Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from your friend Phelan O’Farrell!

Phelan is generously offering 17 copies of ‪#‎TQ4T‬‘s green book (Taken) for $7.77 today from the Author Shop.

‪#‎Lucky‬ ‪#‎Blessed‬ ‪#‎StPatrick‬

FREE Kindle Book 11/18 to 11/22

Truthful Test (A short story from #TQ4T) is FREE on Amazon Kindle from 11/18/ to 11/22. It was supposed to be up on my birthday 11/15, but alas.

SO HERE IS MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOU!!

After you’ve read it would you consider leaving a review?

Hundreds of years in the future, humans have spread out across the universe, discovering and settling new worlds. But along the way, they have forgotten their origin. Why has the past been forgotten? What clues could help uncover the mystery of mankind’s beginnings? And why does the quest become dangerous? The adventure unfolds in Brock Eastman’s Quest for Truth series, as archaeologists Elliot and Laura Wikk are mysteriously kidnapped in the midst of their search for mankind’s origins. Determined to find and rescue their parents, young Oliver Wikk and his siblings dodge danger and uncover clues of their own, finding themselves drawn as much to the search for truth as to the search for their parents.

FREE Take on Kindle and iBooks

Taken is Free on both Kindle and iBooks now. Do me a favor and get it at both places. The Kindle app is available on iPhone and Android devices. Plus if you have an Apple device you have iBooks. So please consider getting a copy at both places!! Please also share this opportunity with everyone you know!

Kindle: http://amzn.com/B005FNIVYE

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/taken/id478092349?mt=11#

Tangle is $2.99 on Amazon Kindle

Tangle is $2.99 on Amazon Kindle right now, if you can’t wait a couple more weeks, you can grab it and read it now! #TQ4T

Grab it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013CIM3LA

Captured and separated, the Wikk kids must rely on the
power of Rescuer to complete their quest. On board the
Black Ranger, Mason confronts a villainous mastermind with
a startling secret. Meanwhile, Oliver, Tiffany, and Austin race
to rescue their friend Ashley from a toxic moon. With danger at
every turn, their only hope is their newfound faith. Will trusting
the Truth help them to make sense of tangled clues and lies?
Will Helper finally lead them to humanity’s home planet?

THE QUEST FOR TRUTH series follows the four Wikk kids in
their desperate race to find the planet Ursprung and stop the
Übel renegades and dangerous Corsairs from misusing its
long-lost secrets. Ancient cities, treacherous villains, hightech
gadgets—encounter all these and more on this futuristic,
interplanetary adventure!

“Brock Eastman’s writing [is] full of life, full of truth, and most
likely to hold your attention to the very last moment.”
—Donita K. Paul, Author of the DragonKeeper Chronicles
and Realm Walkers Series

“Book four is the best yet. . . . I love hearing my kids’
excitement about the Wikk family’s spiritual discoveries.”
—Ann Hibbard, Senior Editor of Home Educating
Family Association

*No bonus materials included with e-copies of Tangle.

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Science Fiction

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Science Fiction and #1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Action & Adventure onAmazon.com thanks to ‪#‎Questers‬ like you. Go ahead and pre-order your copy today! Let’s see where we can get Tangle next. ‪#‎TQ4T‬

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Science Fiction

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Action & Adventure

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Action & Adventure

Let’s celebrate! Tangle is the #1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Action & Adventure on Amazon (and it isn’t even out yet.) Go ahead and pre-order a copy and help all #Questers keep it in the top spot. If you send me your order confirmation with time of purchase I’ll match it to the sales tracker and send you some bonus Quest for Truth items, like an exclusive postcard and #TQ4T stickers.

#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Christian Action & Adventure 

KickStarting a Book to Life: The reader and the author win together

Publishing is a growing and ever changing industry. As recently stated in an Amazon letter to its authors, paperbacks revolutionized the book industry many moons ago, and then came the eBook revolution, and most recently the self-publishing craze. I believe the rise of crowdfunded publishing is the latest improvement to the industry.

“What in the world is crowdfunding?” you ask. The quick oversimplified answer is, “You make it happen.” You choose a project you like and you help fund it. The result; exciting new projects that might never see the light of day otherwise, come to life and provide big payoffs to those who support the project. Crowdfunding brings you the reader and the author into a team like never before.

There are many websites that can be used to raise money for causes, events, organizations, and products. But one in particular has gained a lot of attention in recent years, its called KickStarter, and to me it stands above the rest. Creators post projects with numerous support levels that are directly related to a reward. For example in my KickStarter someone can fund $35 and receive eBooks of all three titles in Sages of Darkness, cool digital art from the series, and they become immortalized with their name in the acknowledgements of each book. Or they can fund $4000 (Yes that says 4 with three zeros) and I’ll write a book about them as the main character (Plus they get a whole lot of other cool stuff.) You see in crowdfunding, the author or artist, needs to motivate you the reader to fund the project, so we dangle all sorts of ‘once in a lifetime exclusive opportunities’ in front of you, as well as the simple ‘just get the product’ rewards. The key is to have something for everyone and to dazzle those who want to get something very unique in return.

