Friday, October 24, 2008

Paraworld Zero Gets Its Fifth Award (Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards)

Paraworld Zero just got a silver medal (2nd place) from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the Audio Book category. The 2008 contest had a total of 1,085 entries in 30 categories. That brings the total to 5 book/audiobook contests Parworld Zero has placed in.

http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1250

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Jared's G-tube Goes Bye Bye

Originally posted HERE

This has been a crazy week. On Sunday morning, Jared, our almost-two-year-old “special needs” child pulled out his G-tube from his stomach, so my wife had to go to the emergency room for 8 hours. Evidently, the plastic bubble thing on the “mickey” (I call it his second belly button) that stays inside his body, ruptured, which allowed the tube to come out. The doctors couldn’t put the tube back in, but they were able to put a small catheter in. Then yesterday, the doctors put a larger catheter in because they still couldn’t get the G-tube in. My wife and I just tried to put the G-tube in ourselves (don’t worry, it’s legal!), but the hole in his stomach is still too small.

What happens is that the human body heals itself so quickly that if you don’t catch it fast enough, the hole will seal up without the G-tube in place. If we had caught it quicker (like within 30 minutes) we could have put the G-tube in without any issues. Problem was that he pulled the tube out in the middle of the night while he was sleeping.

Fortunately, Jared only needs the G-tube for supplemental feeding at night. The doctors want him to keep it because he’ll need another heart surgery in the next year or two.

As a side note, Jared started talking this month. He can say over a dozen words now. It’s cute to see him do the sign language and then say the word at the same time. He doesn’t realize that if he can say the word, he doesn't have to do the sign language any more. Most importantly, of course, is that he smiles and says “dada” every time I walk into the room.

Another side note: I've gotten past the 100-page mark of my book, which is around 1/3 of what the book will be. I've slowed down a bit in my writing because of Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Sony, Kitabe, SpokenNetwork, and Audible. I love all those companies, but I've had to spend time working with them to get my audiobook and E-Book distributed. So much work! I'm very pleased with what I've written so far. It's like a large puzzle. Lots more mystery, romance, and suspense. What excites me is that I'm adding things that will be the base of future books.

CLICK HERE to see the new Amazon page for the audiobook.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards Semi-Finalist

Originally posted HERE
We'll today has been a good day. My boy got Student of the Month at his school and my audio book, Paraworld Zero, became a semi-finalist for the Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards. The contest had a total of 1,085 entries in 30 categories. I'll find out on Oct 24 if Paraworld Zero won. Listen to the first chapter HERE.

Moonbeam Childrens Book Awards -- October 2008
Semi-Finalist in the Audio Book Category
http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1250

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Paraworld Zero on the Sony Reader (eBook)

I mentioned ages ago that Sony picked up the non-exclusive E-Book rights for Paraworld Zero. It's been a long time, but Paraworld Zero is finally available for the Sony Reader! The E-Book includes the same 30 pieces of chapter art that the physical book contains. Looks like Sony has it for $10.79 right now. Check it out at http://ebookstore.sony.com/.

The Sony Reader is much like the Amazon Kindle, in which you can read the E-Book on a large clear screen. The battery life lasts a really long time, since it only uses the battery when you flip to the next page. Sony has over 50,000 books on their site for the Sony Reader, so I'm glad that mine is one of them. I hope you'll take a look at it.

As a side note, SpokenNetwork.com now has the Paraworld Zero audiobook on their site. Check it out!

Also, my October newsletter is out. Go here to read it:
http://www.paraworlds.com/newsletter/2008-10.php

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Writing Book Two

Originally posted HERE

Nothing big here. I'm just writing the second book in the Parallel Worlds series. My goal is to make it shorter than the first book, since the first book was 100,000 words long.

I'm getting about 7 pages done a day, but I think I can increase that number. I'm very pleased with the storyline and with what I've written so far. I have about 30 pages of single-spaced notes, so I definitely know what direction I want to take the book. It's going to be a murder mystery of sorts. A lot of people did a double take at the end of my first book. I hope to have even greater surprises in book 2. The clues are all there. You just won't realize it until the end.

I just sent out almost 800 CDs to the World Fantasy Convention. Whew! What a project. And expensive. I hope it helps bring more attention to my series. I sent back the contract to Audible.com and SpokenNetwork.com. My audiobook should show up on those sites soon. Sony, on the other hand, is a never-ending battle. There's an error with the E-Book that they're trying to fix. I hope to see Paraworld Zero on the Sony Reader soon.

Monday, September 22, 2008

World Fantasy Convention Interview

Originally posted HERE

The World Fantasy Convention put up an interview of me on their website, along with part of my audiobook. You can listen to it here (the interview starts at 2 minutes and 49 seconds into the podcast): http://media.libsyn.com/media/worldfantasy2008/WF08_33.mp3

I'm excited to go to the World Fantasy Convention next month in Calgary. I've never been to Canada before, so I'm not sure what my experience will be like, but I have my passport now and I'm ready to go.

I'm devoting the next couple months to my second book in the Parallel Worlds series. I really need to finish that thing! I'm proud of the outline I've written. It's going to be a murder mystery with lots of twists and turns. I'm hoping that it's unlike anything you've ever read before. Writing a murder mystery in a fantasy world allows me to do some fun and unexpected things.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The Paraworld Zero Audiobook

Press Release on September 10, 2008
The Paraworld Zero Audiobook with 100 Character Voices


Parallel Worlds is proud to present the audiobook for Matthew Peterson’s bestselling young adult novel, Paraworld Zero. With over one hundred unique character voices from the author and his wife, this audiobook is geared to please young and old alike.

The audiobook comes in a 10-CD set (about 12.5 hours long) as well as an MP3-CD and MP3-DVD. The premium DVD version includes the PDF E-Book and about 4 hours of video/audio extras such as bloopers, interviews and photo slide shows. Listen to a sample at www.paraworlds.com.

Several audiobook websites including Audible.com (the leader in downloadable audiobooks), iTunes.com, and SpokenNetwork.com plan on selling the Paraworld Zero audiobook in the upcoming month. Kitabe.com just made the book available for download on their site this week.

Paraworld Zero is about a twelve-year-old earthling, Simon Kent, who stumbles upon a secret that thrusts him into a bizarre adventure filled with magic, technology and deadly out-of-this-world creatures. He discovers a true friend, confronts his inner demons and becomes the savior to a peculiar race of people, when all he truly wants is to find his way back home.

Parallel to Simon's adventures is a mystery involving a catlike spy and a magical swordsman who both struggle to maintain peace among the paraworlds. But evil lurks in unexpected places, and few people can be trusted. Their paths ultimately lead them to Simon: the one boy who might be able to prevent the biggest assassination attempt in the known paraverse. "Harry Potter meets Star Wars" – WormsScifi.com

Paraworld Zero Audiobook Formats:
MP3-CD: ISBN 978-0-9819227-1-3 for $29.95
MP3-DVD: ISBN 978-0-9819227-2-0 for $39.95
10-Disc Aduio CD: ISBN 978-0-9819227-3-7 for $49.95


About the Author:
Matthew Peterson is an award-winning short story writer, second degree black belt in karate, Eagle scout, computer programmer, and former missionary. He lives in Arizona with his wife, five boys and their giant African tortoise. Matthew’s debut young adult novel, Paraworld Zero (ISBN 978-1-59092-491-4), hit the BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list, was honored by four book contests, and garnered many favorable reviews. Reviewers are comparing it to Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Artemis Fowl. Go to www.ParaWorlds.com to learn more.

http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=23094