Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Creating Fictional Settings

This post is based on a talk given at Elroy Public Library in April, 2019.


Settings


One important aspect of creating story besides giving you interesting characters with an intriguing problem is setting them in a place readers can identify with. In cozy mysteries which are generally set in small communities we authors want you to feel at home and fall in love with the neighborhoods and the people.

Authors will set stories in a known place or a hybridized version of the city, or like me, make up a city from scratch. I tend to base my made-up cities near others that are well known so my readers have an idea of where they are, and can identify familiar landmarks. But I want to avoid problems of businesses changing hands or moving, or buildings being torn down, or the old school being made into apartments, or using characters who would never fit into the setting. I read a mystery last year that was set in Hillsboro—just down the road—with very few elements that were true. The author even set it at the foot of Wildcat Mountain and gave us a tough, sexy female police chief. That does not remotely describe Hillsboro.

So, my first step in creating a town is to make sure there’s nothing with the same name that I want to use in the area. I go through atlases and online directories and maps. I knew the Fancy Cat series was going to be set in Illinois, and after searching for a place to build, settled on west central. I may have to play around with locations or names to make it work. There is no Apple Grove on the official Illinois state maps, so I settle on the name. I knew I wanted Apple Grove to be near a river and close to major highways. Eventually, the river and Hannibal Missouri, and being within a couple hours’ drive to Chicago are all important.

Research and fact-finding are important to me. So, although I am making up my community, the lifestyle still has to ring true. Each county and municipality in every state has its own codes and quirks. I don’t live in Illinois, although our younger son and his wife do, so I have a source of first-person knowledge to back up what I research. I chose a small city in the area, Beardstown, and borrowed heavily from its great website.

My books all tend to have large casts. I have trouble identifying with characters who tend to show up midway through life out of the blue and meet somebody, have a story, and then be done, so I give my characters family and friends to interact with. These side characters will often be part of future stories, or become the center of the next mystery. I have placed a city website for my fictional AppleGrove on my own website, which contains elements that I have created or recreated from the Chamber of Commerce and municipal resources. You’ll also find a list of characters and their roles there, as opposed to inside the books.

I found photographs from free sites on the internet to show on my Apple Grove city page. I use a conglomeration because I want readers to be able to fill in the blanks themselves of details of buildings. I rarely put people in my covers or websites for the same reason.

Some familiar things readers will find in many of my stories are set up to provide a place for my characters to meet others, gather information, do regular business, buy food. So we’ll have a diner or restaurant, a gas station, a place to get supplies and food, usually a library and a often, church. Since my work fits into either inspirational or clean and wholesome reading categories, so faith elements are important. Using each of our five senses helps to bind you to a place. Sometimes I will tell you what’s cooking at Tiny’s Buffet; other times, all I need to do is say “diner” and each reader will fill in the blanks with your own memories of smell, and taste, sight, hearing the customers and background noise, and the touch of a fork or a hot cup of coffee.



Venturing to a new Style—Science Fiction
For my story Parhelion, part of which is set around Madison, Sauk City, and Cottage Grove, I just stole the neighborhood and house my oldest brother and sister-n-law bought on Madison’s west side a few years ago. In the first book of the series, Forces of Nature, the main characters bought a house there when they got married, and the poor neighborhood was never the same. This is not their house, by the way. One of my writer friends lives in Cottage Grove, so she gave me a few hints of what it’s like, and we drive through Sauk City quite a bit, though I did take liberties with a new housing complex built there along the river. One of the tricks of the trade is not to give too specific of details.

In Parhelion, however, much of the story moved from Madison to an underground, figuratively and literally, complex in Colorado. The compound is a community carved from mountain caverns. No matter where or when a book is set, we readers still need something to ground us. What are things people need no matter where they are?

My underground community has individual apartments set in clusters, classrooms, parks that have living plants and trees and playground equipment, a sound system, and a video system that shows the day and night skies, even rain. There’s a cafeteria, a chapel, meeting rooms, and offices, as well as laboratories, farm, and a medical clinic. People in the community are experimenting with potentially adapting to life in a new place. They don’t know what to expect about the environment, so they are trying to be redundant, and adaptable without feeling as though they are raising the next generation to be cave people.

