Friday, January 17, 2014

A Wandering Warrior Took First Place in 2014 P&E Readers Poll All Other Novels Category

My action-adventure, historical fiction novel A Wandering Warrior finished first out of thirty entries in the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll in its category of "All Other Novels." I thank all those who voted to make this happen. I much appreciate your support for my book. http://critters.org/predpoll/final_tally_novel.ht

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Preview of My Long-overdue Trailer for “A Wandering Warrior”


While my 2013 novel was being edited and re-edited by 4RV Publishing prior to its eventual publication on 15 April 2013, I contracted with a professional designer/artist to prepare a book trailer for A Wandering Warrior. The specifications were agreed upon and payment was made in full in September - October of 2012 to that artist/designer. I thought the book trailer would be prepared and released PRIOR to the novel’s publication – you know, like a trailer is supposed to work to drum up interest prior to the novel’s release – but the designer/artist suffered calamity after calamity (illness requiring hospitalization, dead computer, another family illness, financial difficulties, another computer failure, and more). To say the least, 2013 was an extremely difficult time for this designer/artist.

Well, here it is fifteen months after payment was made in full and nearly nine months after A Wandering Warrior was published and still no trailer for it has been released due to all these circumstances. As 2014 begins, it looks like perhaps the trailer finally could be finished soon. Therefore, I wanted to give you a preview of what the trailer will contain. This preview requires that you use your imagination to “view” it. Therefore, to fully enjoy this trailer preview please ensure your imagination is turned on to its maximum.

My Imaginary Trailer for A Wandering Warrior

Imagine background music that fits well with the medieval era playing.

Front cover of A Wandering Warrior appears on the screen.

Text on next screen will be shown in bold type as here:

Thomas Beaumont, a commoner and itinerant soldier, travels across late 12th century England to avenge his brother’s murder.

(Map #1 from the book = large map showing all the shires of 12th century England)

Thomas encounters two young ladies in the woods fleeing from Royal Guard soldiers. He saves the girls from capture, suffering a wound in the fight.

(Trailer new illustration (#1) = Depiction of Juliana and Beatrice in woods -- Juliana: Her long, blond hair framed a rather pretty, delicate face. She possessed a tall, slender body with small breasts. Sixteen years old. Beatrice: Her sister, Beatrice, however, seemed very much an immature girl, with a less attractive body build both shorter and plumper than that of her older sister and with darker blond hair, almost as light brown as his. Thirteen years old. Woods: trees and greenery. LOL Duh.)

As Thomas recovers, his wound becomes infected, and feverish and weak he is encircled by hungry wolves. He loses consciousness.

(Trailer new illustration (#2) = Thomas lying on ground with wolves surrounding him -- Thomas like he looks on cover. Lying on ground with several wolves tightening circle around him menacingly. Wolves’ eyes are a glowing yellow.)

Thomas awakens to find himself being tended by Emalda, a Traveler dark beauty, while he recovers.

(Trailer new illustration (# 3) = Depiction of Emalda with vardo/wagon close behind her - Emalda had long hair that was black as a raven; a glowing, dark complexion; and quite a lovely shaped body, displayed well in skirt and low-cut peasant blouse, which revealed her ample cleavage. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties.)

Thomas resumes his quest eastward, in spite of his hating to leave Emalda. He buys an old, well-used, gray horse (named Horse) for his journey.

(Trailer new illustration (# 4) = Thomas with Horse -- Thomas as on cover. Horse was an old, well-used, gray horse that stood covered in dirt with matted mane and tail and sores. A dilapidated-looking saddle lay by the doorway.)

Thomas pulls off a daring rescue of two young ladies of nobility -- Juliana and Beatrice, whom he met in the woods previously and who now are held captive in the castle keep by Sheriff Mowbray.

(Map #2 from book = rescue path map showing route taken in the escape = through which shires.)

Thomas has his desired showdown with Sheriff Simon Mowbray, a brute of a man with a mean nature, in a fight to the death.

(New trailer illustration (# 5) = Fight scene between Thomas and Simon (sheriff) using battleaxes on foot -- Simon Mowbray was a large man with powerful, muscular shoulders and arms. His hair was unkempt; he had stubble on his face. He was a rough-looking character who looked like he could handle himself in a fight. He was in his late 30s. Impressive rival to Thomas. Each man armed with a battleaxe, a dagger, helmet, and shield. No chain mail worn. Just clothing like on cover. Show each man bloodied with blood on axe blades.)

Thomas has many adventures involving searching for his lost love Emalda (Map # 3 from book = search for Emalda map showing route of Thomas’ search through various shires) and disputes with nobility, culminating in Thomas’ gaining a higher position in life.

(New trailer illustration (# 6) = Thomas as knight with chain mail and helmet holding sword in ready position -- Thomas wearing a long gambeson with chain mail covering body and head. Chain mail down to knee-length. Armored helmet on head. Holding a sword like on cover but out in ready position.)

Will Thomas ever find peace and happiness? Will he ever know love? Can Thomas survive his encounters with royalty? Come and travel throughout medieval England with Thomas on his wanderings and adventures.

There you have the gist of what my book trailer for A Wandering Warrior should contain. There will, of course, be the necessary title page, publisher information about 4RV Publishing, and other details included as well.

I hope you enjoyed your “viewing” of this preview of the trailer for A Wandering Warrior.

A Wandering Warrior is an action-adventure, historical short novel (66,000 words) set in late 12th century England. It is available as both a print version and as an e-book through Kindle, Nook, and others.

Links: 4RV Publishing Bookstore = http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/harry-gilleland.php

Amazon Print Version = http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Warrior-Jr-Harry-Gilleland/dp/0985266198/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366967763&sr=1-2&keywords=A+Wandering+Warrior

Kindle e-book = http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Warrior-Jr-Harry-Gilleland-ebook/dp/B00D33E1PG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1388380762&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Wandering+Warrior