100 Days

Did you get that? In one hundred days, a couple things are going to happen. One, a bunch of kids are going to be out of school for the summer. Two, The Empyrical Tales Book III: The Secret Queen will be available from Comfort Publishing. What a perfect way to start that summer reading adventure!

In fact, it is already open for pre-order on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/7b7uwdo


Fans of The Empyrical Tales know that Zandria and Olena have already been through quite a lot of challenging adventures. In The Secret Queen, those adventures get bigger...
...Dinosaur bigger!


Here is the back cover synopsis: It is a year after the events of The Lost Queen. Zandria and her younger sister, Olena, seem to be growing apart. But now, Olena has mysteriously disappeared without explanation. To make things worse for Olena, she is having trouble with her magical abilities. With the help of an unusual bronze ring, Olena leaves the crystal Castle Empyrean in disguise. She soon steps into a land of giant crocodiles, unending deserts, ancient pyramids and even mummies! Now Olena must discover the truth about the dinosaur-like race that lives beyond the southern border before they attack Empyrean. All the while, she struggles with faith in her own abilities. Will Olena regain her magic in time? To find out, she has to become The Secret Queen.


Reviews for The Empyrical Tales say:

"All fun and all good."

"an exciting story based on the eternal struggle between good and evil"

"a captivating set of characters"

" well-developed and complex"

"a gift for putting together great characters with a conscience, with a set of values that are real, visceral and tangible."

"The characters truly shine"

"There is a musical quality to the way Miller writes"

"Magical, Mysterious, Mesmerizing, and Mythical"

" it adds a strong heroine to children’s literature" 

Over the next 100 days, there will be lots of fun, contests and a few surprises!


Until then, if have do not have the first two books, you can get The Fourth Queen and The Lost Queen directly from my site, www.MillerWords.com, at a special price and with a personal autograph.

A Gift For You!

This holiday season, I wanted to do something special for my readers, so I made you a present!

Thanks to Comfort Publishing and Trestle Press, I merrily present:

Stories of Queen's Day - 2011

It is available for Kindle or Nook for ONLY 99 Cents. 

However, here is where the gift-y part comes into play. Anybody that buys The Empyrical Tales from my site, MillerWords.com or sends me proof of purchase, I will send Stories of Queen's Day - 2011 to you as a FREE GIFT!

If you buy The Fourth Queen, The Lost Queen or both, you get the holiday story free. On my site (http://www.millerwords.com/order.htm), you can get the set at a special price, plus I can personalize an autograph.

While you are on my site, be sure to check out the Fan Club. You can become an official Citizen of Empyrean. Fan Club members get exclusive first looks and special emails. Right now, Fan Club members are the only ones with access to the cover design for Book III: The Secret Queen. Plus, Citizens of Empyrean will receive Stories of Queen's Day as a free holiday gift every year just for being part of the Fan Club.

Merry Christmas!

One Week

That's right, in one week I will be at the Carolina Renaissance Festival in Charlotte, NC!

October 14th & 15th, I will be appearing alongside Kalayna Price, Kendra Thomas, Jennifer Hudson Taylor and Linda G. Davis at Barnes & Noble's Sci-Fi & Fantasy Literary Weekend.

The Carolina Renaissance Festival is one of the largest of its kind in the country. Aside from our special event, the festival has so much more to offer. Be sure to visit their site for details, schedules and discounts!

The Carolina Renaissance Festival Official Site

I will be signing copies of my series, The Empyrical Tales. Book I: The Fourth Queen and Book II: The Lost Queen are available now from Comfort Publishing and Barnes & Noble will be selling the book at the festival.

I am excited to be back in North Carolina by invitation of Comfort Publishing. This publisher is based in Charlotte and they are well invested in the local community. It feels good to be a part of something like that!

Be sure to check out the other great authors that I will be joining.

I hope to see you there!

Gift Giving

Another important element in the Hero's Journey is the Donor.

As you can surmise, the donor gives something to the potential hero. This can be information, but is often some useful tool or weapon that will help overcome the final obstacle.

Zandria and Olena meet their donor in the form of the Prismata, or Rainbow Princesses. The name I came up with implies their rainbow colors, each sister is a different color. Their contributions are a few gifts that are necessary to complete the quest. Some of the gifts are not actually used in The Fourth Queen (look for the Bronze Ring in The Secret Queen).

The final gift of the donors is to set Zandria and Olena on their path. A path which leads them to the next stage of the journey.....the encounter with the Mentor.

Now We're Moving

By the time we get to Chapter 5 in The Fourth Queen, all of the main characters have been introduced, as well as the land of Empryean.

Zandria and Olena have started their journey with Adam on their trail. Werewolves are searching the jungle. The bad guys are preparing their army. Even Fury is on his quest.

This is where Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey comes into play. Zandria has to go through her trials, because she is the hero here. All of the stages are in the plot and I will point them out as we continue.

The first stage is The Ordinary World. Kind of like a prologue where the hero is introduced. The hero is lacking something or has a tragic flaw. We also establish what's at stake.

From there, the hero begins the journey and hopefully a transition from the ordinary life to the special one.

One important piece of storytelling for me is the Character Arc. Following the hero's journey naturally provides for this arc. The character must change (who wants to see Harry Potter living under the stairs at age 30?). It doesn't always have to be the main character, but no story is complete with out someone undergoing some change.

Next comes The Call to Adventure...

I recently had the opportunity to meet and work with Corbin Bernsen. You might know him from L.A. Law, Major League or Psych. I know him as an interesting guy with some new ideas. He was in Orlando and we did a one day shoot for a faith-based movie I am involved with called Heading Home.

While we were on set we talked about one of my favorite shows, Psych. We also had the chance to discuss the importance of positive values in entertainment. We are on the same page in saying there needs to be more books, movies and TV for the family. He and I are both at interesting points in our spiritual journeys as well. I won't put words in his mouth, but he seems to dislike labels as much as I do.

Now, I'm patiently waiting for his feedback on The Fourth Queen. I have to say it was a treat working with him and the very talented members of the rest of the cast and crew.