It’s not easy to jump into a book, either writing or reading. An author’s goal is to provide a setting that will enrich the story, whether it begins with a crime scene or a scary place someone wants to escape or a place of love and laughter. But most of all we want you to be at home, enjoy your reading experience, and to come back.



Enjoy an Excerpt from Meow Matrimony

There it was—Ivanna’s address, the right hand of a two-story dark-sided and narrow-windowed building. I supposed it was modern classic, but I frowned at its bleakness. The tree in the front yard was spindly, with its “I’m new and insured the first year” store tag fluttering in the breeze. I knocked and rang the bell before depositing the box on the rubber welcome mat.

Weatherman Bob at WWAG reported possible showers in the early morning hours, so I hesitated to leave it exposed. As I reached to test the knob, I noticed the interior door was ajar. Maybe I should push it open and shove the box inside. I didn’t even need to set foot in the entry.

With a peek up and down the street, deserted for the dinner hour, I gingerly eased the glass storm door toward me, then tentatively pushed the black-painted interior door inward. Not even a squeak added to the spooky tension. I grinned. I’d been reading way too many mysteries and detective dramas lately. “Hello! Just dropping this off!” I called as I slid the box forward, though I was certain no one was home.

Except the outstretched fingers on the floor I happened to see appeared too real to spring from an overactive imagination.

I swallowed and pulled back, still on my knees on Ivanna’s stoop. If it was a crime scene, I shouldn’t go in. My heart raced and the sweat on my brow would make my hair frizzier.

But what if she was hurt or sick?

What if an assailant was lurking?

What if I was lying there and someone saw me on the floor?

What if it wasn’t her?

Apple Grove’s semi-warm and fuzzy almost-detective Officer Ripple could reprimand me later. I pushed the door wider—it was already open, not locked, so I couldn’t be accused of breaking and entering, I hoped—and crawled one knee inside. “Hi! Just making a delivery!”

My caution blew back in my face. I’d never seen Ivanna from the radio show, but I recognized her as a former waitress at Tiny’s. She was mostly on her stomach with her legs slightly bent, splayed across her Italian green and gold marble-tiled foyer, red hair partially covering the white skin of her face. Under her pale gold silk blouse her abundant cleavage was kind of pushed up toward her throat and her cheek rested on the floor. I was so glad her eyes were closed. That meant she could be…

“Um, Ivanna? Miss Pressman? Are you all right?” I figured I’d better ask before I checked for a pulse. I didn’t see any blood. As I leaned across her outstretched arm to see if I could put a finger on her neck without touching anything else, I planted my left hand near hers. My skin prickled and I pulled back.

A piece of candy, partially unwrapped, lay near her wrist. I reached for it but stopped before my fingers left prints. Ripple’s stern cop voice sounded in my mind: “You didn’t touch anything, did you?”

I refocused on the very still body. Well, technically I didn’t know if it was—oh, just check for a pulse, Ivy, so you have something to tell the police. “Ivanna? I’m just going to…put my finger here…under your ear…”

There was plenty of time for her to open her eyes or start breathing before I made contact. But, no. Just as I figured. Her icy cold skin did not thrum with any beat of life. WWAG would have to find a new morning show host.

I sat back and fumbled for my phone. While I dialed 911 and waited for the response, I studied Ivanna. Her mouth seemed a little pinched, even in death. A slash of crimson red lipstick and matching polish on her long nails should have clashed with that shade of brassy hair, yet some blondish highlights kept the color from being gauche. The engagement ring on her outstretched hand had a positively vulgar two-carat diamond in an ornate, swirly gold setting, posed as if it was on display.

“What is your emergency?” the voice on my phone asked.

I explained with the fewest words possible and was directed to remain on the scene until officers arrived.

“Sure, I will,” I said and hung up. The adrenalin rush wore off. I’d be late to meet Adam and probably wouldn’t get to see him at all today. I held up my phone again, about to speed dial him, when I was distracted by the piece of candy on the floor.

The wrapper bore the unmistakable winged design of Featherlight Confectionaries—the same kind my ex-fiancé, Stanley Brewer, sold since he’d switched companies.

