L. R. W. Lee Releases Book Four the Andy Smithson Series

The wait is over! Book Four in the Andy Smithson series is finally here!

In Resurrection of the Phoenix’s Grace, Andy finds that Abaddon will stop at nothing to capture and punish him for thwarting his plans for eternal life for yet a third time. But, when Methuselah unexpectedly extends in Mom's hand while in Texas, something it has never done for him, it triggers more revelations about her past. 

After a frustrating and, at times, terrifying year, Andy returns to Oomaldee and joins Hans' quest to locate the only surviving heir to the throne of Cromlech. In the process, Andy and company discover the Giant's Ring, the center of Cromlech's healing powers, has been destroyed by Abaddon's evil sorcerer. The situation grows dire when Andy finds that the phoenix who rose from that land millennia before has returned to be reborn and the evil mage has trapped her inside the decimated Ring. Without the freedom to collect the materials she needs to build a pyre, she will die. Andy knows failure is not an option for he needs a feather from this phoenix as the next ingredient to break the curse. Will Andy and his friends free the phoenix in time? Will they be able to fix the Ring and restore Cromlech's healing powers? Will Andy collect a phoenix feather?

You won’t want to miss the non-stop action, drama and thrills on this adventure that is Resurrection of the Phoenix’s Grace!

"I really enjoyed this book! The author writes a thrilling action-adventure story that keeps you on the edge of your bean bag chair. I will admit, I stayed up late reading this book - it was that good! L. R. W. Lee has a talent for writing fantasy. The story flows well and has plenty of action to keep the reader wanting more. A great read!" 

                                                            - Erik Weibel, This Kid Reviews Books (Erik is 14)
                                                              Erik awarded the book 5 Bookworms! 

"L. R. W. Lee's best book of the Andy Smithson series to date!"

                                                           - Richard Weatherly, Author 

Purchase Kindle and Paperback

Book Five: Vision of the Griffin’s Heart (Andy Smithson series) is coming Winter 2015.

Watch L. R. W. Lee discuss Resurrection of the Phoenix’s Grace on Book Nerd Paradise on YouTube at bit.ly/1DsOOfi

 

Book One

eBook 1, Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury is now FREE. Pick up a copy at Smashwords, Kobo, Google, B&N.

Listen to the FREE podcast of Book 1 by L. R. W. Lee on Podiobooks.  

Book one is also available in paperback.

Book Two

Book 2, Andy Smithson: Venom of the Serpent's Cunning is available in Kindle and Paperback.

Download the professionally recorded audiobook at Amazon

It’s only $1.99 if you download the eBook first…Savings of $16!

Book Three

Book 3, Andy Smithson: Disgrace of the Unicorn’s Honor is available in Kindle and Paperback.

 

Prequel Novella

Power of the Heir’s Passion is available in Kindle and Paperback

Download the professionally recorded audiobook at Amazon

It’s only $1.99 if you download the eBook for $.99 first…Savings of $1!

L. R. W. Lee writes to teach her readers principles that can transform their lives – overcoming frustration, impatience, fear and more. She also shows why responsibility, diligence and dignity are the keys to true success in life. L. R. W. Lee lives in scenic Austin, TX with her husband, daughter and son.

Connect with L. R. W. at: Twitter   Website   Facebook
For more about author L. R. W. Lee: http://tinyurl.com/ln2dqjz

Rik Stone: The IAN Interview

Rik Stone

Rik Stone worked in shipyards in the North East of England before going into the Merchant Navy. Eventually, he yearned for change and studying seemed a good way to get it so he worked through the lower level stuff and then on to gaining a BSc. degree in Mathematics and Computing. But he loved reading fiction and had always harbored a secret ambition to write it. In his younger days such aspirations weren’t realistic, but an early retirement at the age of fifty provided the opening he wanted and he began pursuing the dream seriously. First came the debut novel, Birth of an Assassin, and more recently, The Turkish Connection, the second in the series.

The Independent Author Network. Hi Rik. Please tell us about your latest book.

Rik Stone. The Turkish Connection is the second in the series to Birth of an Assassin. While Jez, the protagonist in the first book, is dealing with the events thrust upon him in Russia, Mehmet, a young Turk, is caught up in the backwash of those same actions in Turkey.

Only eight years old and Mehmet is thrown into a life where he battles to survive the murky Istanbul of 1951. On a daily basis, he is forced to learn the skills of thievery and violence alongside other street children caught in the same trap. Every evening he curls up under a stinking jetty in a waterway off the Bosporus Strait, yearning to break free from the life inflicted on him by his drunken, womanizing father, but little knowing that his father’s rotting body lies at the bottom of those same waters.

Adulthood comes before Mehmet finds out that it wasn’t fate that had taken control of his life as a boy, but a very real nemesis. The man in question; a powerful crime lord who has support in the highest places within the Turkish government. Can Mehmet compete with such an opponent or has his life been doomed from the start?

