Author: Michael

New York Times best-selling author James Rollins has just released his newest novel The Last Oracle. I’m sure it it going to rocket right to the top of all the bestseller lists around the country. I love Jim’s books. They’re full of action, adventure, a dash of science usually coupled with some ancient mystery and they definitely meet my “stuff must blow up” criteria.

What I’ve learned about Jim over the years is that he suffers for his art. He scuba dives. He spelunks. He personally does a lot of stuff his characters experience in his books. That’s probably why you get that real ‘you are there’ sense from reading them. In fact, a certain Hollywood producer was so smitten by Jim’s work, that he hired him to write the novelization of his latest big screen epic. You might have heard of it. It was a little film called Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Knowing that we share an interest in action, adventure, zombies and explosions, what else do you think that I, your humble authorness, have in common with James Rollins?

Give up?

We both love my new book THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail!

Here is what Jim had to say about it:

“A masterful blend of whimsical fantasy, spellbinding suspense, and historical mystery, read it before a crackling fire and allow it to sweep you away into another world and time. A classic adventure in the making, not to be missed!”

That’s right! James Rollins my peeps! Feeling The Youngest Templar love!

See you next week!

Your authorness.

One of the coolest things about writing and publishing THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail (on sale September 18th and now available for pre-order at most online booksellers I’m just sayin’) has been the sales to foreign publishers. When I was in Bologna a few months ago, I got to meet several of the editors and publishers from each of the companies and it was a thrill to hear about their enthusiasm for my work. I never had any idea when I wrote THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail (on sale September 18th and now available for pre-order at most online booksellers I’m just sayin’) that I would sell it in even one foreign country, let alone seven so far. Not to mention audio rights to Random House!

Still, as a veteran of the publishing industry it’s interesting to me to see how much alike and different publishing abroad is compared to publishing here in the United States. I’ve been so impressed with each companies approach and enthusiasm. But in particular my German publisher Klopp has been amazing. They’ve designed a beautiful cover, they’ve had me do a video interview and they’ve created a super cool book trailer! Which you can watch! Right here! On this blog! Isn’t the Internet amazing? Thanks Al Gore!

I can only tell you that it’s beyond thrilling to have all of these companies so excited about my book.

I’ve mentioned earlier how much buzz is building for THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail(on sale September 18th and now available for pre-order at most online booksellers I’m just sayin’) and it just keeps going. So I hope you’ll watch the trailer a few dozen times, email a link to a few hundred friends and then circle the date September 18th on your calendar!

I’m just sayin’.

Peace. Out

So you know, I have may have mentioned it once or twice, but I’ve got a big new novel going on sale wherever books are sold on September 18, 2008. It’s called THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail. (You can read a sneak peak and enter the contest on the contest page!). The book has sold in seven countries and will also be published as an audio book from Listening Library. Buzz.

As they say in the book business, THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR is getting a lot of buzz. Unlike that annoying buzzing sound in your radio when the station isn’t quite coming in, buzz for a book is a good thing. It means that people are talking about it. Reading it. Waiting for it it to come out. Which will on September 18, 2008. In fact, if this book were getting any more buzz, I’m afraid I might turn into a bee. Buzz.

THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail is a book that is right in the wheelhouse of the books that kids are reading today. Think Ranger’s Apprentice or The Olympian’s series by Rick Riordan. It’s a historical action-adventure novel, that is set during the third crusade, when King Richard the Lionheart attempted to take back the Holy Land from the Saladin. The story centers around Tristan, an orphan of mysterious origin, left on the steps of a monastery as a babe. Living out his life at the quiet abbey, he yearns to see the world and find out what he can about his past.

One night a regimento of Knights Templar stop to rest at the Abbey and Sir Thomas Leux asks Tristan to become his squire. It’s the opportunity Tristan has been waiting for. He joins the Templars and with Sir Thomas as his teacher learns his role as a squire to a knight. With Sir Thomas he travels to the Holy Land. There, during a critical battle when the Templars are about to be overrun, Sir Thomas entrusts Tristan with the Holy Grail. He tells him that Tristan must return the Grail safely to England. So begins Tristan’s quest to fulfill his duty.

As with all of my novels, there is a ton of action, narrow escapes, epic battles and the perequiste stuff blowing up. It’s fast paced, exciting and the kind of book I loved to read when I was twelve. So when September 18, 2008 rolls around I’m hoping you’ll check it out. Heck, if you want to pre-order a copy now, be my guest.

