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NEWS FLASH: Hunter Brown Novel Reportedly Stolen from Publisher!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Book piracy is on the rise - publishers are getting worried their books will be next!

At approximately 11 AM (PST) author Christopher Miller (the balder half of the infamous Miller Brothers team) received an unexpected and disturbing phone call from his publisher Warner Press. The news was not good. Apparently, the first shipment of the long awaited novel, Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow (written by Chris and his brother) arrived as scheduled to an undisclosed top secret Warner warehouse earlier this morning. However, within moments of the delivery, a disembodied hand emerged on the scene and swiped the very first copy of the highly anticipated book.

"When I first heard the news, I was stunned," Miller exclaimed. "I mean, I had heard there were a lot of people eager to get their hands on this book, but this is ridiculous!"

Photo evidence emerged shortly thereafter from the facility's security cameras confirming the incident and catching the criminal red handed (so to speak). Authorities on the scene were unable to apprehend the suspect before he/she/or...it slipped through their fingers taking the coveted first copy away.



Eyewitnesses on the scene were both shocked and outraged. "Whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves!" said one man who wished to remain unidentified. "Hands should have bodies...that's just the way it should be!"

Another woman, who was visibly shaken by the episode had this to say. "It's just wrong...and gross...and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I mean, the thought of a hand just appearing out of nowhere, when you least expect it is...well...freaky."

One has to wonder what devious purpose does a disembodied hand have in stealing a book? After all, it has no head or eyes and will probably not be able to read it. The irony of the situation is astounding especially considering that the book is expected to be released for FREE online in its entirety as early as 8/8/08 (the official launch date of the book). You can also pre-order the book legally and have it shipped to your home when it is officially released.


So, while the motive remains unclear and the criminal remains at large (or small) we are asking for your help. If you recognize this hand or have any tips as to the whereabouts of the perpetrator we would appreciate hearing from you.

Help stop book piracy!

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Please forward this message to as many people as possible. The more people who see it, the better chance we have of catching the hand responsible.

You can PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
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The Warner Press Staff

You know, we don't talk enough about how great it has been to work with the staff at Warner Press. These guys are awesome and we wanted to honor them by sharing a photo of the team. Here they are today after having happily recieved our first shipment of the Hunter Brown novel (due in stores 8/8/08).

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Final Poster Design

Okay - here's the final version.
Some people didn't like the symbols because it made them think of witchcraft or the occult. So, keeping in mind that we wanted a family friendly design that Mom's will buy for their kids...we opted to make a few changes to "brighten" the tone of the image without removing the drama of the image.

Let us know what you think!

If you really like it - you can now Officially PRE-ORDER Hunter Brown from our website! We'll include a poster for FREE and it will ship in time for you to get your copy on 8/8/08!

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

Enjoy!

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HELP! We need your feedback...

Allan and I have been working hard on the Codebearers website and marketing material. Very soon we will have some exciting things to show you - but first we have a work in progress to review with you. We need your feedback on this poster design we've been working on. Tell us what you think and we'll take it into consideration as we finish up the design. Make sure you post your response in our poll as well!

Enjoy!

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Just a bit of fun...

You may hate yourself over this. Take some advice... be sure and think before you answer. Then click on the "Result" tab. Have fun!

Click here: How Smart Are You?
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A Renewal of Passion

A couple of years ago I attended my first ever Northwest Christian Writer's Association (NCWA) Writers Renewal. Back then, the conference was held at Seattle Pacific University (SPU) and the keynote speaker, Stephen Bly, reminded us to "seek first the kingdom of God". His teachings were never dull, always biblically sound and very encouraging. I am sure it was the combination of his teaching and God's hand that weekend that ultimately influenced a lunch conversation between Allan and I that inspired our first book (The Legend of Gid the Kid and the Black Bean Bandits)

The rest, as they say, is history!

This past weekend I returned to the Writer's Renewal conference (now held at Northshore Baptist in Bothell, WA) and was not disappointed. I must say - any budding or seasoned writers in the Northwest (or for that matter the country) should make this event a top priority on their schedules EVERY YEAR!

Friday kicked off the event with scheduled editor/agent meetings from several top organizations (Focus on the Family, Cook Communications, Broadman & Holman, and many, many, more). This was everyone's opporutnity to schedule face time directly with the agents/authors and pitch your ideas for books first hand. Many publishers do not consider unsolicited manuscripts - but they WILL consider your work following the show with the contact info they provide in these meetings. Very valuable.

Saturday was a day of workshops. The speakers in attendance this year were fantstic and credible teachers who were full of advice and techniques designed to hone your skills. My only complaint is that there were so many great sessions happening at once I needed to clone myself to attend all of them. In the end I settled for swapping and copying notes with others who had attended the sessions I missed. It worked out great this year, but hopefully next year they will have recordings available.

My favorite sessions were the two "Speculative Fiction" classes taught by Kathy Tyers (author of The Firebird Trilogy and several Star Wars books for Lucasfilm). This lady knows her fantasy fiction inside and out and provided enough information for me to scribble over 7 pages of notes in one of her workshops alone. Another Hot session was given by Jeffrey Overstreet entitled "God's Magic - the uses and abuses of Supernatural Storytelling". He tackled the concept that Fairy Tales are though of as dangerous by many Christians and unfolded for us a compelling argument that there is more to fairy tales (and storytelling) than meets the eye.

Cec Murphey commanded respect as the keynote speaker for this years conference. He is the author of 90 Minutes in Heaven (among many others) and a very charismatic personality. Cec encouraged us in one of the sessions to "show don't tell" and ran us through a rigorous gauntlet of excersises to help rid our minds of passive words.

In the end, I came away full. The weekend will be forever etched in my mind as wonderfully as the first time I went. There's just something about surrounding yourself with exquisite writers and industry professionals that awakens the story inside of you. The spark of creativity is re-ignited and the ideas start to fly. Thank God for events like this one.
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It's True...Girls Are Swooning Over Our Books Too!



A dear friend of ours sent me this picture today - thought I'd share it with the rest of our fans.

Her mother says, "She just read til she was exhausted! :-) This is how I found her." Sweet, huh?

We love you all and will be updating you with some exciting news very soon. If you have a fun fan picture - please forward it our way.

God bless!