IAN. Is The Turkish Connection published in print, e-book or both?

R.S. The Turkish Connection is available in paperback now and the ebook version is scheduled for release on the 28th of May.

IAN. Where can we go to buy The Turkish Connection?

AmazonUS    AmazonUK

IAN. What inspired you to write The Turkish Connection?

R.S. I’ve toured Turkey fairly extensively. I love its exotic atmosphere and was able to imagine being back there as I wrote.

IAN. Did you use an outline or do you just wing the first draft?

R.S. I start with a beginning, middle and end in three paragraphs. I write towards the latter two introducing relevant sub-plots as I go.

IAN. How long did it take to write The Turkish Connection?

R.S. At around nine months I had completed the fourth draft, but I am a habitual tinkerer so the months stretched out to twelve.

IAN. Do you have a specific writing style?

R.S. I like to keep things simple in terms of wording. When I read a thriller, there is nothing worse than stopping to look up the meaning of words; it kills the pace and hauls the reader back to reality.

IAN. What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your books?

R.S. My intention is not only to thrill, I want the reader to walk away satisfied, and yet sad to lose the characters they’ve grown to know.

IAN. How much of The Turkish Connection is realistic?

R.S. I think all thrillers have a touch of the improbable otherwise the protagonists wouldn’t survive. However, I have no trouble believing the story could have happened.

IAN. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

R.S. I take life’s experiences and grossly exaggerate them; to the point the experiences become unrecognizable to me.

IAN. How is your book different from others in your genre?

R.S. Probably the setting, protagonist and that it is more believable than most. Also, it seems the norm to make the hero a European or an American, but people are the same everywhere, living the same lives and having the same aspirations, albeit they have different levels of finance, so why can’t they have heroes too?

IAN. Do you see writing as a career?

R.S. I think about and develop my work in every situation I find myself in, it is all consuming, so writing is not my career, it is my life.

IAN. Who designed the cover?

R.S. Even if I can’t actually see the picture, I have a full brief in my mind of what it should look like; I know, that hardly makes sense. I write the brief down and hand it over to the professionals, www.designthing.co.uk, and after a couple of prototypes we end up at the same place.

IAN. Do you have any advice for other writers?

R.S. The hardest part of writing is the promotional aspect and there are times it will get you down. When that happens, forget about marketing and lose yourself in writing until the woes are gone; it works for me.

IAN. Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

R.S. I’m in the final drafts of book three in the series and hope to have it out at the end of this year.

Rik Stone.com     Rik Stone @ Twitter   Rik Stone @ IAN

A Mother’s Day Message from the Authors of “Secret Storms: A Mother and Daughter, Lost then Found”

When we were featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network, then the Katie Couric show, and after that, the Jeff Probst show, we had to recount the story of our book (which is the story of our lives) over and over again. While we were honored by the opportunities and propelled by the desire to share our story in order to give hope to those in need of it, it was a daunting emotional roller coaster. Secret Storms is, in the words of one of its readers, “a riveting, profound book,” but one in which there are many extremes of feeling.

It takes the reader from the staunch, eccentric Main Line of Philadelphia to the Isle of Capri, to Kenya, to Broadway, to Hollywood; from movie, stage and literary stars to regular people leading extraordinary lives; from a little girl with a python and cheetah as pets, to a little girl living with a real-life wicked step-mother, to a young, pregnant and sane woman in a mental hospital. It’s about being adopted, about adopting, and about giving a child up for adoption. But more than all of that, at its core, Secret Storms is about motherhood. About the soul-altering, miracle that is the relationship between parent and child. About the strongest bond humans are capable of forming between each other.

Since publishing the book, we’ve had the honor and privilege of receiving countless letters from readers who feel compelled to share their own stories with us. Extraordinary, often heartbreaking stories. Nowhere more than in the adoption community is it more evident what real maternal love actually is. We’ve learned over and over again through our readers’ stories that motherhood comes in many guises, that selfless love is not just the domain of biological parents, that mothers who don’t get to raise their children are still mothers, that the joys and tragedies of motherhood belong to all women who love their children.

There truly is no higher calling or a more difficult one than the care and nurturing of a child. So today, and every day, we celebrate all mothers. Happy Mother’s Day! -Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield

***

Audiobook, Kindle and Paperback copies of

Secret Storms: A Mother and Daughter, Lost then Found

are available here:

 http://amzn.to/1JfjkhP

You can find us, befriend us, inspire us and be inspired by us, here:

http://on.fb.me/1FDBlHJ

and here:

http://bit.ly/1E2M8FF

And join the conversations we have on our ASK the AUTHORS series, here:

http://bit.ly/1Q8Hv5y