Protectors of the future come in all shapes and sizes, including homemakers. “Excalibur Reclaims Her King” tells the story of a modern woman charged with the most harrowing of tasks. She must save sixth century Camelot from a witch who may destroy the land of lore, and resurrect the figure who leads it - Arthur. A Christian-themed story, “Excalibur Reclaims Her King” is a new sort of fantasy novel and will entertain well.

-James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review

NEW “EXCALIBUR RECLAIMS HER KING” WEAVES REAL LIFE STRUGGLES WITH SIXTH CENTURY LORE TO INSPIRE ALL TO SEARCH FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL HOLY GRAIL
“Readers will be spellbound, captivated by the tale Ms. Harris and Mr. Blake have spun in ‘Excalibur Reclaims Her King.’ It’s a book they won’t want to put down.”
—Robin M. Buehler
Gannett News Service writer,
journalist, poet, photographer, Author: Hunter’s Big Race

NEW YORK (May 15, 2009) – Author Angelica Harris has always had a passion for Medieval History, especially the Arthurian period. Her latest novel, “Excalibur Reclaims Her King,” (Writers of the Round Table Press, April 2009) with award-winning Actor, Producer and Director Corey Blake, takes a mother on a journey deep into the sixth century where she must battle an evil Queen, open the times gates to Camelot, and raise Arthur from the dead in order to travel back to Rome in search of the titulus of Christ. All in a day’s work for this 21st century New York City mom.

“Fantasy Fiction is probably one of the most beloved genres of our time,” said Harris, producer and director of the Hall of Imagination at Frankie’s Playce in Atlas Park. “It is my sanity. I step out of myself and into my characters. That’s what readers do as well. Fantasy Fiction allows readers to escape the dramatic times in their lives, whether it is the loss of a loved one, an illness, or a job loss due to the economy, and be inspired by heroes from today and centuries past. Writing ‘Excalibur’ helped me to come full circle with my life. I believe it will do the same for others as well.”

The adventure center’s around Read the rest of this entry »

Some writers have an exceptional ability to use language to convey an idea.  Others are brilliant with metaphor.  Still others excel at dialogue or description.  My strength is truth.  Coming from an acting background where I strived to always live truthfully in front of the camera or on stage, I have an innate ability to sense what is true vs. what is “put on” when it comes to writing.  I was watching James Lipton being interviewed by Dave Chapelle for the 200th episode of the show Inside the Actors Studio.  Throughout the episode, they played back various moments where guests of the show described what they believed acting was.  Harrison Ford’s comments struck an epiphany in me.  He talked about how hard he worked to “live” in front of that camera.  To expose the ugly, weak, frail pieces of a character as well as the strength, optimism and courage that a person exhibits in their life.  It struck me that that desire to live in front of others is the strongest asset that I brought into the world of writing from my previous career.  If you’ve ever read my fiction works (Excalibur Reclaims Her King, Edge! A Leadership Story), or the fiction of those I have coached (Duckey and the Ocean Protectors, China Girl), what you’ll find above all else are moments of very vulnerable truth.  I do not have a huge vocabulary. I do not have a colorful way with language, or description. But I do have a way of bringing the truth of a moment to life.  What are your assets as a writer? I hope you’ll take a moment to share them with me.

“It scares you because you know damn well you can’t write it with your brain.  You have to write it with your heart.  It’s like falling in love; you don’t fall in love using just your brain.  It takes heart and instinct.  And it takes heart and instinct to create a life that you fall in love with, too, and that life includes your work.  And when you do that, it shows.  People respond to you before you even say a word.”

—From EDGE! A Leadership Story by Bea Fields and Corey Blake with Eva Silva Travers

Writing your logline is an imperative step to writing your “back of the book” and other marketing copy that will inspire audiences to buy your work. Here are the steps necessary to create an exciting logline!

Step One: The Goal
Write down your main character’s Goal. Do NOT make this theoretical. It must be a tangible goal. “To get the girl.” “To find the treasure.” “To walk on the moon.”

Step Two: The Motivation
Write down your character’s motivation for achieving this goal. “To save his mother from losing her home.” “To prove to his father that he’s worth something.” “So he can apply for a job with the university.”

Step Three: External Obstacles
Write down your main character’s major three external obstacles. These MUST be tangible obstacles, not emotional obstacles. “Her angry ex-boyfriend and his shotgun.” “A speeding train.” “A little old lady with a 12 foot alligator for a pet.”

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Nathan Brown has created a stunning and moody web design concept for my book with Angelica Harris, Excalibur Reclaims Her King.  We plan to launch the site before X-Mas as Angelica and I put the final touches on the manuscript. We actually intend to turn it over for formatting later on today!

A great question.  The answer to that lies in your goals.  I typically work with people whose intention is to make a difference in the lives of their readers and to build an entire operation around their book.  They are not always writers per se; they are typically people who have a massive conversation they want to be the spokesperson of.  People like Robert Renteria and Bea Fields.  Robert’s book From the Barrio to the Board Room is a grass roots effort.  We don’t sell them in stores and though we do have an online presence and do sell copies that way, the majority of our sales are directly to organizations and individuals who want to make a difference in their community by inspiring at risk youth.  These sales are set up directly for the most part and done in large quantities at a discounted rate.  For Robert this makes sense. More of the revenue comes back to our partnership, which gets reinvested in spreading the message and inspiring greater numbers of kids.

For clients like Angelica Harris who is a writer first, her new book, Excalibur Reclaims Her King, needs to be sold through bookstores. While Angelica does have a coaching business and works with other writers, her first love is writing.  Her second love is marketing, but only out of necessity!  Her ideal situation would be a strong publishing partner that could invest in the promotions of the book so that she could continue with the writing of the sequel (which we’re actually almost done with!) and then the next book.

When you work with a commercial publishing partner, you’ll get the support of both bookstores and online outlets.  So the better question might be: self publishing, independent press, or commercial publisher?

As you can see, the answer is relative to your goals.  Some people are crusaders with a message like Robert.  Some people are writers whose imaginations is on the page, like Angelica.  Both require different approaches to sell their books. Consider your goals when considering your strategy.