda.com/2010/09/01/interview-p-a-baines-part-1

News for August 23rd 2010

Lots of news on Stephen Lawhead today, courtesy of TitleTrakk!
First up a fascinating interview:
http://www.titletrakk.com/author-interviews/stephen-lawhead-interview.htm
followed by a review of his new book The Skin Map:
http://www.titletrakk.com/book-reviews/skin-map-review-lawhead.htm
And his new improved website with lots of interesting tidbits:
http://www.stephenlawhead.com/

A new review of The Word Reclaimed by Steve Rzasa, from reviewer W.H. Hayes:
http://holyspeculation.blogspot.com/2010/08/book-review-word-reclaimed.html

Greg Mitchell interviews Michael Vance about his Weird Horror Tales:
http://thecomingevil.blogspot.com/2010/08/weird-interview-with-michael-vance.html

News for July 21st 2010

Karina Fabian explains how she managed to write 8300 words on her novel...in one day!
http://fabianspace.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-novels-journey-fueling-full-speed.html
 
Chawna Schroeder interviews Jill Williamson:
http://chawnaschroeder.blogspot.com/2010/07/nine-questions-for-jill-williamson.html


Two differing reviews of Nightmare by Robin Parrish at TitleTrakk, one from Eric Wilson and one from Jennifer Bogart.

And the finalists in the Speculative category of the Carol Awards (ACFW's Book of the Year):

Kirk Outerbridge - Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)

Donita K. Paul - The Vanishing Sculptor (Waterbrook Press)

Steve Rzasa - The Word Reclaimed (Marcher Lord Press) - See Steve's reaction here

Stuart Vaughn Stockton – Starfire (Marcher Lord Press)        

Fred Warren - The Muse (Splashdown Books) - See Fred's reaction here

Jill Williamson - By Darkness Hid (Marcher Lord Press)

News for May 31st, 2010

Here is an in-depth interview with Kerry Nietz, author of A Star Curiously Singing and The Superlative Stream, at Cathi-Lyn Dyck's blog Scita > Scienda. There is also a draw to win a set of the books, so go and add your comment to the discussion:
http://scitascienda.com/2010/05/27/interview-kerry-nietz-author-of-the-superlative-stream/


An article on the symbolism and parallels of Jeffrey Overstreet's work has been published at Cardus by Robert Joustra. Check out "Here there be Dragons":
http://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/2015/

Steve Rzasa has been interviewed by Jennifer AlLee, and there's a giveaway there of his book The Word Unleashed:
http://jenniferallee.blogspot.com/2010/05/interview-and-giveaway-with-science.html

News for April 23rd, 2010

A.P. Fuchs is offering a free sample download of his latest book Zombie Fight Night here:
http://apfuchs.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/zombie-fight-night-free-downloadable-preview/

And more news from A.P. Fuchs is that some of his Coscom Entertainment titles are being taken on by Simon & Schuster! All the details are here: http://apfuchs.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/announcement-coscom-entertainment-goes-to-simon-and-schuster/

Interviews and guest posts by Christian spec-fic authors at Book Readers Central:

Steve Rzasa, author of The Word Reclaimed and The Word Unleashed:
http://bookreaderscentral.blogspot.com/2009/10/meet-and-greet-monday-steve-rzasa.html

James Rubart, author of Rooms:
http://bookreaderscentral.blogspot.com/2010/04/meet-and-greet-james-l-rubart.html

Kerry Nietz, author of A Star Curiously Singing and The Superlative Stream:
http://bookreaderscentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/meet-and-greet-monday-kerry-nietz.html

Deb Kinnard, author of Angel with a Ray Gun, Seasons in the Mist, and more:
http://bookreaderscentral.blogspot.com/2010/04/meet-and-greet-monday-deb-kinard.html

News for April 5th, 2010

There's a new interview with James Rubart at TitleTrakk on the occasion of the release of ROOMS, his unusual supernatural novel set mainly on the Oregon coast.
Check it out here: http://titletrakk.com/author-interviews/james-rubart-interview.htm

Marcher Lord Press is releasing three new novels, and they are all sequels of previously published authors: Jill Williamson, Steve Rzasa, and Kerry Nietz. Go here to check out the best deals: http://www.marcherlordpress.com/New_Store/Bundles_and_Specials.htm

The new issue of The Cross and the Cosmos is now available at http://crossandcosmos.com/ by clicking the image panel to the right of the page. This edition contains stories by Grace Bridges, Frank Luke and KM Wilsher.

Two new reviews of speculative fiction at Afictionado:
Deadlock by Robert Liparulo - http://www.acfw.com/cgi-bin/ezine/apr10.pl?record=7
Powers by John B. Olson - http://www.acfw.com/cgi-bin/ezine/apr10.pl?record=8

Exciting news from Marcher Lord Press

This just in from Jeff Gerke:

Well, the third set of original Christian speculative fiction from Marcher Lord Press has been out for two months now and is selling well, especially through Amazon.

Marcher Lord Select, my experiment in fiction acquisitions, is also going very well. Phase 2 voting is completed and Phases 3 and 4 will be conducted this month.

The big news for this update is that I'm able to announce two of the three books that will comprise list 4, which releases in April 2010.