I stopped in mid-reach once again. I didn’t recognize this style of chocolate cube. This had a slightly bumpy texture, as if stuffed with delicacies. I was well acquainted with them all since we sold that brand at Mea Cuppa, and this one didn’t belong.

Friday, September 6, 2019

The VIkings of Loch Morar Creation Seekers series



About the Book:
Book II in the "CREATION SEEKERS" series
Published by: CREATION WAY BOOKS (an imprint of KOT BOOKS, LLC). March, 2019. (Softcover; 250 pages. Illustrated by Becky Miller.)

Jonathan Oliver is chasing down an intruder on Lake Oswego’s Iron Mountain when he discovers some long-buried artifacts. One of these relics sparks a remarkable spinoff from the Oliver family’s greatest invention. Together, Jon and his father incorporate their breakthrough into a revolutionary submersible design. At the invitation of Dr. Graham MacKenzie, the Gyrosensors team travels to one of Scotland’s wildest and remotest regions—and its deepest lake—to develop their secret prototype. While staying at Dr. MacKenzie’s retreat center, they meet a pretty but mysterious Frenchwoman going under an assumed name. Across the loch, the reclusive caretaker of a Victorian-era hunting lodge is hiding staggering secrets of his own. During the prototype's construction and sea trials, Jon and his family confront enemies on land, in the air and under the water. In the end, Jon rekindles a long-lost love and finds an ancient, holy treasure-hoard.

Buy the book:
Print: $11.99 plus $3.95 shipping
Print: $13.95
Ebook: $4.99, special during this promotion: $2.99

*(Before you post the info on this title, I will also reduce its Kindle price to $2.99.)

A brief interview with the author:

What do you love about your new book?
One aspect of my new book I love is that Scottish legends are central to the plot (just as in The Lake Lights). In The Vikings of Loch Morar, the legend is connected to actual phenomena taking place in and around a Scottish lake. (Not Loch Ness, by the way.) Something else I love about this title is the way the Vikings and Viking history are tied to modern-day Oregon and Scotland. I enjoyed the process of intertwining historical fact and fiction and tying up some of the loose ends left in The Lake Lights. I’m always blessed by Becky Miller’s marvelous illustrations as well.

Most of all, I love how God reveals Himself in this book by strengthening the characters’ faith and by helping them to survive in the face of impossible odds. God definitely had a part in resurrecting the relationship between Jonathan Oliver and his former love interest, too! 

What are two things you learned while researching?
In order to make the plot believable, I learned to read and write Old Norse runes, much as J.R.R. Tolkien employed in The Lord of the Rings. In fact, once I learned Old Norse runology, I could read what Tolkien had written in runes on one of his book covers. (“One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them…”) It turns out that he transliterated English words phonetically into those runes. In The Vikings of Loch Morar, however, I actually translated my English phrases into Old Norse before transliterating the Old Norse into runes. (That ancient language shares a common Proto-Germanic ancestor with English, by the way.) I also researched the evidence for Viking settlements in America and in the British Isles. To this day, we still don’t know how far those seafaring raiders penetrated into America, though they left behind tantalizing clues in the form of tools and runestones.

Tell us about the character who gave you the most trouble.
That would be Crìsdean MacKenzie, caretaker of the Swordland Lodge. Not only is his accent thicker than day-old Scottish porridge, but I also had to create his character and backstory out of whole cloth. MacKenzie (not to be confused with Dr. Graham MacKenzie) is the latest in a long line of caretakers, having taken an early retirement from his teaching position at Oxford to replace the former caretaker. Crìsdean harbors an old and extraordinary secret passed down from one caretaker to the next. It is this knowledge that ultimately becomes the focal point of the plot. 

What do you hope readers will tell others about your book?
That it offers something for everybody—adventure, inspiration, history and mystery, suspense, science and science fiction, romance—and a glimpse into the Christian vision of life after death.

What are you reading now?
Anything I can get my hands on!

What’s next?
I’m actually engaged in the reprinting of some of my first series titles under my own imprint (Creation Way Books). Sadly, my former publisher, WinePress, closed its doors a few years ago and left quite a number of authors in the lurch. I have finally figured out how to republish all seven of those titles myself, but I’m having to reformat everything from scratch. It will be a protracted process.

