About the day

Well, it never fails to impress me what all happens on a book birthday. Often I’m at school, and I sit on pins and needles trying to figure out what’s happening on the internet. Sometimes I end up sick–like the last three releases. There’s always some kind of celebration, but this one is my twelfth release! So, I planned a facebook party with all kinds of giveaways–there are at least 15 different paperbacks, ebooks, or audiobooks being given away just for participating in the party. Then on Thursday, I’m heading to Rose City Comic Con in Portland, Oregon. I’ll be there all weekend. Come join me if you’re in the area.

Today though has been even more hectic than what’s planned. Last week was the first week of school, an ordinary event. This year our school was scheduled for a seismic upgrade, but instead of it happening over the summer, they started around August 15. So, last week they were in the middle of working on classrooms and the roof. Crazy conditions to try to teach in, but it gets better! It rained this weekend. As of yesterday, I’ve not had access to my room. Today it was totally sealed off, and I won’t be able to get in there for two weeks. What a birthday present.

About the book

An Unexpected Exploit is my first portal fantasy, but I’m not new to portal fantasy. I remember growing up and loving the books that let me cross over into a new world. Even as an adult I’ve listened to The Beyonders series, Narnia, Pendragon, and The Tethered World, which you can win at the facebook party.

It was so much fun writing this book. I allowed my imagination to soar and my faith to shine. When I asked, “Do the sanraksaka believe in a creator?” the whole system fell into place. Why wouldn’t a sentient bigfoot creature believe in a creator? With that, in came Sirjanakarta.

Reviews

There are already two reviews up on Amazon, three on Goodreads, and one on a reviewer’s website. The book is a 5 star on Amazon and 4.33 on Goodreads.

The Cover

Music from https://filmmusic.io “Dangerous” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

If you haven’t picked up your own copy, both ebook and paperback copies are available now.

Birthday Cake

Well, come join me for some birthday cake and presents–for you–tonight at 6 pm Pacific and 9 pm Eastern. The party’s all set up and just waiting for you.

There are two grand prize packets. This is just one of them. Here’s your access to it.

As An Unexpected Escapade wrapped up, I still didn’t know what was going to happen for the story-line of An Unexpected Exploit. I knew Jack Collins had to meet his just reward, and that the characters were going to get to go into Shinwano. Beyond that, I had no idea. To my surprise, the book lived up to its name in two ways.

Exploit Explained

The word exploit can be both a noun and a verb. As I explain to my students, that means it is a thing as well as an action. When I created the title, I was thinking of the noun:

A bold or daring feat

oxford dictionary on google

The teens were going to go on a daring adventure by crossing the portal into Shinwano. It would be unexpected because Franklin would follow bigfoot into the mythical realm.

Little did I realize that there’s a second definition of exploit that fit the story as well.

use in an unfair or selfish way

Oxford dictionary on google

This definition describes Jack Collin’s motives to a ‘T’. He’s after all the magic he can gather. What better way than to force Franklin to show him where the portal is and go through it himself? Once he enters Shinwano, he devours all he can–from a faun, to a unicorn horn, and even dragon scales.

Pre-order gift for you

Once you pre-order your copy of An Unexpected Exploit, you can show proof of purchase and receive a mobile wallpaper. There are three to choose from–a cute baby dragon on a hand, a fairy in a cage, or a pirate looking out to sea.

An Unexpected Exploit Cover

Now, here it is. One of my son’s named it the best cover yet! That’s high praise coming from my kids who are very picky about my covers. Amalia Chitulescu did a fabulous job with all three of these covers.

Back Story

When an author puts an ebook up for pre-order, the manuscript doesn’t have to be the final product. So, in an effort to get everything ready, I posted the best manuscript I had, the Advanced Reader Copy. Then about two weeks out from release, I updated the manuscript to include the final copy. Then about two-three days out from release, Amazon locks the author out from making any changes. During pre-order there is no preview available for the ebook.

