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Here's me being interviewed by Tim Entwisle on WROM radio (Detroit) and also Rev. James Taylor who believes in a Post Rapture. I take the stance of pre-tribulation Rapture which is how I wrote it in my books. What's with the ums?
Click here to hear the whole interview Click here to see all the books listed
The Rapture Trilogy by Phillip W. Simpson I read this series early in the year and absolutely loved it. Sam is an amazing character, half demon, half human waging a battle to prevent evil taking over the earth. Simpson has an incredible writing style, one that had me immersed in this world and able to visualize in great detail the various environments and characters that formed the story. I was incredibly connected to Sam and wanted so much for him. The expectations of him throughout the trilogy were huge and he delivered time and time again. The Rapture Trilogy certainly appealed to my love of paranormal and while the subject matter has obvious religious connections, this was not over powering. The romance element is light, although there is definitely a love story entwined in these pages along with a good versus evil epic tale with an outcome that is never certain and that will keep you turning pages until you discover exactly how things turn out for Sam. Rapture - Amazon | Barnes & Noble Tribulation - Amazon | Barnes & Noble Apocalypse - Amazon | Barnes & Noble Lots of books and prizes up for grabs (including my Rapture Trilogy) in the Super Kid's Christmas giveaway prize packs. Click here to enter I am very pleased to announce that I now have a new literary agent. Vicki Marsdon was the former publisher at Penguin and Associate publisher at HarperCollins. She has now moved on and joined U.S based literary agency, Wordlink. I've wanted to work directly with Vicki for years so I'm understandably excited by this new development.
Click here to check out Wordlink's page Some of you have already been bored with this news already, but I have just finished a new young adult novel entitled Minotaur. It’s a re-imagining of the Theseus and Minotaur tale, one where Minotaur is just a misunderstood (and slightly deformed) youth.
Two of my fellow authors kindly read the draft for me. D.C (Dawn) Grant (author of ‘High Speed’ and ‘Where the flag floats’) wrote: “…[a book] that people will pick up and not put down.” Catherine Mayo, author of ‘Murder at Mykenai’ wrote: “I loved it!...the whole story is beautifully written and conceived. I think the idea is brilliant and the book has huge potential. The twists in the traditional Theseus and Minotaur tales are convincing and engaging.” This is encouraging of course. I’m inclined to agree but then again, I’m a little biased. I do believe, however, that this is my best work to date. I had a publisher for my last YA trilogy. Sadly they went bust before the third book came out so I got my rights back, went Indie and published all three myself. Being an indie author is a more attractive proposition than ever before. You have all the control and reap most of the rewards. Unfortunately, I do believe that there is also an element of luck or having the right product at the right time. I’m sure there’s thousands of magnificent novels out there published by indie authors who the general public are not aware of. In terms of mainstream authors, some average books sell tons of copies. Hell, some bad books sell tons of copies. I can’t help but think that some of this success is due to the hype built by their publisher. I know for a fact that there are many indie books out there that are better than some of those published by mainstream publishers. But many of these indie books fail to sell. This, I believe, is due to the lack of promotional power. Now let me make one thing clear: I’m not exactly an on-line expert. Saying that, what I don’t know, I learn by doing. I also work pretty hard at promoting my books. I seek out reviews, I pay for advertising, I do giveaways, I’m active on many social network sites, I’ve done virtual book tours. The end result of this hasn’t been much. Despite all my hard work, the trilogy is not selling the way it should be, leaving me dispirited and depressed in the wake of my puny sales. It’s galling because I do believe in the Rapture Trilogy. They're good books. The hundreds of positive reviews as well as interest from a movie studio attest to that. Not only that but I really don’t have endless time for promotional work. I work full-time as a teacher and I do a lot of freelance educational writing as well as my mainstream fiction. On top of all that, I have a two year old son whom I would like to spend more time with. What I am saying is that I want to do things differently this time. That isn’t to say I’m not prepared to work hard, just not do everything myself. It would be nice to have some support. That’s why I want a mainstream deal, one where the publisher (hopefully much larger than my previous one) and I will work together to promote my work. A publisher that can muster more promotional force and bring more guns to the fight. My first step in this plan was to find an agent. I’ve had two agents before and I can’t say I’ve been terribly impressed by the experience. Both failed to sell my work. Regardless of whether it was their failing or some flaw in the products - that is, the