BANDITS OF BASSWOOD
By E.P. Bellows
All
of Azra’s Pith is my childhood wandering mind crammed into a grand adventure.
The series is inspired by visits to my grandmother’s house as a youngster. We
spent the days wandering through the woods, building tipis, and swimming out to
the sinking log in the lake... a fallen tree that bobbed around in the best
possible way right in the middle of the lake. It made a great jumping
board.
I also
spent much of my summers bicycling to the creek to catch frogs. I always hoped
to find a portal to a world similar to Narnia while out wandering. While I
never found that portal, I was able to dream one up I can visit any time.
Azra’s Pith truly is an amazing place and I hope to share it with anyone and
everyone!
I
started writing when my son was born. I wanted to write stories to read to him.
Now he loves to give his input as to what and who should be in Azras’ Pith. My
kiddos have inherited my fantasy gene and are never short of ideas and
inspiration. Azra’s Pith is even more incredible as a result.
When my
writing went from a few bedtime stories to an adventurous and magical journey
going back generations, I decided to seek a publisher. I could redecorate my
office with wallpaper made strictly of rejection letters. Within those
rejection letters were sparks of encouragement and critiques which nudged me to
persevere.
The
Azra’s Pith series has been on quite a wild ride. The first story was picked up
by a midsize publisher in 2007, (Rain Publishing) only to be returned to me
before being released because the publisher closed its doors. So, the hunt for
a new home for the series started. After some more rejection, critiques and
revisions (along with of plenty self-loathing and cookie eating), we found a
home with Wild Child Publishing.
I
learned that the writing was just part of the process (the best part). Once you
believe your work is complete and you can move on to the next part of the
adventure, the work really begins. What follows are edits, more edits,
revisions, another round of edits, a good proofreading after the edits... and
then, the marketing.
Another
twist in the adventure... after three years and three books into the series,
Wild Child also closed their doors and returned the stories back to me. Since
then, I’ve decided to take what I’ve learned and publish on my own. I have been
able to focus on the part I love the most... the writing.
Bandits
of Basswood has been revised and is available now. I am currently revising all
of the books. Quest for Copia will
be released again soon! Thanks so much for having me! Please join me in Azra’s
Pith!
John William Drake was born an explorer; just like many, many Drakes before him. His adventure really began with the discovery of a book hidden in the ceiling, followed by the mysterious disappearance of his father. He lived every day in misery until his twelfth birthday. A new friend gave him an invitation he could not turn down… follow me and change your destiny.
He never imagined being captured by bandits and taken to a ship riddled with river rats was part of his fate. Not just any bandits – the Bandits of Basswood; known to be a ruthless and wild crew of thieves. Trying to escape would be a ridiculous idea. No one has ever escaped and lived to tell about it. Uncovering traces of his missing father gave him hope and upped the stakes. John William was determined to get off the ship alive and search for the missing pieces of the puzzle. The chase out of Basswood was on. He took a chance to change his destiny and ended up on a wild ride to solve the most important mystery of his life.
PRAISE
“The imaginative world created by the author is especially fun. Some animals can talk (with attitude!), magic is in the air and emu-like creatures provide fast transportation. Yes, I realize this series is for children- and they can certainly read it. Just as soon as I’m finished.” – Amazon Reviewer 5 stars
“I enjoyed reading these books. Great for young adults, even though I’m an adult. I would recommend this series to those kids who like a good adventure…” – Amazon Reviewer 5 stars
“A simple walk into the world of furry and fairy alike. Enjoyed the character building, as the young boy finds himself in a world with furry pirates, and a feisty fairy princess. Even the villains (as a group,) were only bad because of the main villain of the piece. all in all a nice intro to a simply enchanted world. Hope to see more…” – Amazon Reviewer 4 stars
ORDER YOUR COPY
Amazon → https://amzn.to/3okMyYh
A few random things about me…
Um, let’s see… when I was eight, I had a pet turkey. I used to take it with me on my very short lived paper route. Needless to say, I was terrible at delivering the paper. No one wanted a “Dollar Saver” with turkey poop splattered across the front page. Apparently that’s where the best coupons are.
Books… well, “Treasure Island” is a fantastic pirate tale. I love just about anything by Roald Dahl. I would also like to thank C.S Lewis for sending me on an unrelenting childhood quest for portals to amazing worlds (even in the most unpleasant locations, e.g… the older brother’s closet, etc…)
I write fantasy stories for children. Yep – I am a HUGE fantasy geek. I can’t help myself! It’s too darn awesome to escape to another realm with sorcerers and wizards. The underlying theme in my stories is empowerment, self love, and living purposefully.
When football is on I turn into a different person. I may even use a curse word or two… or three. I enjoy running; which is a good thing because I need to do it in order to fit into my jeans.
I love to cook and really, really love to eat. I have a theory that avocados actually contain super powers and have the amazing ability to make any snack epic. I also love garlic… which, according to my loved ones, also has an unfortunate super power … the pungent breath-inator… or something of that nature.
Few things make me smile more than chocolate, cheese… AND, if the Chargers would make it to the Super Bowl again – just once:)
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