What crowdfunding is doing, is allowing projects to release that might otherwise get rejected by a publisher or label because they are too costly or the audience isn’t large enough. But when an author goes right to their fans and their friends, amazing things can happen quickly. For example Andrew Peterson launched a KickStarter to finish his Wingfeather Saga last year after WaterBrook ended the series after just two of the five books were released. Andrew set his goal at $14,000 to finish a fourth and final book and ended up raising $118,188. He blew everyone, including his own expectations away, and set a record on KickStarter.

I asked Andrew why he chose KickStarter as the platform to fund the book and he said, “When it came to publishing this last book I thought it would be a fun opportunity to raise some extra funds in order to go out with a bang. That meant a fancy hardback edition, tons of illustrations, a fold-out map, an audiobook, that sort of thing.” And ‘out with a bang’ they went, with nearly $120,000 raised, they were able to add a whole lot of awesome stretch goals (more on those later.)

Andrew agrees, KickStarter is about the reader and the author co-creating the project. “This Kickstarter thing gave the readers a chance to express their encouragement and to interact with me as the author. It was wonderful,” adds Andrew. And Andrew has worked hard to show his gratitude and fulfill his commitment to the backers. He explains, “One of the perks for backers was a signed set of all four books; that meant I had to sign about 6,000 books in two weeks.” Still he’ll tell you it was well worth it, “I’ve cried quite a few happy tears in the last month.”

Another KickStarter just successfully concluded for Enclave Publishing (Formerly Marcher Lord Press) by Steve Laube. Enclave turned to KickStarter with very specific goals in mind, “We needed a way to allow our readers to pre-order the new books since, at the time, the online outlets did not provide that service. Ironically the last day of the campaign a major online retailer announced they are now offering a pre-order service! In addition we were looking for a way to announce the new books and create anticipation. Kickstarter seemed to be a good method for that type of marketing.” I myself backed this project to see what it was all about and for $20 landed ebooks of their five latest releases, plus helped get more Christian fiction into the marketplace. Crowdfunding brings on the euphoric, “We did it!” feeling and that’s something most of us can appreciate, like the end of an awesome book.

The great news is, if you go to fund a project, but they don’t reach their goal, no money exchanges hands. You keep your funds, and the author goes on to find another way. But when a project meets its goal, and begins to exceed those goals, the creator usually starts to add stretch goals. These promise more perks for the supporters when they reach higher funding levels. For example, though my goal is just $6,000, I have a stretch goal at $20,000 that says, “I will give a digital download of the audiobook for HowlSage at no extra cost.” Andrew had a stretch goal to write an original song for the series at $110,000 which his supporters reached, and he did indeed write.

I myself faced a similar situation as Andrew with a trilogy I was writing. The first book HowlSage was released, but the publisher ended their fiction imprint and the second and third book never saw the light of day. Yet I get emails, comments on my website, and am always asked at book signings, “Where is BlizzardSage.” After hearing of Andrew Peterson’s success as well as a $55,000 Potato Salad KickStarter, I decided to give it a try.

The awesome news is that the Sages of Darkness KickStarter was successfully funded at $5,120 and so all three books; HowlSage, BlizzardSage, and CrimsonSage will be released. I’m honored and delighted to finally be able to complete the original trilogy. I also look forward to launching another KickStarter in the near future.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog versus Harry Potter: Let’s Motivate Kids

Motivate Kids to Read and Write!

I hated reading. I really didn’t enjoy writing, and my grades reflected it. I wasn’t exactly the prospect for becoming an author. Why did I need to read when I had Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis? There was always a new Sonic game and a more enhanced Dr. Robotic to beat. I’d sit for hours in my blue video-rocker-chair glued to that black controller, connected to my character through a five foot black chord.

Occasionally I’d venture outside with my friends, but that addictive little blue hedgehog always called me back. I remember one of my friends trying to get me to read Louis Lamoure, I think I made it halfway through a chapter. I’d skim the required reading books, and the grades on my book reports would prove it. In High School, my streak of ‘not reading’ continued and my writing reflected the minimum page or word count required to get a B or C.

It wasn’t until college that I read a book because I wanted to. The series I chose is the oft hated, but mostly beloved Harry Potter series. Now some of you reading this are already averting your eyes, and that’s okay; that’s your choice, like reading the books was mine. But let me share with you what the series did for me and many other kids like me; it got me excited about reading. We could debate the magic of the Harry Potter world as good, bad, etc. but the real magic about the books was the creative world that drew young readers in. My imagination was opened and the characters felt like friends. In fact, it inspired me to become an author. Before I talk about the writing thing, let’s take a bit of a tangent first.