About the Author
William D. BurtWilliam D. Burt is the award-winning author of the seven-title Christian allegorical “King of the Trees” series and of his new Creation Seekers series: “The Lake Lights” (Book 1) and “The Vikings of Loch Morar” (Book 2). All nine of Burt’s titles have been awarded five stars by Readers’ Favorite reviewers. Two of his first series titles (out of three submitted) were finalists in the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest: “The King of the Trees” and “The Golden Wood.”

“The King of the Trees” subsequently won the 2014 Silver Medal in the category of “Christian Fantasy/Sci-fi.”

The Creation Seekers series is William Burt’s first foray into the realm of science fiction. The titles in this series feature the adventures of a fictional Oregon family of brilliant scientists and educators who turn the world upside down with their revolutionary inventions and discoveries.

 As an Assistant Professor in the Special Education Department at Western Oregon University, Burt served as a successful grant-writer and program coordinator. He holds a B.S. in English from Lewis and Clark College and an M.S. in Deaf Education from Western Oregon University. Burt has been an RID-certified sign-language interpreter with over forty years’ experience. His interests include reading, foreign languages and mycology. He is married with two grown children and four grandchildren.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

New historical fiction from Pelican Book Group

Mercy Like a River (Cantrell Sisters)

From Pelican Book Group

Recent widow Jared Montrose needs a new wife to maintain his home. In order to flee a cruel past, Mercy Cantrell accepts his mail-order, but can the stubborn lawman handle the feisty and beautiful woman?

And will he accept her love in return?

buy in the Publisher's store $5.99 ebook

Friday, August 30, 2019

In an Instant Tracy Wainwright

In an Instant

In an Instant
Tray Wainwright

c. July 2019
Prism, an imprint of Pelican Book Group

$5.99 ebook
$15.99 Print

Buy on Amazon

About the Book
The Clock is Ticking...
Julie Montgomery left for work but never arrived. Her husband, Luke, reports her disappearance, but Officer Terrence Cooper isn’t convinced anything’s amiss. As he looks into the case, he discovers that not only are Luke Montgomery’s fears warranted, but that Julie had been hiding a dark secret.

Julie vanished in an instant. By the time Terrence unravels the truth, will it be too late to get her back?

My Review
Set in lush fall east coast rural America, Wainwright’s Christian suspense shows how all things must work together in order to save a missing woman.

At the start, a young husband’s report of his bride’s disappearance seems uncomplicated at best, suspicious at worst. Luke knows only that although his wife’s car arrived at work, she didn’t show up at her historical interpretation position in the Colonial Williamsburg historical complex. Since it’s only been a couple of hours, Officer Cooper has nothing but gut instinct to go on when he agrees to check things out. As he gets deeper into the troubling situation, he begins to unravel a secret of despair that Luke’s wife, Julie, and mother-in-law are desperate to keep in the past.

Our past not only haunts us, it returns upon occasion to remind us that we are all imperfect creatures and secrets hurt and betray. When Julie decides to stomp the ugliness of her youth into the ground and share her newfound normalcy with joyous abandon when she marries Luke, her past rises up in an attempt to regain control of her life. Officer Cooper, a loner on the force, learns he must use the expertise of those around him, even if he doesn’t respect their intent or beliefs. Julie’s mother and husband must rely on the only course of action they have to help Julie, which is deep prayer, and the prayers of friends. Julie and Luke both understand that in desperate situations, they do the best they can and then rely on the One who is truly in control.

A few clever distractions briefly hide the depth of the crime, and overall good dialog and characters keep the reader turning pages. Those who love their crime stories interwoven with Christian prayer and moments of Christian gathering to soften the moments of violence will find much to appreciate in Wainwright’s newest book.

About the Author

Tracy Wainwright
Tracy is the author of books and multiple local and national magazines articles. She enjoys writing in a variety of genres and has works in the categories of Bible Studies, adult fiction, young adult, children’s fiction and nonfiction. Her latest nonfiction book, A Transformed Mind is the first in a series of twelve mini ebooks devoted to life transformation. Tracy works in her writing around being a wife and homeschooling mom of four, women’s conference director, women’s ministry leader in her church and speaking. She loves Jesus, other people and both the written and spoken word.