So, on Saturday, I received a message stating I had Advanced Reader Copies sent out to over 80 ebooks through Amazon! My heart sunk. How could that be? I’d already had an issue with shipping my paperbacks to me. So, I opened my author dashboard and took a look. You can imagine my confusion when I saw that I had uploaded the finished manuscript complete with table of contents and illustrations. Yet, the ebook that I opened on my kindle was the Advanced Reader Copy!

A phone call to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing resulted in me reuploading the same corrected manuscript, then waiting for it to be published, then sending an email to Amazon, and finally waiting for it to go into effect. Today, I looked on the book’s Amazon page and discovered it was the corrected version.

The Fix

So, how do you fix this? It depends if you’ve already opened the book on your device or not. I had success in getting it pushed to my default, but my phone took a little longer to figure out.

1. Amazon page

First go to your Amazon account page and click on “Manage your Content and Devices”. Then go to content. You’ll see all your ebooks listed. Underneath An Unexpected Escapade you’ll see “Ebook Updated” or “Content Updated”. You can click on the orange button to receive the update.

2. Your Device

If you’ve not opened the book on your device yet, it should automatically update. Otherwise, you may have to do like I did and uninstall the book, then go back to step 1 and click deliver to x device. Then go back to your device and open the Kindle app, and go to Book Updates. You’ll then be able to update it.

My apologies

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience and the mess up. I am so sorry that I’ve caused you the hassle. To the Amazon reviewer, I sincerely apologize. It was not my intent to offer an Advanced Reader Copy to anyone but advanced readers. Please spread the word.

Behind the Scenes on the cover

One advantage to having a professional photographer for a husband is that I get discounted rates. So, the week of the 4th of July, we got together with two different groups of students. The first one was a group of three high school boys on the beach. From those images, Amalia Chitulescu created the cover for An Unexpected Adventure. I’m always amazed at how she can create fantasy from reality.

The next photo session took place at the local park. We met up with two girls, three horses, and a mom. The girls held the horses while the mom posed with the third horse as a possible unicorn. Since I didn’t have a really good idea of what I wanted, my husband took photos with the horses in the corral.

Then almost as an afterthought, we took the horses to a trail and took a couple more photos, and finally, several of just the girls so I could give my illustrator something to work with. When we were finished, I sent the images to Amalia and she began her work. What resulted was beyond my wildest dreams.

Illustrations

After a conversation with a mom of an avid reader, I decided to add illustrations to this series. Last summer, I searched for an illustrator and have been beyond blessed with Anita Thubakabra. I love how she communicataes with me and is so easy to work with. Book three will be a challenge for her because there are many more mythical creatures.

Every illustration brought the story to life, but there were several that brought tears to my eyes. I love how Anita captured the relationship between Will and Ana, as well as the scene of the boating accident.

All day, Ana stewed over the problem. How could they keep Kajri safe, and who could they trust? After a quick snack and a note to her mom, she had come down to the dock and was standing on her dad’s boat, leaning on the Harrier’s flybridge railing. Gulls cried above her, and the gentle sucking and slapping of water between the dock and the boat accompanied the rocking that she loved so much. Ana inhaled the scent of fish, brine, and salt water. It was her favorite place to think.

Excerpt

I thought I’d share with you an excerpt based on our current weather. We’re not having the wind, but they did actually send us home from school early yesterday due to high water from rain.

***

Monday blew in with the typical winds preceding the first rain of the season. Daisy tried to not knock her head on the window as the bus took a particularly violent gust. Many students were muttering discontentedly that school should have been canceled. Daisy shook her head. She, too, wished for a day off, but not because of the wind. She’d wanted to spend the day making sure the unicorn was safe. Root and Ginger knew where to shelter in a storm, but she didn’t know if the same was true for the unicorn. Where had it come from?

The whistling of the wind through the electrical wires made speaking impossible as they unloaded the bus. Daisy hurried into the building, deposited her backpack in her locker, and rushed to the cafeteria. Ana waited for her at their seat, along with Karlie.

