The answer to whether you can hear me now is . . . Yes. Not only can you hear me now, but authors Janette Rallison and Brock Booher as well. The three of us are part of the Typeractive author group that has published a collection of clean fiction and hosted the annual Ready-Set-Write writing conference for the last two years. Apparently that wasn’t enough for us and we have put together a podcast to help writers succeed in their goal of becoming published authors. We call it the Ready-Set-Write Podcast and all you have to do is click on the link and you will be magically transported there.
            Well, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you enticed by the sage advice that Brock Booher offers? Then what about the chance to spend time with the talented and funny Janette Rallison? If you close your eyes while you listen it’s just like hanging out with Janette in person—in a pitch black room where no one can see anything. I’m on the podcast too. There must be a reason they let me participate. You can listen to the podcast and try to figure out why.
            Just in case that doesn't convince you to check out our podcast we are giving away books. Ah, ha. I see that caught your attention. Janette is giving away books on her website. You can find out the details of her giveaway at http://janetterallison.com/blog/podcast-launch-book-giveaway/.
            Wait . . . I’m not done. If Janette is going to have a giveaway then so am I. The rules are simple. We currently have four episodes available. At the end of the month, I am going to pick my favorite comment for each episode and send a book to the person who wrote it. For episode one I am giving away My Loving Vigil Keeping by Carla Kelly. The prize for episode two is An Uncommon Blue by R.C. Hancock. The episode three prize winner will receive The Shapeshifter’s Secret by Heather Ostler. And the person who submits the winning comment for episode four will receive an autographed copy of my first book, The Gathering: End’s Beginning.
            Feel free to leave comments on all four episodes. We would love to have questions about writing that we can use in future podcasts. As you can probably guess, comments that include details about the actual episode are more likely to be chosen.
            That’s it. Go win some books.
 

Since I bothered to put a News and Views section on my website I thought I might as well mention a couple of news items. The first is that I finished the third book in The Gathering series and am in the final editing stages before I submit it to my publisher. The tenative title is The Devastation: America Crumbles. Fans of the series should be happy to know that I think this is my best work so far.

My other big announcement is that Battlementals: The Quest for the Harmonicon is scheduled for release January 21st, 2017. This is my first effort at writing middle-grade and according to my critique group I have found my true calling as an author. I'm already working on the second book in the series and have the basic plot in mind for the third.

What's it all about? Here's the back cover blurb to intice you to check it out when it is released in January.

Chase Freeman is a boy with a heart for adventure stuck living in dull Drifter Flats. The only exciting thing that ever happens in his small town is Eclipse Day and even that isn’t enough for Chase—until he sees the strange ball of light streaking across the sky. Enlisting his best friend Jordan, her little brother Luke, and Harlan the smartest boy in school, they follow the light to an American Indian medicine circle. Drawn into the middle of it, the four friends are suddenly teleported to the Battlementals dimension along with the school bully Brendan and his friend Lena. 

Once there, they find an elemental people desperate for them to accept the grand quest to save the universe. A deadly alliance has pulled it out of balance and, soon, everything will vanish altogether. Friends and enemies will have to find a way to work together to assemble the Harmonicon, defeat the Salt Giant, and find their own undiscovered abilities that will help them complete their quest. But when dark secrets are put in the wrong hands, their mission unravels and time is quickly running out. As the universe systematically starts to disappear, Chase and his friends race to put all the elements they’ve gathered together, but will it be too late to save it?