Friday, August 23, 2019

Currently reading In an Instant



The Clock is Ticking...
Julie Montgomery left for work but never arrived. Her husband, Luke, reports her disappearance, but Officer Terrence Cooper isn't convinced anything’s amiss. As he looks into the case, he discovers that not only are Luke Montgomery’s fears warranted, but that Julie had been hiding a dark secret.
Julie vanished in an instant. By the time Terrence unravels the truth, will it be too late to get her back?


Excerpt

A demanding voice broke through Terrence’s concentration.

“I don’t care if your policy says to wait forty-eight hours. I want someone to help me look for my wife.”

He glanced up from the stack of paperwork to the man berating the front desk clerk. Late twenties, he guessed. About five foot ten, dark blond hair, fit. Probably worked with his hands, judging from the calluses visible on his palms from across the room. The man’s face shone beet red, and he glared at the poor rookie. Jack turned from the angry man and met Terrence’s gaze. He raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes.

Terrence groaned, handed the file he’d been flipping through to Officer Clark, and sauntered over.

The distraught man shifted his gaze to meet his straight on. Terrence ignored the pain reflected in the man’s eyes. Anyone could fake emotion.

“What’s the problem, sir?” He steadied his voice, exuding calm instead of the irritation bubbling inside. The best way to get someone to placidity was to lead them there.

The man spoke through clenched teeth. “My…wife…is…missing. I want someone to help me find her.”

“OK. Let’s start with the basics. What’s your name?”

“Luke Montgomery. My wife’s name is Julie.”

He held the man’s challenging stare. Mr. Montgomery refocused the conversation off himself and back to his wife. Interesting. Most missing wife cases turned out to be the husband. Deflection could be a cover. “OK. Your wife is missing. How long has she been gone?”

“About two hours.”

He blinked several times instead of rolling his eyes as he wanted. Montgomery’s wife probably decided to take a long breakfast with a girlfriend or do some early morning Christmas shopping. The possibilities were endless. “Two hours? She could be anywhere, passing time, goofing off with a friend.” He took a deep breath. “Give her some more time. She’ll show up, and you’ll laugh about it over turkey in a couple weeks.”

Terrence turned to leave, but a hand gripped the sleeve of his uniform, spinning him back around. Heat seared through his veins. “Remove your hand, sir.”

Tears pooled in the man’s eyes, throwing Terrence off balance. He stepped back, and Mr. Montgomery let go of his shirt.

“You don’t get it.” Mr. Montgomery raked his fingers through his hair. “She should be at work. Her car’s where she always parks it. She’s as reliable as a clock. She’s missing, and I know every minute ticking by means the chances of finding her diminishes.”

Terrence’s blood cooled to a simmer. He glanced at Jack and met sympathy in the young cop’s eyes. Great. This guy isn’t going away until someone talks to him. “All right, Mr. Montgomery. Why don’t we get some coffee, sit down, and tell me about your wife.”

The man’s shoulders dropped. “Thank you.”

He turned to the rookie. “Jack?”

“Interview room two is open.”

“This way, Mr. Montgomery.” Terrence led him through the desks, paused to fill two cups of coffee, then continued down a hallway and into the room with a large “2” pasted on the door. He closed the door, flicked his hand toward the metal chair on the opposite side of the table, and plunked down. He glanced behind him. Jack would have sent someone to observe from the other side of the two-way mirror in case this guy got a little too passionate about his missing wife.

He sipped from one of the steaming cups and set the extra one on the table in front of the troubled Mr. Montgomery. The man shook his head.

“OK, tell me more about your wife. When did you last see or talk to her?”

Montgomery splayed his fingers flat on the cold, hard table and stared at them. “About six-thirty when she left for work.”

“What about before that? Did y’all have a fight?” He slurped from his cup again. Black and strong. How he perceived himself. How he preferred his coffee.

Montgomery’s jaw twitched. “No. The morning went great. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until her coworker Sue called to say Julie never showed up.”

He studied the man. Creased brow, open arms. He didn’t appear to be hiding anything.

Terrence leaned back in his chair and ran his thumb along the top rim of the Styrofoam. “Let’s go back to before she left. Give me the play-by-play of the morning.”