Now, why did I decide to pick these books up? Well I met this beautiful girl, and we challenged each other to see who could finish the entire series first. The only title not out was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The only reason I was able to catch up to her was because we both had to wait for the release of the final book. We sat in a Borders bookstore (sadly they went the way of the dodo bird) and waited for the midnight release of the final installment. It was a whole lot of fun with all the dressed up fans everywhere and the ‘Great Snape Debate.’ Personally I thought in the end we’d find out he was using Voldemort and was the real bad guy, but alas I was wrong.

The next few days were devoted to reading as much as possible and I am proud to say I won. Though my win is still under protest until this day. Here is why my winning is under debate. Early on in our competition, we went to a friend’s house for a nice home cooked Italian dinner. As we ate, I excused myself from the dinner table to use the restroom. As I passed my girlfriend’s purse I slipped out her copy of The Half Blood Prince and took it with me. Then I proceeded to read it for the next half hour, needless to say my absence in the restroom for so long, was causing everyone else some concern, but no one checked and I made quite a bit of ground on my reading. Now with that confession over, you can judge if I won or not. But I did indeed win in the long run, because the girl married me!

So Harry Potter inspired me to read and it also inspired me to write, but the writing thing is twofold. One I thought how cool would it be to create my very own world, or at least my very own characters. And two I want to write a book series that is a bit more ethical than Harry Potter. You see my real beef with the Harry Potter series is not the magic, because, sorry to burst your bubble, but magic isn’t real. My opposition to the series is the lack of an honorable hero. You see, though Harry appears to be a great hero, he sort of got there through a whole lot of lying, disobedience, and arrogance at times. To tell kids that Harry is a hero, when he overcame evil by committing many wrongs of his own, seems wrong. Sure little Billy, steal that candy bar as long as in the end you overcome a great trial. NO! WRONG!

I wanted to give readers characters they could really look up to, characters they could learn from and trust. Something else I wanted to do, specifically for The Quest for Truth, was provide a story without unnecessary death. This wasn’t in reflection of Harry Potter, but of many series for kids and young adults, and not just in the secular marketplace. How often do our kids read of a sword slicing through someone, or a gun fight? We probably wouldn’t let them watch it on TV, so why would we let them read it in a book?

So with the desire to provide authentic moralistic heroes and a story-line without unnecessary death, I began writing The Quest for Truth. And though this kid who hated reading and writing, hadn’t read anything until he was in college, and hadn’t written anything larger than a few thousand word research paper, wrote a 100,000 word manuscript with no prospect of getting it published. After all I was a college student in the middle of the cornfields of Illinois getting a degree in Marketing. It wasn’t until later that God opened up some pretty amazing doors.

The fact is God has His plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) says; ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’

So what are you waiting for? You just read a 1000 word article; go read a book. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to write one of your own!

Get 40% off Taken, Risk, and Unleash

Today through Saturday you can order Taken, Risk, and Unleash at 40% off using code MD8871. Plus get free shipping to your local Mardel store.

After you have the first three books it’s time to pre-order Tangle in my author store at the limited time low-price.

 

BlizzardSage & Tangle

Many of you have inquired about when BlizzardSage will release.

If you participated in the Sages of Darkness KickStarter you should be getting your copy at the end of March or beginning of April along with any bonus items included in your reward. CrimsonSage is expected to release end of this year.

If you did not participate in the KickStarter you can pre-order a signed copy that will be mailed in May, but you must pre-order from my website between now and the end of March. You can pre-order the hardback and paperback from the author store.

You can wait for the book to release to the general market in July of 2015. It will be available in hardback, paperback, and e-book.

If you read the original HowlSage you will want to read the newly revised version. HowlSage was rewritten (first person present tense) and expanded (new scenes, character modifications, more demons.) It’s a stronger more action packed book and you won’t be disappointed. You can pre-order the updated version in paperback or hardback at the author store from now until the end of March. Pre-orders will be delivered in May.

The new HowlSage will release to the general market in June or July of 2015.

CrimsonSage will release at the end of this year.

Thanks again for your support of the Sages of Darkness series.

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Tangle is expected to release end of Summer 2015. If you’ve pre-ordered the book you’ll get it a couple weeks ahead of everyone else and will also receive several extras as a thanks for your patience. Plus it will be signed to you.
Tangle has been the largest installment in the Quest for Truth yet. I’m thankful for all the support you’ve given me while I wrote this installment in the series. I look forward to finishing the Wikk family’s quest with Hope.

As always you can order signed copies of all my books from my author store and pre-order Tangle now.