Update of the cover of Animal Eye, by Cindy Koepp. Because we’re working on making Animal Eye into a comic, we’ve updated the cover to make it resemble the comic book more. This GameLit story imagines what it would be like if you were to play a massive online video game of the future—one that lets you play as animal companions to human players (NPCs). Though not specifically written for the purpose of being Middle Grade-level, Animal Eye does have a thoroughly clean story and an easy-to-understand reading level. Plus, the story offers a chance to be an animal in a video game world--which Middle Graders would love!.

 
Find out more!

As already hinted at, our big news is our work in creating an Animal Eye comic!

   Issue one is complete and funded via Kickstarter, though we could use more funding to expand our reach to other languages and help us produce issue two.

   The visual nature of the Animal Eye story—based in a video game where players can see a digitally simulated version of an animal’s perspective—seemed to call for a more visual medium.

   Honestly, it would be great to make this story into a video game and ultimately a movie, but those are lofty goals we are (honestly) nowhere close to attaining. However, a comic book version of Animal Eye in six issues, issue one complete, is something we can do. The artwork for the comic really came out well and we’re excited about continuing with the rest of the issues.

   As of the time of writing this newsletter, the Kickstarter campaign for Animal Eye just ended, and we still need funds: your contributions will help complete versions of the comic in Spanish, French, and Portuguese and smooth the way to issue 2. (The translations are complete, we just have to pay for changes in artwork and lettering to accommodate these languages.) So please consider donating to Animal Eye Comic Project, thank you!

Next, to be released August 1st, a novel I’ve been working on for a long time:

This project is complete, as in edited, cover designed, and ready for release. We’re holding off to do some pre-release advertising and promotion.

Bond of the Sword is my book (Travis Perry’s) in which Cindy Koepp helped with the middle third. It’s a tale drawn from a combination of my own experiences and observations of warfare and reading about combat over the ages. Therin, the main character, narrates his personal experiences in the Second Dragon War to his son. The story contains graphic descriptions of combat and mild profanity, in a context of a coming-of-age story culminating in a war in which ordinary soldiers battle dragons… at a very high cost. If you love stories where the main character believes in God but faces gritty hardship, this is a novel intended for you.

Links to Bond of the Sword will come in our next newsletter. But for now, we thought we’d let you know.

And if all that wasn't enough...

FREE eBOOK!
 
  The second novel in the Balphrahn series is still underway, but in the meantime we are still offering free copies of Wendy’s short story Fire and Water.

This tale is a prequel to Dawn Before the Dark , featuring the first combat experience of Tanwen, one of the major characters in Dawn.
You can download this tale for free on Smashwords or the Bear Publications store at Selz .

And if and all that wasn't enough!

COMING SOON!

   Kerry Nietz's Amish Vampires in Space,  is now in a Spanish edition. However, we regret to mention it requires re-edits, but we will re-release with jubilation when ready. (Mythic Orbits in French faces a similar issue.)

   The Crystal Doorway is getting closer to completion...plus other great projects are on the way, including Awakening in the Darkness (the second novel in the Balphrahn series), a collection of
wonderful short stories by Linda Burklin, and more. (Maybe even a video game version of Animal Eye will happen, God willing—we’re talking to a video game designer…)

   We will also be present virtually at the 2021 Realm Makers Writers Conference, with information about our publications on the conference Discord server.

   We thank you for your support and sincere concern. Bear Publications is a small player in the world of speculative fiction by Christian authors, but we are sincerely striving to do our best in all things.

   We look forward to what God will bring in the future! God bless you.

Travis Perry