The large windows that filled the south wall rattled, and Karlie glanced outside. Her sleeved hand came up to her mouth, her wide eyes betraying her fear. “Is this normal?”

“Oh, yeah.” Ana swallowed a bite of cereal. “You should see it when it really storms.”

“Don’t they close school?” Karlie shifted her gaze from Ana to the windows.

Ana spoke with a full mouth. “Only if the electricity goes out.”

“Or if the winds are too strong.” Daisy shifted on the bench. “It-it has something to do with safety for the buses.”

Karlie’s eyebrows disappeared into her blue bangs. “Would the wind actually blow the buses over?”

Ana shrugged. “Depends on how strong it gets. There’s a story that a rock from the beach flew up and knocked out the light on the airport beacon at White Cape State Airport.”

“Th-that’s about t-two hundred fifty feet off the beach!” Daisy snagged a cheerio from Ana’s bowl and popped it into her mouth.

More excerpts and interviews

Be sure to catch all the posts to celebrate the release of An Unexpected Escapade, and if you’re on the Southern Oregon Coast feel free to come out to the Langlois Library on Saturday, April 27 at 1 pm for a reading and drawing for autographed copies of both books.

Release Day Posts

Kat Vinson will host an author interview.

Tabitha Caplinger will host a guest post about the book that’s different content then here.

Janelle Schmidt’s InterFiction Gazette has an interview with Daisy. You won’t want to miss this one.

Thursday Interview

Annie Douglas Lima will host an interview with Winston on Thursday.

Friday Post

Laurie Lucking will host another author interview that is different than any of the others.

Background for the story

I live in rural America on the Southern Oregon Coast. I love everything about it–the mountains jutting right up against the coast, the small town feel, and the climate (most of the time). However, I noticed that kids didn’t think they lived in a wonderful place. The media tells them they’d be better off if they lived in the city and glorifies a more hectic lifestyle or job possibilities than the ones they may dream of. So, I wanted to feature normal, everyday kids from my area. My thought was that it would give them a way to see what they are as good and positive.

Background for An Unexpected Escapade

I was inspired by two girls in my junior high Spanish class. As I watched them interact and listened to them talk about animals, I knew they would fit perfectly for a story about a unicorn. During the middle of the year, a new girl moved in. The first word she learned in Spanish was rata–rat. As their junior high years progressed, I watched them grow, but I also saw some tragedy come their way. What I didn’t expect was for that tragedy to strike me so hard either.

As I tried to write An Unexpected Escapade it was more reality than fantasy, and I didn’t want to face that. So instead, I finished writing To Save a Race and put this story on hold. Finally, about a year after starting, I finally was able to pick it up and make it more fantasy than reality. From there, the story flowed.

Blurb for An Unexpected Escapade

Protect friendship, family or a creature that’s not supposed to exist?

Ana and Daisy have been friends since third grade, but a rift in the space-time continuum in their little town may change that. When a unicorn waltzes into the pasture with Daisy’s appaloosas, a poacher, who will stop at nothing to gain the unicorn horn and its healing tears, shows up. Daisy is focused on saving the unicorn while Ana’s parents face sudden life-threatening health issues. When Ana learns about the healing tears, she’s forced to choose between friendship and her family’s health.

Can the girls find the grace to compromise and save Ana’s parents and the unicorn?

More about the book

It’s a mashup of The Unicorn Chronicles and My Neighbor Totoro. The girls find a friend in their pasture, much like Totoro, and meanwhile there’s a poacher willing to do anything to get the unicorn’s horn and tears. It draws us closer into the rural town of Myrtle Beach, Oregon, and as the countdown to release draws closer, I’ll be posting more about it on social media.

The impetus for the book

Back in the fall of 2015, I was teaching my first year in a school I loved to be at. It’s where three of my five kids had graduated and all five have attended. I wanted to be there and couldn’t have been happier. Dragon’s Future had just released, and I was given the freedom to add books to my list of to-be-published with my publisher. I began to dream. What could I do? 

One day returning from Coos Bay, the town an hour north of us, I crossed the Coquille River and had the thought of what would happen if a dragon flew down the river.

