Authors
Unbeknownst to each other, two fantasy-fiction authors were praying for the very same thing at the very same time: a C.S. Lewis/J.R.R. Tolkien-type relationship. Little did they know that such friendships do still exists and–like legend–begin in the most unlikely of ways.
While attending the same international publishing trade show in Colorado Spring in the summer of 2006, Wayne and Christopher met through a coincidental encounter at a book signing. Later the same day–as divine comedy would have it–they would run into each other at yet another book signing. With email addresses and phone numbers in hand, they two left for home, one to Maryland, the other to New York.
With a solid friendship over the internet soon developing, they two decided to try meeting for a single weekend to discuss their latest work, and encourage each other in the field of writing. Scranton, PA was decided upon as the half-way point between their homes; there, they would find lodging at the historic Lackawanna Station Hotel, and nourishment at The Banshee. Like Lewis and Tolkien, their writing weekends became a great source of camaraderie, as did their adventures together in the Fantasy Fiction Tours. And it was during one of these first weekends that the two novelists discussed writing a work together.
What was then just a dream is now a reality. And this fall, you will be able to see what three years of friendship and numerous trips to Scranton, PA have developed…The Curse of the Spider King!
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Bios:
Wayne Thomas Batson is the author of five best-selling novels: Isle of Swords, Isle of Fire, and The Door Within Trilogy. A middle school reading teacher in Maryland for eighteen years, Wayne tailors his stories to meet the needs of young people, whom he cares so deeply about. Wayne writes adventures set in imaginative locals because he believes that on a deep level we all dream of doing something that matters and long for another world. When last seen, Wayne was tromping around the Realm with his beautiful wife and four adventurous children.
Christopher Hopper, whose books include Rise of The Dibor, The Lion Vrie, and Athera’s Dawn has often been called a modern renaissance man. Christopher is a recording artist with nine CDs, a painter, youth pastor, president of a Christian discipleship school, entrepreneur, and a motivational speaker for schools across the US and Europe. Christopher has dedicated his life to positively affecting the culture of his generation and longs to see young people inspired to live meaningful and productive lives. He resides with his wife, 3 children, and horses, in the mysterious 1,000 Islands of northern New York.