The muscles in Montgomery’s face relaxed, and he also leaned back. “We got up at five and went for a run, like we do every weekday morning. I fixed breakfast while she took a shower. We ate together, and she finished getting ready while I showered. We kissed good-bye, got in our cars, and headed to work.”

Ugh. How disgustingly bland. No one could be that boring. He had to be leaving something out. “But she never made it.”

He scrunched his eyebrows. “No.”

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Courting Danger suspsense with Nike Chillemi



buy on Amazon


About the Book:
Newly installed Pelican Beach, FL detective Katerina "Kat" Andruko fears the prime suspect will get off in the murder of a teen with the help of the department's forensics psychologist, a man she's just started to trust.

The case has national security implications giving former US Army Ranger, Dr. Dimitri Garmonin a chance to work with the FBI. It could help him gain funds needed to expand his small Behavior Analysis Unit. He's unmoved by the chic FBI agent but is intrigued by Kat with whom he shares a Slavic heritage.

Det. Katerina "Kat" Andruko and her partner detain two wrong suspects, giving the department negative press. The predator turns his anger on Kat, targeting her. Can Dimitri use his profiler skills to protect Kat before the feisty detective does something else to enrage this killer.

A Brief Interview with the Author:
Q: What do you love about your new book?
A: I loved giggling and laughing as I created and wrote my quirky characters. It was such fun dressing middle-aged Detective Gilbert Nash in Sonny Crocket/Miami Vice type colorful suits. He makes his first appearance at the murder site in a cornflower-blue suit jacket, beige silk tee, tan slacks, and sockless feet in tan and black loafers. Another time he shows up in a pumpkin-colored suit which he claims is a "perfectly acceptable fall color." I got such a kick out of the wryly humorous courtroom scene where the elderly Honorable Hyam Noach Levine puts a gangbanger in his place.

Q: What are two things you learned while researching?
A: In this case, the novel itself took its shape from my personal research. I knew I was going to write about a serial killer in a beach town as early as 2014. At that time, Russia was invading Crimea in the Ukraine. As I'm of Ukrainian heritage, I was amazed and proud of the Ukrainian Orthodox priests who stood in front of Russian tanks holding crosses. It spurred me on to read articles about how these priests ministered to the people of the Crimea day and night while they were under attack. So, I thought, what if I made my American born heroine the child of devout Ukrainian Orthodox parents. Of course, you have conflict when she suspects the hero, the city's profiler of being the murderer…and even more conflict when the sexy FBI agent makes a play for him. But I thought why not create underlying socio-ethnic conflict/suspicion and make the profiler Russian-born.

Q: Tell us about the character who gave you the most trouble.
A: My killer gave me the most trouble. I can't go into too much detail without giving this individual's identity away.

Q: What do you hope readers will tell others about your book?
A: That the novel engages the reader on multi-levels. -- And that it's 99 cents all summer.

Q: What are you reading now?
A: Magnolia Storms by Janet W. Ferguson, and I'm enjoying it tremendously.

Q: What’s next?
A: I'm working on a new detective novel with a national security twist entitled Acts of Malice. It's heroine, Lavender Raines, is a new widow. Her husband has been brutally murdered and it appears he was involved in something covert. The hero, known as Mackey, who Lavender is wary of from the get-go, is an operative with a clandestine organization. Unbeknownst to her, he has been tasked with finding her husband's killers.

About the Author:

Nike is the founding board member of the Grace Filled Fiction Spotlight (formerly the Grace Awards) and its Chair, a platform to promote excellence in Christian fiction. She has been a judge in the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories; the Genesis Awards in 2019; and an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category. Her four novel Sanctuary Point series (out of print), set in the mid-1940s has finaled, won an award, and garnered critical acclaim. The first novel in the Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels/Dawson Hughes series HARMFUL INTENT won in the Grace Awards 2014 Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Thriller/Historical Suspense category. She has written book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and John 3:16 Marketing Network.  https://nikechillemi.com/


Friday, August 16, 2019

William Burt Creation Seekers books


LAKE LIGHTS ANGLED COVER

About the Book: 
Book I in the Creation Seekers series

Published by: CREATION WAY BOOKS (an imprint of KOT BOOKS, LLC). June, 2017. (Softcover; 314 pages. Illustrated by Becky Miller.)

