Raising the bar on reading!
Hi, my name is Marilyn and I'm the bartender here...
In closing... a little bar humour to leave you with a smile
Welcome to "The Book Bar." A beautiful space for you to order up your favourite drink and listen to guest authors, illustrators, musicians, anyone really, who loves books. If quiet is what you are seeking you can take your drink and wander to the back of the bar and enter the room entitled, "Booked!" This room is specifically reserved for those who want to curl up in a big comfy chair by the fireplace and get lost in their own story with little or no distractions. Others may join you there, but all-in-all it is a space created just for you and your book to enjoy each other's company.
This is the perfect venue to discover new books, relax yourself, have discussions about books, meet new people of like-minds, and of course make some new friends.
I would like to highlight some great drinks for your enjoyment from time to time.
I want to introduce you to our special guest author today Roy Huff. Grab a drink of your choice and head off to the west-wing patio. He's waiting out there to meet us. Relax and enjoy your evening everyone. Feel free to slip away and sip on a refill if you are so inclined. Have fun getting acquainted with Mr. Huff and his epic fantasy novels. He will make it an evening to remember, I'm sure.
I want to introduce you to our special guest author today Roy Huff. Grab a drink of your choice and head off to the west-wing patio. He's waiting out there to meet us. Relax and enjoy your evening everyone. Feel free to slip away and sip on a refill if you are so inclined. Have fun getting acquainted with Mr. Huff and his epic fantasy novels. He will make it an evening to remember, I'm sure.
Here's a little bit about our wonderful guest just FYI...
Roy Huff is a research scientist, author, and teacher who overcame the hardship of a family plagued by severe poverty and mental illness. After graduating high school as Valedictorian a year early, he moved to Hawaii at the age of seventeen with only $100 in his pocket to start a new life.
He has since earned five degrees in four different disciplines spanning liberal arts, history, education, and geoscience. He has worked on projects such as forecasting volcanic emissions from the Kilauea Volcano and training on geostationary satellites for NASA's GOES-R Proving Ground. He has co-authored upcoming peer-reviewed research in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS), but his foray into creative writing did not occur until the age of thirty-four when he began writing a creative paper for an English class while working concurrently on his fourth and fifth degrees. That paper later became the first chapter of his first book, which grew to be an Amazon number-one international epic-fantasy bestseller. Subsequent books in the Everville series have also gone on to become bestsellers and continue to win awards for both cover art design and content.
It was the success of his Everville series that garnered the attention and management of the "Literary Lion", Peter Miller, who has represented such greats as National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize nominee, Ann Pearlman, the niece of renowned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Alveda King, and collaborated with iconic film stars such as two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
Roy Huff remains an optimist. He enjoyed weathering the eye of Hurricane Hugo at the age of twelve, skydiving, and marathon running but still dreams of climbing Mt. Everest, circumnavigating the globe, traveling into space, and discovering the secrets of the universe. His interests are eclectic and range from the arts, extreme sports, economics, hard science, movies, traveling, and the outdoors. Roy Huff remains committed to promoting education, applied science, individuality, and creativity. He grew up on the East Coast, but has lived in Hawaii for more than half his life where he currently resides and creates new worlds with the stroke of his pen.
Stay tuned to Roy Huff's upcoming releases and promotions on his home page at http://www.owensage.com and on Twitter @evervillefans
He has since earned five degrees in four different disciplines spanning liberal arts, history, education, and geoscience. He has worked on projects such as forecasting volcanic emissions from the Kilauea Volcano and training on geostationary satellites for NASA's GOES-R Proving Ground. He has co-authored upcoming peer-reviewed research in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS), but his foray into creative writing did not occur until the age of thirty-four when he began writing a creative paper for an English class while working concurrently on his fourth and fifth degrees. That paper later became the first chapter of his first book, which grew to be an Amazon number-one international epic-fantasy bestseller. Subsequent books in the Everville series have also gone on to become bestsellers and continue to win awards for both cover art design and content.
