New Series for Youth

Frank Peretti

Frank Peretti, Bill Myers, Angela Hunt and Alton Gansky team up to release “Harbingers," an ongoing series of supernatural novellas published through Amaris Media International. Each author writes as one of four unlikely heroes with a supernatural gift. Together they join forces to defeat growing pockets of world darkness. The first novella, The Call, penned by Myers is now available. It will be followed next month by Peretti’s The Haunted, then Hunt’s, The Sentinels, and Gansky’s The Girl.

Here is a fun introduction and explanation about this series:

In this fast-paced world with all its time demands, the four of us wanted to try something new. Instead of the longer, novel format, we wanted to write something equally as engaging but that could be read in one or two settings – on the plane, waiting to pick up the kids from soccer, or an evening’s read.

We also wanted to play. As friends and seasoned novelists, we thought it would be fun to create a game that we could participate in together. The rules were simple:

Rule #1

Angela Hunt

Each of us will write as if we were one of the characters in the series:
-Bill Myers will write as Brenda, the street-hustling, tattoo artist who sees images of the future.
-Frank Peretti will write as the Professor, a caustic and skeptical ex-priest.
-Angela Hunt will write as Andi, his over-zealous assistant who sees patterns.
-Alton Gansky will write as Tank, the naïve, big-hearted jock whose connection to God carries unique surprises.

Alton Gansky

Rule #2
Instead of the four of us writing one novella together (we’re friends but not crazy), we will write it like a TV series. There is an overarching story line that we’ll plug our own novellas into, with each story written from our character’s point of view.

Bill’s first novella, available now on Amazon and conveniently titled The Call, sets the stage. It will be followed by Frank’s The Haunted in March, Angela’s The Sentinels in April, and Alton's The Girl in May. If we keep having fun, we’ll begin a second round, and so on until other demands pull us away or, as in TV, we get cancelled.

There you have it. We hope you’ll find these as entertaining in the reading as we did in the writing.

Thanks!
Bill, Frank, Angie, and Al

The Call
(Harbingers Book 1)
Bill Meyers
(Amaris Media International)
ASIN: B00T58G7FA
February 2015/596 KB/$3.99
Also available in paperback:
ISBN: 978-0692378335
February 2015/96 pages/$6.99
Five characters--with gifts they do not fully understand-- are mysteriously brought together to battle growing pockets of darkness throughout the world:

Brenda—the street-hustling tattoo artist who sees images of the future.
The Professor—the atheist ex-priest ruled by logic.
Andi—the professor’s brilliant-but-geeky assistant who sees inexplicable patterns.
Tank—the naïve, big-hearted jock with a surprising connection to a healing power.
Daniel—the institutionalized ten-year-old who can see into the supernatural world.

In this first episode, our unlikely team comes together to find themselves helping a student at the mysterious Institute for Advanced Psychic Studies. He will soon graduate and use his finely-tuned skills of lucid dreaming to assist world renown leaders. For him, this is a great honor and opportunity . . . but with some very disturbing strings attached.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Myers holds a degree in Theater Arts from the University of Washington and an honorary doctorate from the Theological Institute of Nimes, France, where he taught. As author/screenwriter/director his work has won over 50 national and international awards, including the C.S. Lewis Honor Award. His DVDs and books have sold 8 million copies. His children’s DVD and book series, McGee and Me, has sold 4.5 million copies, has won 40 Gold and Platinum awards, and has been aired on ABC as well as in 80 countries. His My Life As… series has sold 2.1 million copies. He has written, directed, and done voice work for Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey radio series and is the voice of Jesus in Zondervan’s NIV Audio Bible. As an author, nearly all of his children's series have made the bestseller list, as well as 7 of his adult novels. He has been interviewed for Good Morning America and ABC Nightly News. Several of his novels are currently under option for motion pictures, including Blood of Heaven, Threshold, Eli, Fire of Heaven, When the Last Leaf Falls, and Forbidden Doors. The motion picture The Wager starring Randy Travis and based on Myers’s novel by the same name, was released in 2009.


MY THOUGHTS

While I generally avoid supernatural fiction as a personal preference, I was intrigued by this series because of the authors involved and the way they are rotating the writing. I read a pdf of this first book and was intrigued by the story. I believe it will appeal to teens and anyone who enjoys a fast-paced tale with supernatural elements. An eclectic group of characters provide plenty of color and personality, and quite a bit of action happens in a short amount of time. Available as both an e-book and in paperback, the short novella length makes this a quick read, encouraging reluctant readers to pick it up. I look forward to the next books in this series.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received an electronic copy of this book free from Angela Hunt. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”