But (and talk about burying the lead!) you don’t need to take just my word for it. New York Times Best-Selling author Meg Cabot (yes! The Meg Cabot!) had this to say about THE YOUNGEST TEMPLAR: Keeper of the Grail:

“Adventure quest at it’s best! Readers will be dying for the next installment! Tristan is a hero to remember.”

 Buzzzzz.

Just sayin’

About ten years ago I had the good fortune to read THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER by Steve Kluger. It’s a truly wonderful novel about a young, fatherless boy in pre-World War II Brooklyn. Lonely and afraid of growing up Joey Margolis begins writing letters to Charlie Banks, the sensational rookie third baseman for the New York Giants. Over time, the two develop one of the most unlikely friendships you will ever find in literature. It’s a book that leaves you laughing, crying and full of wonder and it quickly has become a favorite of both myself and my family.

So I was pleased to pick up a copy of Steve’s newest young adult novel MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park. I’ll admit that I approached the book with a bit of trepidation. I don’t know if you’re like me, but there are books I love so much that when an author hits one out of the park, like Steve did with THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER, there’s a small part of me that’s afraid that their next book won’t measure up. After all, I happen to know a little bit about what it takes to write a book and it’s certainly not easy and LAST DAYS OF SUMMER was so perfect that you’d think a fall off would be inevitable.

I’m happy to say that in the case of MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR you’d be wrong.

While it’s clearly different than THE LAST DAYS OF SUMMER and also certainly written for young adults, it’s still a masterpiece. It has all the trademark elements of a Steve Kluger novel. The humor, the unvarnished love of the small things in life and a group of adolescents who are going through the sometimes far too painful process of finding out who and what they are. The characters are wonderfully drawn. T.C. is the motherless boy who falls desperately in love with Alejandra one of the most delightful tough chicks you’ll ever meet in YA fiction. If you don’t enjoy the dance these two undertake to try and avoid falling head over heels for each other, then I can only say that the Grinch must have left coal in your stocking at Christmas time. Then there is Augie, T.C.’s brother in spirit if not blood, struggling with his sexual identity and finding out that even though we may be different from one another, underneath it all we’re all the same.

It’s a truly wonderful romantic comedy and I think you’ll enjoy it regardless of your age. But if you’re looking for a book for older teens that they can identify with, that will tell them that they aren’t alone in trying to figure out some of the hard questions, you could do a whole lot worse than MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR.

Enjoy!

P.S. It now looks that a deal to save FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS for a third season has been reached. Good Job! By the way, if you enjoy the show you should check out the book that led to the movie that led to the TV show. It’s a terrific read.

It’s been an extremely busy week here at the world headquarters of Team Mike. That’s because today is the official publication day of SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE. February has turned out to be a very busy month indeed.

SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE is my first foray into manga. What is manga you ask? Good question and I’m glad you asked it. Manga is a Japanese word that means comics. In Japan after WWII a very different style of comic writing, illustrating and publishing took hold. Much different than what we are used to seeing in American comics that tended to focus on costumed super heroes. In Japan, the characters were usually younger, most often teenage girls and the stories they told were illustrated in a particular style and were much longer than the typical comic book. So manga is basically what we in the United States would call a graphic novel. A novel where the story is carried in both words and pictures.

I’ve gotten a lot of reader feedback from fans wanting to know why I’ve continued the Spy Goddess series in manga as opposed to a regular novel. My answer is that if you’re a writer that wants to grow your audience you need to “fish where the fish are” and manga has the fastest growing readership of any part of the YA market today. So I said sign me up.

The good news is that SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE is a BRAND NEW Rachel Buchanan adventure. Let me say that again, SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE is a BRAND NEW Rachel Buchanan adventure. It continues the story where SPY GODDESS: TO HAWAII, WITH LOVE left off. It has the same characters, the same villain and it has all of the high action, suspense, humor and witty dialogue that you’ve come to expect from the novels.

So if you’re hungry for more SPY GODDESS action please give the new book a try. Think of SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE as a bridge between the Spy Goddess novels and what SPY GODDESS might look like on a movie screen. And if we all get behind it and make it a big success maybe we’ll see the adventures of Rachel Buchanan at the local cineplex one of these days.

It could happen!

I’m just sayin’

Peace out.