books themselves - it left me with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. But it’s very hard to find a publisher that will accept unsolicited manuscripts so I resigned myself to the reality and girded my loins. I sent queries out to ten agents, mostly in New York. That was a month ago. Four responded with ‘nos’ almost immediately without seeing even a partial. Fortunately, one came back to me a couple of days ago with the comment that she ‘absolutely loved it’. And that was it. There’s a few things to sort out before I can officially announce my representation but in the meantime, I can’t help but feel very excited. I really like and respect this woman and I’ve wanted to work with her for some time. She’s made a number of comments and suggestions on how to improve/change the ms so I’ve got some work to do. She did temper these comments by stating that she would still be happy to send the current version out to publishers ‘as is’ which is also encouraging. So, now to find a publisher. Watch this space. This is an interesting and useful way to promote your books. Something I've just discovered. It's called SmackFiction. Here's how it works:
'SmackFiction works by promoting books via our app which is targeted at Young and New Adults (13-25). It functions as a feed of books, reviews, articles, author bios etc, promoting the discovery of quality books readers may otherwise not find. Each book is linked to buy links to approved online retailers, for both paperback and ebook. Alongside this, we have a blog which is pushed out every week, a strong social network channel across various sites and relationships with librarians across NZ and Australia who promote SmackFiction.' The nice people at SmackFiction are promoting my Rapture trilogy. First up is Rapture. Click here to see the promotion So, while I'm waiting for agents to get back to me, decided to have a play with the cover for my new YA novel, Minotaur. Mixed response. I like it. My wife thinks I (or she) can do better. Some of my fellow authors on facebook like it but others not so much. There's been a lot of talk about the placement of his man bits. I made this with Amazon's createspace. As yet, I have no intention to go Indie with Minotaur. I just like having a hardcopy. They've sent it out as a proof which makes the editing process much more convenient and pleasant. “Where shall I start?” asked Minotaur. Ovid made an expansive gesture with both hands. “Where else but the beginning of course.” Minotaur nodded his huge head. “Yes,” he said. “Yes,” his eyes already glazing over with the weight of thousand year old memories. And then he began. So begins the story of Asterion, later known as Minotaur, the half bull creature of Greek legend. Recorded by the famous Roman poet, Ovid, Asterion tells of his boyhood in Crete under the cruel hand of his stepfather Minos, his adventures with his friend, Theseus, and his growing love for the beautiful Phaedra. And of course what really happened in the labyrinth. This is the true story of the Minotaur. I've been working on my latest book which is roughly half completed.
It's a young adult novel. Historical fantasy based on the tale of the Minotaur. I've got a thing for underdogs. I always thought that the Minotaur got a rough deal, particularly when I started reading up on Theseus. Turns out, Theseus wasn't a very nice person. He was actually kind of ruthless. He tortured several people to death and left the woman he promised to marry on a deserted island. History though, is written by the victors. Given that many who wrote about Theseus lived in the heyday of Athens (and Theseus was Athenian), its not surprising that they wrote about him with rose tinted glasses. So, I've reinterpreted the story. Minotaur (real name Asterion), is not such a bad chap after all. Here's a teaser: “Shall I begin then?” asked Minotaur. Ovid held up one finger. “Momentarily.” He rustled through his satchel, producing a quill and a thick sheaf of papyrus. He set them down on the table before him, squinting intently at both objects through bleary eyes as if trying to divine their origins. His eyes suddenly brightened. He bent down again, retrieving a small corked glass bottle filled with a dark liquid. “Can’t write without ink now, can I? This here is the best octopus ink you can buy. The merchant I purchased it from assured me it was from a giant squid fished from the deepest waters off Ostia.” Minotaur nodded disinterestedly. “Are you ready?” he asked in a tone that suggested he was losing patience. “Yes,” said Ovid. “No. Wait.” He picked up the jug of wine from the floor and took a mighty swig, smacked his lips in satisfaction before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He set the jug on the table next to his writing implements. He winked at Minotaur and smiled crookedly. “Writers lubrication.” He took a deep breath and blew it out, filling the air with alcohol fumes. “All set,” he declared finally. “Where shall I start?” Ovid made an expansive gesture with both hands. “Where else but the beginning of course.” Minotaur nodded his huge head. “Yes,” he said. “Yes,” his eyes already glazing over with the weight of thousand year old memories. And then he began. |
Phillip W. Simpson
Phillip W. Simpson is an author of YA and children's books.
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