John Wilson

NEW BOOK-The Director's Cut

2011-07-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

The Final Alchemy—A novel of intrigue, ambition, betrayal in Tudor England and on the shores of Hudson Bay.

My eighth eBook and the first that has no physical reality. The Final Alchemy began life as a novel for adults to follow North With Franklin. The decision was made to rework it as a Young Adult novel, so I simplified the story arc, removed one entire voice, and cut the length in half. It was a good decision because the result, The Alchemist's Dream was a finalist for the Governor General's Award, but a part of me yearned to get the original out there. Now, here it is.

Click on the title to link to Amazon or check out my website.

Enjoy.

Three traditionally published titles coming in 2012, Victorio's War, the third Desert Legends novel, in the spring; Failed Hope: The Story of the Lost Peace, the companion non-fiction title to Desperate Glory and Bitter Ashes is scheduled for August; and Lost Cause, a novel set largely in Spain in 1938 is planned for the fall. Lost Cause is one of a series of seven books by seven Canadian authors. Seven boys meet at the will-reading of their grandfather. Each receives a sealed envelope containing a task or a quest. The seven tales blossom from there.

If you missed the Fall Tour, I'll be back in southern Ontario in May 2012. I am currently available for school visits on May 7 to 9 and 14 to 18. Check out the May Tour post.

My website is now updated, to include a section offering hard copies of my out-of-print titles for sale direct from me. This means they can be signed and personalized—the perfect Christmas or Birthday gift.

Titles available are:

Crusade: The Heretic's Secret Book I

Grail: The Heretic's Secret Book II

Where Soldiers Lie

Germania

And in the Morning

Lost in Spain

Dancing Elephants and Floating Continents: The Story of Canada Beneath Your Feet.

Ghost Mountains and Vanished Oceans: North America from Birth to Middle Age reached the dizzy heights of #2 on Amazon's Kindle bestseller list of Geology books. Check it out on Amazon (US, UK, Germany and France) and Smashwords (all other formats [Nook, iPad, etc.]). As always there is a free sample.

Ghost Moon, the sequel to Written in Blood is now available. Here's what Kirkus Reviews says: "Action fans will thrill to the gunplay and other dangers. James' conflicting feelings about his archetypically dangerous friend-and also a telling conversation with an old Mexican survivor of the Alamo about the difference between legend and reality-introduce thought provoking elements. A tale of the Old West with a sturdy historical base and nary a dull moment."

Check out the Ghost Moon cover, too, it's one of my photographs.

It is now possible to get a personalized inscription and signature for a Kindle book. If you have one of my titles, or are thinking of buying one, check it out here. Isn't technology cool?

Where Soldiers Lie is selling well. Why not pick up a sample for free or the entire book for only 99c on Smashwords or Amazon.com. Of course, the danger is you'll become addicted and have to pick up all my other titles, but what's life without a little danger.

Don't forget to visit my website, and check out the BlogTalkRadio interview on success (whatever that is), authors in schools and the changing face of publishing and eBooks.

Become my friend on Facebook

eBOOKS—new title

2011-06-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

An old man sits by the dying embers of a fire in London of 1669. The ghosts of the past surround him and a decades old guilt weighs him down. As a young man, Robert Bylot did it all: journeyed to the magical Spice Islands on a quest for the alchemist John Dee, communicated with angels through Crystallomancy, and searched for the fabled Northwest Passage with Henry Hudson. He has survived plague, mutiny and fire, and found happiness with an extraordinary woman, but nothing has assuage the ancient guilt that tortures him—unless the old, stained book on his lap contains the answer. The book might be his salvation, or his damnation.

The Final Alchemy is the original novel for adults upon which the award-winning The Alchemist's Dream was based. The literary equivalent of the Director's Cut!

Click on the title or here to check it out.

The Governor General's Award for Children's Literature Finalist is now out as an eBook on Amazon and Smashwords.

Follow the dramatic story of Robert Bylot as he is drawn into the mystery, intrigue and danger of Henry Hudson's tragic final voyage of 1611.

"…engrossing historical adventure…The Alchemist's Dream fascinates from start to finish." Governor General's Award Jury comments.

"The high calibre of writing, together with the thoroughly researched historical detail, make The Alchemist's Dream a compelling read." Quill & Quire

The story of the past 4 billion years with reference to Scottish cannibals, fever-ridden naturalists and the sinking of the Titanic. It all makes sense in this tale of long-vanished mountains, fracturing continents and the jigsaw puzzle that is the ground beneath us.

"…this book is a true, well-crafted page-turner…If you've ever wondered how the continents and the particular slab of rock you live on came about, you will love this book. Even if you don't, you'll still love it. Highly recommended."

As always, available on Amazon and Smashwords.

The latest Historical Fiction, hot off the computer. Try a sample at Amazon or Smashwords. The sample's free, but the entire book's only 99c, and the really exciting bits are at the end!

