bell mountain – Page 4

Another Shameless Commercial Message

leeduigon(patty)October 25, 2018

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As we try not to stew over what the doctor will say to us tomorrow, Patty’s recording my quarterly book sales statement. I haven’t the heart to look at it.

But say-hey, as Willie Mays would say! My books make great Christmas presents! For family members, friends, and casual acquaintances. For anybody. Give ’em Bell Mountain and get ’em hooked on the whole series. The books can’t do their job unless a lot of people read them. Unless maybe there’s one person out there who reads them and gets inspired to do something great.

Meanwhile, in sweater, coat, and hood, I’m out there every day it doesn’t rain, trying to finish writing His Mercy Endureth Forever: six hand-written pages today, and my hands are like ice. At the rate I’m going, I hope to finish sometime next week. Give God the glory for that!

And please don’t tell me you never heard of Willie Mays.

All Right, a New Comment Contest It Is

leeduigon(patty)August 28, 2018

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Currently we have a little more than 32,000 comments here–so let’s shoot for 35,000. And to encourage reader participation, let’s make it a contest. Be the one to post Comment No. 35,000 and win an autographed copy of one of my books. Like The Silver Trumpet, for instance: Bell Mountain No. 10. Or any of its predecessors–although I ought to warn you that I’m just about out of copies of No. 1, Bell Mountain. But heck, there are nine others to choose from.

The contest is open to all, and all comments are eligible, with only the following exceptions: comments abusive to anyone else on this site, comments containing blasphemy or profanity, comments simply too fat-headed to publish, and ads disguised as comments (I still get one of those from time to time).

We’re talking about piling up another 3,000 comments, which might take a while, but it just didn’t seem right to offer a prize for No. 34,000. What kind of number is that? But 35,000 has a nice ring to it.

If you’ve already won a comment contest–and quite a few of you have–I don’t mind if you win another. It will impress your friends.

I’ve Just Read My Book

leeduigon(patty)March 19, 2018

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Spring is coming, unless those pesky bankers stop it, and I want to be ready to write when it gets here. But before I can do that, I have to revisit the books I’ve already written.

So first I read The Temptation, which will be No. 11 in the Bell Mountain series when it gets published sometime next year, and assuaged my fears that there might be something wrong with it. It’s a writer thing: we all get cold feet, somewhere along the way to publication.

Having done that, it’s time to get back with Jack and Ellayne and follow them, once again, up Bell Mountain. And maybe soon we’ll have The Silver Trumpet, I have no idea what’s taking it so long to get printed. After that, the other eight books in the series.

I do this to immerse myself in the fantasy world depicted in the books. Before I can write about it any more, I have to see it, hear it, feel it, smell it: because if I can’t, the reader won’t be able to, either.

So why is No. 6, The Palace, serving to illustrate this post?

Mostly because it has only three customer reviews on amazon and has lagged way behind the others. I can’t imagine why. Artist Kirk DouPonce used a real kid to model for Jack climbing up the extremely high wall of the Palace in Obann, and I wouldn’t like that boy to think he did it for nothing. What boy–Jack or the model? Both of ’em, of course. Jack’s human fly act deserves your support!

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor

leeduigon(patty)December 16, 2017

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Hi, there! I’m Lord Reesh, the villain in the first four Bell Mountain books–and, if I do say so myself, a jolly good one! Oh, boy, wait’ll you see me get what’s coming to me!

Ah, but you can’t see that unless you read the books. And it’s only nine days till Christmas. Do you catch my drift?

These books, especially the ones with me in them, make fantastic presents for friends and family. And they’re so easy to get, even those simpletons on the Obann High Council could do it. Just click “Books” at the top of the page, and you can order any title either directly from the publisher or via amazon.com. Whatever that is. We don’t have it, where I come from.

If we were all in Obann, I could simply order you all to buy the books and sic Judge Tombo on you if you didn’t. You don’t want anything like that to happen!