What are the mysterious lights flitting above Oswego Lake on moonlit nights? Marsh gas? Ball lightning? Or holdovers from the dawn of Creation?

When Jonathan Oliver makes it his homeschool project to track down the source of the Lake Lights, his search leads him to Iron Mountain’s abandoned Prosser Mine and its age-old secrets. After his physicist father goes missing in the wilds of Afghanistan, Jon is left to decode a cryptic message leading to yet more mysteries and a remarkable, game-changing invention.

With his grandfather’s help, Jon matches wits with an unscrupulous scientist who will stop at nothing to steal the device and sell it to a shadowy criminal organization. Jon’s dual discoveries not only help him to deliver his city from total annihilation but also ultimately rock the scientific world to its very foundations.

Buy the book:
Print: $11.99 plus $3.99 shipping
Print: $13.95
Ebook: $4.99 - special sale during this promotion of $2,99

A brief interview with the Author
What do you love about your new book?
I love the fact that it’s set in an actual location in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where I grew up. It’s fun to be able to walk the scenic Iron Mountain trail and identify the remnants of the Prosser Iron Mine and other landmarks mentioned in the book. Though I’m not a fan of historical fiction per se, I did enjoy weaving both historical fact and fiction into the plot. I also loved incorporating some Creation Science principles (and live “dinosaurs”) into the story, which is one of the main reasons I wrote it. So many young people and adults nowadays are steeped in Darwinism that I thought it was high time Creationism received equal billing. Something else I enjoyed about this title is that all the Oliver family members are devoted Christians. Moreover, my main character and his sister end up being homeschooled. I purposely portray homeschoolers as normal, intelligent, well-adjusted students.

What are two things you learned while researching this story?
First, I learned a great deal about the Prosser Iron Mine’s history (which I tweaked a bit for the story). It turns out that in its day, the mine was the largest of its kind on the west coast, with many extensive and unexplored drifts. Not far from my childhood home, for example, a woman remodeling her house accidentally broke into one of these mine tunnels. Second, I learned more of the flaws in evolutionary theory—such as the discovery of unfossilized tissues in many fossilized remains. (I’ve actually studied the subject for many years, but research is turning up new inconsistencies every day.)

Tell us about the character who gave you the most trouble.
Dr. Graham MacKenzie is a Scottish volcanologist who is also a Creation Scientist. As a family friend, he has an important role to play. I enjoyed developing his character so much that I carried him over into the sequel, The Vikings of Loch Morar. However, putting his Scottish idiomatic English on paper proved to be quite a challenge, though it was great fun!

What do you hope readers will tell others about your book?
I hope they will tell their friends that as a clean, inspirational (and educational) mystery adventure tale, this is a book well worth the reading—and re-reading.

What are you reading now?
I just finished re-reading The Wind and the Willows and am halfway through The Cottingley Secret, which is a well-written and imaginative spinoff from actual historical events. Otherwise, I mainly read the Bible.

What’s next?
I have some ideas rolling around in my head—a kind of crossover between my two series involving a different spin on time-travel. We’ll see if those concepts bear fruit.

About the Author
William D. BurtWilliam D. Burt is the award-winning author of the seven-title Christian allegorical “King of the Trees” series and of his new Creation Seekers series: “The Lake Lights” (Book 1) and “The Vikings of Loch Morar” (Book 2). All nine of Burt’s titles have been awarded five stars by Readers’ Favorite reviewers. Two of his first series titles (out of three submitted) were finalists in the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest: “The King of the Trees” and “The Golden Wood.”

“The King of the Trees” subsequently won the 2014 Silver Medal in the category of “Christian Fantasy/Sci-fi.”

The Creation Seekers series is William Burt’s first foray into the realm of science fiction. The titles in this series feature the adventures of a fictional Oregon family of brilliant scientists and educators who turn the world upside down with their revolutionary inventions and discoveries.
 As an Assistant Professor in the Special Education Department at Western Oregon University, Burt served as a successful grant-writer and program coordinator. He holds a B.S. in English from Lewis and Clark College and an M.S. in Deaf Education from Western Oregon University. Burt has been an RID-certified sign-language interpreter with over forty years’ experience. His interests include reading, foreign languages and mycology. He is married with two grown children and four grandchildren.