Scholars, sphinxes, shades of nyx and a primal scream !

May 15, 2013

My latest children's stories are just reaching the edit and rewrite stage. I'm editing the first of the New Testament "Five Minute Bible Stories Series TM" while writing the second--and that scary panicky "This will never work right/sound right/feel write" phase is driving me crazy. So it was kind of fun to read Alison Reeger Cook's recent blogpost written as she completed rewrites for her fantasy novel, The scholar, the sphinx and the shades of Nyx. "There was sweat. There were tears. There was a stomach-cramping panic," she writes with a primal scream at http://scholarandsphinx.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-writer-rewrites-and-urge-to-scream.html, but the final result looks great and is sure to be a fun exciting read. Find it on Amazon TODAY at http://www.amazon.com/Scholar-Sphinx-Shades-scholar-sphinx/dp/1908483873/

KNOX ROBINSON PUBLISHING

PRESENTS

The Scholar, the Sphinx and the Shades of Nyx

by Alison Reeger Cook

Published TODAY !

From the book jacket Cervera, Spain, 1852. David Sandoval is a sixteen-year-old genius on many different subjects, yet he is more content studying than becoming close with family or friends. He accepts an apprenticeship offer from a French architect, and while on his travels to Paris, a foolhardy decision on his part gets him abducted by a gypsy caravan owned by a living Grecian sphinx. The sphinx, seemingly intrigued by the fearless young man, takes him through the Curtain, the gateway between our world and the worlds of the unseen, where many creatures of myth and legend reside. When David attempts to escape back through the Curtain to the human world, he learns a dark secret: a Shade, an extension of the shadowy Night Goddess Nyx, is slowly draining the sphinx of her most precious talents. Can one normal boy truly undo the inflictions of a goddess, and rescue both the seen and unseen worlds from her dark intentions? Book one of The Scholar and the Sphinx series.

About the author A native of Riverside, Illinois, Alison Reeger Cook has always been surrounded by an artful atmosphere. She is the daughter of John Reeger and Paula Scrofano, "Chicago's royal couple of live theatre," who have been a constant source of encouragement for Alison. She attended the University of Iowa, where she studied English literature and theater arts with a focus on playwriting. During her undergraduate career, she had six short plays and one full-length children's play produced. After moving to Gainesville, Georgia, in 2007 with her husband David, her writing interests turned to novel writing, particularly fantasy (just ask the residents of her ever-expanding dragon and griffin figurine collection). She has continued to write short stories and short plays, which have been awarded honorable mentions in various magazines, such as Writers' Journal and Writer's Digest. For the past three years, she has been the book review columnist for the Gainesville Times, one of the most widely distributed newspapers in northeastern Georgia.