Stuck for a Christmas Gift Idea?

leeduigon(patty)November 28, 2017

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Yeah, I know it’s blowing my own horn, but I’ve got to do it.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for Christmas to give someone one of my Bell Mountain books. Any day of the year will do. There are nine of them in print so far, starting with Bell Mountain, and a tenth one on the way, The Silver Trumpet. You can order them via amazon.com, or just stay on this blog, click “Books,” and order them directly from the publisher at the Chalcedon Store (http://www.chalcedon.edu/store/). I do hope that link works; I tend to bollix up such things. But if it doesn’t, you can still find it on the “Books” page, complete with shopping cart icon.

Click “Books” and enjoy Kirk DouPonce’s wonderful cover artwork–and you can read sample chapters, too. That’d be better than me just saying that I write good books. Did you ever hear an author say “I turn out junk”? So take a look and decide for yourself. The target audience for these is “Young Adult,” ages 12 and up, but they do seem to appeal to all ages. I’m always surprised when people tell me their 8-year-olds really enjoy them, too.

And now this commercial has run long enough.

A Present for ‘Bell Mountain’ Readers

leeduigon(patty)September 4, 2017

I love this video! Most if it’s taken from Tim Haines’ Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and a lot of the animals in it have already appeared in my Bell Mountain books. If you’ve read them all, you’ll recognize quite a few of them–the mammoths that stampeded through Market City, the giant birds that stalk the plains around Lintum Forest, the big but inoffensive knuckle-bears, the Thunder King’s pet saber-toothed cat, the death-dog that almost made a meal of Ryons and Cavall: and of course the great beast that carried the boy king to his city.

Anyhow, except for what our own imaginations may provide, this is about as close as you can come to seeing these critters in the flesh. Enjoy it! And have a happy Labor Day.

I’m Back

leeduigon(patty)October 24, 2016

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I’m back–and I’m bushed.

I got all pumped up, doing that webinar, answering all sorts of questions about writing in general and my books in particular, yak-yak-yak a mile a minute (hopefully to good effect) until I just about plotzed. And then I had to sit down and write my weekly News With Views column… and suddenly it’s almost 4 p.m.

And I still have to squeeze in a bike ride before supper.

You’ll pardon me, I hope, if I don’t get around to blogging about politics today. But I should be good for a critter video or two, a little later on.

Meanwhile, the sun’s coming out–so off I go.

Another Big Piece of the Story

leeduigon(patty)August 29, 2016

As you’ll know if you’ve been following this blog, I write my Bell Mountain novels piece by piece, as God gives them to me. I don’t dope them out beforehand; instead, I wait for what He gives me. This can lead to a certain amount of artistic uncertainly, but it’s also very exciting.

For years, now, I’ve been wondering why the people of Obann shun the sea, but are unable to explain why. What happened to make the sea so dreadful to them? It must have been something to do with the Day of Fire, in which God destroyed their civilization a thousand years ago. But what could it have been?

As of today, I know!

I never expected this to be any part of the book I’m writing now, The Silver Trumpet: but suddenly I see that it really has to be. History, even ancient history, never dies; like it or not, the past is always part of the present. It has shaped the present and will shape the future. It’s a continuum of everything that’s happened, and can nowhere be cut off.

I can hardly wait to get to work on this tomorrow.

Sneak Preview: ‘The Throne’

leeduigon(patty)July 30, 2016

No. 8, The Temple

Okay, I have permission; so here’s the cover blurb for The Throne, Book No. 9 of my Bell Mountain series. Most of the editing is finished, we’re waiting for the cover art by Kirk DouPonce, and I hope we can get it published in time for Christmas. But first, the blurb:

The Thunder King has been destroyed–or has he actually reappeared in Obann’s greatest city, to claim it as his prey?

In city and in forest, the boy king’s loyal servants struggle to preserve his throne. But it will be a long journey home for King Ryons and his army, while ambitious and unfaithful men scheme to take away his kingdom.

Nothing in the city of Obann is what it seems to be. Evil masquerades as good, while good must hide behind a semblance of evil. The king’s chief spy poses as the usurper’s trusted adviser–but will he be able to find the help he needs to mount a successful resistance?

For God has chosen Ryons to be king, and Ryons’ people must find friends in unexpected places.

Join the heroes of Bell Mountain as they fight for Ryons’ kingdom!

So there you have it, and I hope it makes you want to read the book when it comes out. And if you’re interested, but haven’t read any of these books yet, start with No. 1, Bell Mountain.