It was the success of his Everville series that garnered the attention and management of the "Literary Lion", Peter Miller, who has represented such greats as National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize nominee, Ann Pearlman, the niece of renowned Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Alveda King, and collaborated with iconic film stars such as two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
Roy Huff remains an optimist. He enjoyed weathering the eye of Hurricane Hugo at the age of twelve, skydiving, and marathon running but still dreams of climbing Mt. Everest, circumnavigating the globe, traveling into space, and discovering the secrets of the universe. His interests are eclectic and range from the arts, extreme sports, economics, hard science, movies, traveling, and the outdoors. Roy Huff remains committed to promoting education, applied science, individuality, and creativity. He grew up on the East Coast, but has lived in Hawaii for more than half his life where he currently resides and creates new worlds with the stroke of his pen.
Stay tuned to Roy Huff's upcoming releases and promotions on his home page at http://www.owensage.com and on Twitter @evervillefans
In his own words...
Many fellow writers and readers have asked what inspired me to write, or more specifically, what inspired me to write my current Everville series. I must confess what writing fiction was never an aspiration of mine. My love was science. As such, my professional goals tended to follow those things which helped me along that path. It just so happened that continuing my education led me down a parallel road that included fiction.
While working on my fourth and fifth degrees concurrently, I was taking an English class that required I write a three page descriptive paper. Part of the assignment was to share that paper with the other members of the class. I received several comments from fellow classmates about wanting to read an
entire book about Everville. I believed it was something that I could do, so over the course of the next year, I wrote off an on in my free time. Then in November of 2012, I read a book by John Locke about how he sold 1 million ebooks in 5 months on Amazon. That day, I set up my website and decided to finish the book and self-publish in the coming months. It wasn't so much the lure of fame or money that inspired me to finish the book, but rather the realization that attempting to pursue the traditional route was only serving to dampen my motivation. By January, I finished the book, and the rest is history.
I am a marathon writer by necessity, but I am working on writing more frequently in smaller amounts, when possible, to keep my pen sharp and expand my literary reach. Promotion tends to take up the bulk of my free time, but when I actually do write, I am almost always pleased that I have created something new, regardless of how raw it is. Finishing a new piece is like magic, so much so that I wrote an article about it here : http://www.owensage.com/2/post/2013/10/fiction-is-a-driver-of-the-future.html
As with science and teaching, writing is something that allows me the opportunity to create and inspire others. As a futurist and an optimist, it is my hope that my writing and my story will inspire others to never give up, and continue to write and create regardless of what that final masterpiece looks like.
While I do believe it's healthy to have a certain amount of cynicism, it is also important to understand that the only true limits are the ones we place on ourselves.
I encourage those aspiring writers to write and those creators to create. Glean what you can from critics and skeptics, but don't let the fear of failure keep you from trying. Failure can be a valuable stepping stone to learning what is needed to succeed, and never trying is the only thing that is guaranteed to prevent your eventual success.
-Roy Huff, MS, MAEd
Here are his amazing best selling and award winning fantasy novels, Everville written for Y/A but really all ages would love reading them.
* Everville: The City of Worms
* Everville: The First Pillar
* Everville: The Rise of Mallory
* Everville: The Fall of Brackenbone
Monday on Storywraps I will be reviewing "Everville: The Fall of Brackenbone" and posting an interview I was so happy to get with Roy.
In closing... a little bar humour to leave you with a smile
Feel free to stay as long as you want. Linger on the patio and talk with friends and please feel free to ask Roy any questions here in person or on his home page at http://www.owensage.com and on Twitter @evervillefans. Be sure to pick up copies of his books to enjoy and to share.
Both Roy and I are very happy for your visit with us. Come again next month to join me with another guest as you are always welcome here and the cover charge is simple...and affordable...your smile! Enjoy the rest of your evening.
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