Joining And in the Morning (Amazon, Smashwords) as eBooks for Teens and Young Adults (and old adults who enjoy a fast-paced, historically-based tale), are Lost in Spain (Amazon, Smashwords) and Germania (Amazon, Smashwords). All these titles were award-winners when first published in traditional format, and are now available for only $2.99 each. Check them out.

A Cool Summer Read

North with Franklin: The Lost Journals of James Fitzjames is now out as an eBook on Amazon and Smashwords. For $5.99, a reader can now access a title that the Arctic Book Review called "a richly re-imagined fable," and which the Canadian Book Review Annual "Highly recommended."

Somewhere on a barren Arctic shore in the summer of 1849, knowing he was dying, a British Naval officer wrapped his journal in sailcloth and buried it beneath a lonely pile of frost-shattered stones. He was one of the last of the 129 doomed men of Sir John Franklin's lost Arctic expedition. His name was James Fitzjames and for four years he had carefully recorded the expedition's achievements, hopes and, as things began to go horribly wrong, the descent into madness and eventual death of his closest friends. This is his journal.

MAY TOUR 2012—updated November 30

2009-09-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

If you missed the Fall Tour, I'll be back in southern Ontario in May 2012 for the From the Garden to the Trenches: Childhood, Culture and the First World War conference (May 10 to 12). I am currently available for school visits on May 7 to 9 and 14 to 18. Book early to avoid disappointment.

For more details on my books and presentations, visit my website.

"Mr. Wilson is a thoroughly interesting and engaging storyteller. Teachers and students alike sat enthralled during each of his presentations. We look forward to hosting Mr. Wilson again!"–Rana Jones, Elboya School Library

RECENT TITLES—updated November 30

2009-09-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Sequel to Written in Blood

Ghost Moon—It is 1878. On the way to search for work in New Mexico, Jim Doolen encounters a young Billy the Kid and the two are soon enmeshed in a brutal war between two rival trading factions. Jim is a helpless witness to cold-blooded murder and watches as Bill swears revenge and leads a gang of ruthless killers into the hills. However hard he tries, Jim can't escape the violence and is finally drawn into its dramatic conclusion on the streets of Lincoln.

"Action fans will thrill to the gunplay and other dangers. James' conflicting feelings about his archetypically dangerous friend—and also a telling conversation with an old Mexican survivor of the Alamo about the difference between legend and reality—introduce thought provoking elements. A tale of the Old West with a sturdy historical base and nary a dull moment." Kirkus Reviews

"[This] coming-of-age tale is filled with history, including an eyewitness account of what really happened at the Alamo, which is again referenced in the climax. Wilson…captures the dichotomy building in Jim as he seeks his place in a world rife with violence and treachery." VOYA

Set in the harsh desert world of Arizona and Mexico in the 1870s, Written in Blood follows young Jim Doolen as he attempts to find traces of the father who abandoned his family ten years earlier. As he travels through the scorched landscape, Jim crosses paths with an Apache warrior, a cave-dwelling mystic, an old Mexican revolutionary and a mysterious cowboy. With each encounter he adds one more link in a chain that leads back to a dark, violent past. Finally, in a ruined Mexican hacienda, Jim realizes that discovering his past has also opened the way to his future.

Praise for Written in Blood

"…a captivating and engrossing read." Quill & Quire

"Chapters are short and action filled, Jim is a likable character and reluctant readers will find this to be a fast-paced, easy-to-swallow tale of the Old West." Kirkus Reviews

Allan McBride has fought in some of WWI's bloodiest battles. He has seen his comrades, and his best friend, killed. But tonight he waits in a shed outside Amiens, accused of desertion, to discover if dawn will bring a last-minute reprieve—or execution by firing squad.

Shot at Dawn a new title in Scholastic Canada's series of historical adventure stories for boys, I Am Canada.

Sample:
"Shells were landing all along the barbed-wire entanglements in front of us, throwing up great fountains of earth, shattered wooden stakes and tangles of wire. Heavier guns were targeting the strongpoints behind us. We huddled down as low as possible in the bottom of the trench as the ground heaved and clods of earth flew through the air. The sound was a physical presence—a hammer beating constantly inside my head."

Review: "The novel is very intense…this is a fascinating portrait of a young man pushed to the edge and struggling to come to terms with a world he could never have imagined.…the powerful writing and strong characters will grip readers from beginning to end, and hopefully provoke some thoughtful discussion about this pivotal moment in history." Quill & Quire

LINKS—updated August 1st

2005-11-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

Of course, there's my website. Then there's facebook, twitter, and linkedin.

For my books, eBooks or otherwise, there's amazon (in Canada, Amazon.ca). For eBooks there's Smashwords. If searching these sites, use book titles, there are many many John Wilson's out there.

For blog radio interviews/chats, try here and here.

This an older video interview with a younger me, try here or here for one in print.

If you are interested in organizing a school reading or a conference presentation (or just want to say hello), check out details on my website and/or contact me directly