Jeff Gerke

Publisher

Marcher Lord Press

Announcing List 4 from Marcher Lord Press I've rarely been able to so early announce what books will comprise a release list from Marcher Lord Press. But because of a special situation this time around, I can do so. As in the previous lists, I will release three novels in the Spring 2010 list. Two of the three I can name now. The third I'll be able to name in next month's update. The special situation is that the first two books are sequels to books already released by MLP, and the third is the book that will win the Marcher Lord Select contest, which is now in its latter phases. The first book from list 4 is the eagerly awaited sequel to By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson. To Darkness Fled, Book 2 of The Blood of Kings, picks up right where the previous book left off. As you may recall, By Darkness Hid ends with characters entering the mysterious darkness that shrouds the land of Er'Rets. To Darkness Fled begins with these words: "What do you mean she's gone?" By Darkness Hid is Marcher Lord Press's bestselling novel by a wide margin and readers have been clamoring to know what happens after the cliffhanger ending of that book. That Book 2 is releasing soon is cause for rejoicing. And it's a monster too: 664 pages in its unedited form. The second book in the fourth release list from Marcher Lord Press is also a sequel. The Word Unleashed is the sequel to The Word Reclaimed, Book 1 of The Face of the Deep series by Steve Rzasa. Steve originally wrote this 2-book series as a single (massive) book. Epic space opera at its best. I divided the book into two parts. The great thing about that is that Book 2 was already written even before Book 1 released. So we are able to bring you the second installment in the release cycle immediately after the first one debuted. A MLP first. The cover at left is, as you can see in the fine print in red and yellow, not a final cover, but it gives you a good feel for the direction we're going with it. Book 2 follows Baden in his ongoing struggle, both physical and spiritual, to come to grips with what this banned holy book means and is doing to him. It also chronicles the betrayal of the secret police--Kesek--and their attempt to overthrow the crumbling monarchy binding the five worlds together in uneasy peace. List 4 is going to be a very exciting release cycle. And now you know about 2/3 of it way in advance. For the third book, I have to turn to Marcher Lord Select.

Marcher Lord Select: The Final Phases

I hope you're a voting participant in Marcher Lord Select, my acquisitions experiment in which you are a member of my editorial board and you get to tell me what book to publish next.

Marcher Lord Select began November 1 and will end on New Year's Eve, with the winner being announced at midnight.

Phases 1 and 2 are now complete. From the 36 full manuscripts that began the competition, we have honed it down to the top 8 entries.

Now things get really tough. In Phase 3, you and your fellow editorial board members will read the first 30 pages of those 8 entries and will vote in mid-December to narrow the list to the top 3 candidate manuscripts.

Then you'll read an additional 30 pages of the remaining 3 entries and vote, in late December, to pick the book that will fill the third slot in the Spring 2010 release list from Marcher Lord Press. Pretty cool, huh?

But if that weren't cool enough, consider this: I will be holding a drawing to give one or more prizes to people who vote in Phase 4. Not only do you get to decide what book I publish next, you could take home awesome MLP swag. Prizes to be determined, but could include MLP books, apparel, artwork, and/or sundry goodies.

The other part of Marcher Lord Select is the premise-only conest, the top three winners of which will receive priority acquisitions attention from me. That contest is also in its latter phases and has some incredible Christian speculative fiction creativity.

Phases 1 and 2 of that contest are complete and the initial group of 49 entries has been reduced to 20. In Phase 3 you'll read the 1-page synopses of these 20 entries, and in Phase 4 you'll read the first 500 words of the remaining 10 entries. The top 3 winners will be announced at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Both contests are terrific fun and you're able to rub elbows with many other folks who love Christian speculative fiction as much as you do. So come on out to The Anomaly forums and join the party.

Thank you for your support of Marcher Lord Press!

Jeff Gerke

Publisher

Marcher Lord Press

Update from Marcher Lord Press - Sept 09

Jeff Gerke announces: The Third List

As I announced last time, the third release list of Marcher Lord Press titles is almost upon us. October 1, 2009 marks not only the release of the new books but the first anniversary of Marcher Lord Press.

And as if releasing three new novels wouldn't be enough of a celebration, I'll also be offering some fun packages, freebies, and/or bundles on Launch Day.

Mark your calendar and be sure to get to the MLP store on October 1.

You'll want to catch Kirk Outerbridge's Eternity Falls, about a cybernetically enhanced detective who must solve the mystery of why a trusted "miracle treatment" that lets people live forever is suddenly failing. Read a sample chapter here and an interview with Kirk here.

You'll want to read A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Nietz, about a slave/programmer who is tasked with learning why a robot tore itself limb from limb on a deep space mission. What secrets await--what voices emerge--around that curiously singing star far away? Read a sample chapter here and an interview with Kerry here.

And you'll definitely want to meet Baden Haczyk, teenage son of a space frigate captain, in Steve Rzasa's space opera, The Word Reclaimed. In this future, all religions are banned--but a dangerous discovery may lay bare great treachery and upset the delicate peace. Read a sample chapter here and an interview with Steve here.

Before becoming a MLP author, Steve Rzasa entered a writing competition through Athanatos Christian Ministries. The story Steve entered, "Rescued," is short fiction from the universe featured in The Word Reclaimed. In August, Steve found out that his story had won the G.K. Chesterton Award. Check it out here. Congratulations, Steve!

So with a new set of terrific covers and amazing stories from the future, Marcher Lord Press is again set to show why it is the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction.

And don't forget to take advantage of the special goodies and bundles on Launch Day: October 1.

Sign up to receive this news and much more at http://www.marcherlordpress.com