Family. A mom and a dad and dinner every night. Russ never had that. Matt always did. Russ and Matt aren’t friends. They aren’t enemies. It’s worse, they are foster brothers.
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Russ has skills that help him survive. He takes what he needs. Some call it stealing. He calls it preparation. It worked, until he stole from Nigel. The money he took was cursed and it ruined his foster family and destroyed any chance he had of staying with them. Nigel has plans for Russ and other foster boys who have mysteriously disappeared from the foster care system. Russ and Matt stumble across Nigel’s plans for the boys and it tears apart the little family they have. To get back home, they must work together and both must face their greatest fears.
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I decided to take a leap of faith (in myself) and self-publish Gateways, mostly just to put myself 'out there' and gain feedback on my work. The results have been overwhelmingly positive. I spent six years writing Gateways, and four more editing and revising. What I started with is nothing like the finished project; a sign to me of significant growth as a writer.
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Why should you read Gateways? It's a great escape. An adventure. A way to step out of this skin for a time and be someone else. Why else do we love fantasy?
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See www.readers-den.com for an in-depth review by Tiffany Cole, http://amzn.to/KSAlyb for Amazon reviews, or http://bit.ly/RyNLXH for Goodread Reviews.
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Want to judge for yourself? Click the Ebook Download button below and sample the first 20% of the novel.
Yesterday Julius was King.
Today the King’s greatest secret is exposed.
Tomorrow Leviathans will return.
†
Julius looked over to the wall of bookshelves containing maps, war strategies, myths and legends. Instead of referencing the books, searching for answers of the danger lurking outside, Julius walked to the mantle and picked up the sword that had been worn at the hip of every King of Evania since the days of the Good King Gerald. "Do you believe the stories?"
Chancellor Petros nodded.
Julius swung the blade. It whistled, cutting the tension in the air. "Stories that say it's possible to call forth Leviathans, creatures from Hell to which only silver weapons are lethal."
Chancellor Petros looked to the books holding those stories and nodded. "Your father would have hoped you to be older."
"My father wished for many things for me," Julius laughed, but there was no joy in it. "The greatest of those was for me to be a man."
"Perhaps it will be difficult now to keep your secret in the shadows."
"We might lose half our army if the Leviathans have returned and the other half if they learn they are led by a woman."
Picking up right where Gateways, Book I of The Elemental Chronicles left off, Victoria believes that she'll be home tomorrow. After all, she defeated Ona, the mage who killed her father, and essentially saved the world.
Or did she?
Ona may be gone, but her followers are not. While they try to track her down, trouble brews in the Sphinx City where Elder Parnassus has been stripped of his elder-ship and the political atmosphere is tense, made worse by rivers turning to blood, fly infestations, and a plague of frogs that defile the city. Parnassus knows that the Mage Societies most valued possession - Faith - is at risk. But without Victoria to help, his hands...um, paws are tied.
"The Chronicles inhabit a very rich and detailed universe filled with beautiful and poetic writing. With echoes of The Hunger Games and more fairytale-like stories such as The Magic Brush, the books weave Christian fiction ideals with adventure and magic for young adults."
-Cate Baum, SPR
It took much longer than I expected, but I wanted it to be as perfect as possible.
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Book III is here!
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Crimson Arrows, the final chapter of The Elemental Chronicles Series, is sure to be a thrilling ride.
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Victoria is back with the sphinx and under the protection of Foley, her dad's best friend. The sphinx are homeless and so bound with traditions and pride, they can't see straight. Victoria needs to find Bobby and Tucker and bring them to the safety of the Sphinx City before the final plague; which might kill them all, but it's better to die among friends, right?
A Little Something Different...
A few years ago, I crashed a poetry reading and read a short story titled, "Time Machines". The response to it was overwhelmingly positive and I was encouraged to bring those characters into a larger story. Bit by bit, I spent time with Jack Elliott and his granddaughter, Alison, and discovered Jack's past and Alison's dreams for the future. Unforgettable Roads was born.
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Again, on a whim, I sent the polished manuscript to a publishing house and was blessed with a contract with Martin Sisters Publishing House. Unforgettable Roads is Christian Fiction, not fantasy. I've broken the rules of sticking to one genre in writing...I guess I'm a rebel.
Jack Elliott has Alzheimer’s . To preserve his mind, he has written his life’s story: the lessons, the gains and the losses he has lived through, in hopes that as his granddaughter, Alison, comes of age, she will not make the same mistakes he did. For her birthday, Jack takes Alison on a journey to the places in the West where he found his independence in life, his dependence on God, and fell in love for the first time.
When Jack’s journals are stolen, Alison realizes that nothing will protect her grandfather from the evils of Alzheimer’s. Victims of a hit-and-run, Jack is seriously injured. Desperate to find a piece of his past to bring to him, Alison continues the journey, searching for answers, seeking the people and places her grandfather once knew. As Alison follows the stories she grew up on, she realizes that she’s looking for Jack’s first love…and it’s not her grandmother. Will this woman be enough? Will she be the ‘kiss’ that wakes him up?
In which Frog conducts an experiment, wears a feather coat, and reveals the mystery of the coldest season of the year.
Copyright Sarah Aman 2013
A Picture Book
If I'm going to break the rules of writing and publishing, I might as well do a good job of it. Meet Frog P. Pondswallow.
What would you do?
I'm Jefferson Stanhope and I'm short. Like, really short. As in bring-a-step-stool-to-drink-from-the-water-fountain short. It's not genetic or anything. My parents are tall and my older brother and sister are tall. But not me. I think God hates me. Caitlin says God doesn't hate anyone, but after what happened to her, I thought she would change her mind. She didn't.
This is a short (pun intended) story about how I tried to help a friend but got wrapped up in a harmless lie that ended up involving the entire school. I know that sounds mysterious, but I didn't tell the lie! I just didn't tell anyone that what Mike said was a lie. What's the difference, you ask? Well, now I know the difference. Believe me, I won't let that happen again!
"...a solid story, realistic and heart-warming." Lisa Schlegel, Reader's Favorite
"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy." Sir Isaac Newton
© 2012 by SAMANTA JONES