That brought about an idea of a story based in my area. Now, I just needed more information.

The Characters

At the same time four students stood out to me as I taught. Two of them were sixth graders in my study hall class, and two were eighth graders in my Spanish class. The four didn’t really know each other, and I really only knew them from class and didn’t know their families. However, the more I interacted with them at school, the more I wondered if I wrote them into a story if they’d read it.

Harley

The inspiration for Harley came from a student that went to church with me. I knew his family, and he was open about what they enjoyed or didn’t enjoy. Although the physical description of Harley is from that student, Harley really is a blend of the student and my own son.

The B&B is from a dream my husband and I have to one day run one. The photography that Harley’s dad does is because my husband is a photographer. Harley’s mom is probably more characteristically me.

Will

During study hall, the other student sat quietly and drew. He didn’t say much. While in Spanish class, he brought me to tears when he brought in a shell from a WWII ship. All I really knew about him was he had a kind heart and what he looked like. So, Will’s character evolved based on that.

It wasn’t until later that I realized that the inspiration for Will had very kind, and humorous, parents who are involved in his life. Whereas, Will in the books has very unengaged parents.

Chase

The inspiration for Chase came from an eighth grader who embodied the stereotypical Oregon boy. He was raised on a farm up the river, went hunting and fishing, and his dad logged. His roots showed in how he dressed and talked. However, he also seemed to get put down for his heritage. So, I wanted to honor the basis of life here in our area–hunting, fishing, and logging. In so doing, I created Chase’s dad–the hard-working, get-up-early logger.

Cherise

The inspiration for Cherise was a very talkative girl in my Spanish class. She worked with the student who inspired Chase. It wasn’t until about half-way through the semester that the kids tried to tell me that the student never spoke in any of her other classes. I couldn’t believe it! She proved to me she could go a whole class period without saying a word. However, Cherise has the same characteristics I saw in this student while she was in my class. Her love for her dog comes into play later in the series, and I received permission to add him into book three. 

The Cover

You’ve seen the cover, but I’m so excited about it. You see, I got to go out with three of those students to do the photo session for the stock photos. I was given permission from their parents to use them on the cover! So, we have Will, Harley, and Chase (from left to right). Unfortunately, the student who inspired Cherise had moved away and couldn’t make it back for the session.

What people are saying about the book

One Amazon reviewer gave the book five stars.

“An Unexpected Adventure, for me, turned into an unexpected delight. Kandi Wyatt manages to mix reality and fantasy in perfect proportions in this tale.”

Where to get your copy

Today the book is live on all the outlets! Unfortunately, amazon has not linked the paperback and the kindle edition so there will be two different links. 

Purchase your ebook here                             Purchase your paperback here

However, in June after finishing An Unforeseen Adventure, I shared in a facebook message with the students that they were the ones in the story. I added the parents I had contact with, and to my surprise all the parents accepted the idea of having their child do a photo session for the stock photos! That began our planning. The week of the 4th of July, we met together on a very windy afternoon on the Southern Oregon Coast at Battle Rock in Port Orford. The boys, one mom, my husband (the photographer) and I wandered down the bluff to the beach. I shared my idea with my husband, Eric Wyatt Photography, and he took various photos from various angles. Within fifteen minutes we were finished.

When we returned home, Eric uploaded the photos to a dropbox, and I shared it with Amalia Chitulescu from Romania. She then worked her magic and created this wonderful cover. What do you think? Do you like it?

Blurb:

Protect their community or protect their discovery?

For eighth graders Chace, Harley, Will, and Cherise, that’s a life-changing question after they find a dragon’s egg while hunting for thundereggs on the beach. Toss in summer jobs, family struggles, and a National Security Agent, and their summer vacation just became complicated.

Can they find a solution that won’t leave their hearts broken or their community in flames?

Pre-order:

An Unexpected Adventure is now available for pre-order on most sales channels. You can pick yours up today. Keep an eye out for an upcoming giveaway as well.