About the Book

Book: Still Small Voice

Author: Allen Brokken
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Release Date: July 24, 2020
The Still Small Voice Leads the Way
Because of their faith, twelve-year-old Lauren and her younger brothers, Aiden and Ethan, prevailed in the battle for the Tower of Light. But their victory did not stop the Dark One. Darkness continues to spread across Zoura’s frontier.
Now, in a vision, Mother tells them to light a second tower in Blooming Glen. Before they can set out on their journey with the Knight Protector, their Uncle arrives with a different set of instructions. He doesn’t trust the Knight Protector or the Mighty Mercenaries and believes the children should go to grandma’s house instead.
Unyielding in his belief, Uncle unknowingly leads the children off their path. And a misguided acolyte follows them. Lurking in the shadows, he strikes at every opportunity as the dark forces prepare to descend.
Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan are Zoura’s last defense. Can they convince their Uncle of the truth—that he must listen to the still small voice—and make it to Blooming Glen before the Dark One’s forces overtake them?

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About the Author

Q:Why did you decide to pursue a career as an author?

A: This is actually a side job for me. I started writing a story for my kids while I was traveling for work and 12 years later I’m self-publishing the second book in a series.

Q: What was your first published work, and how was it received?

A: The current first book in the series Light of Mine, was originally self-published as Darkness Cloaks the Land. The first two versions of that title were a learning experience for me. When I finally reworked it into Light of Mine, I had found my voice and it’s a story that is generally loved by those that enjoy middle grade fantasy.

Q: When you are writing, what does your daily schedule look like?

A: I get up early in the morning and try to get a couple hours in before my day job. I can usually get 2-4 days a week in like that when I have a deadline. I write best stuck in an airplane, but lately that’s not really been an option.

Q: When writing a book of fiction, what kind of research do you normally have to do?

A: For this series I did a bunch of research on the technology of the 1700-1800 in America. I really wanted to build out an American frontier feel for this series. I believe that has been well received and a lot of it was research from trips to places like the Little House on the Prarie Museum and the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. At the Reunion I learned about meal preparation and how cooking was done in those days. A lot of what went into the food in Still Small Voice and the way they eat on their journey came from what I learned at Old Threshers.

Q: Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

A: I used my kids as a starting point. How they might react in faciful situations. Then it kind of grew from there. In a lot of cases I was trying to not be the typical elves, dwarves and trolls fantasy. So I had to think a lot about what I was doing when I decied to introduce fantastic new races into the story.

Q: When creating your characters, do you base them on people you know, create them totally from scratch, or do a combination of both? Elaborate if you would like.

A: The Characters in my story are largely family members put in a different situation. Some of the supporting characters are modeled after what you might call standard types. The Parson for example is the kind preacher you might find in a Little House on the Prarie book. However, when I created the other races I did use a chart of sorts to make sure I covered major points about their appearance, culture and motivations. That’s a more traditional dossier method.

Q: What is your favorite genre of fiction to write and why?

A: I’m enjoying the middle grade fantasy right now, but I have a more adult work, Fat Guys can be Heroes if… that is a lot of fun to work on. Being a big guy it give me a chance to talk about challenges I have in my day to day while writing a fun story.

Q: How do you insert the faith element into these stories so that it is woven naturally into the storyline?

A: This is a story of faith that has a direct action in the world. Being dishonest will dim the light and give the enemy a literal foothold. Not listening to the holy spirit’s calling has cascading consequences. The series is an allegory, but with some very direct references to scripture in places and at times that would make sense in the setting and the culture. It would be unnatural today, but in the 1800’s much of what I’ve put in was a part of daily life.

Q: What book was the most difficult for you to write? The easiest for you to write? Why?

A: Light of Mine was the hardest because I just didn’t know what I was doing at first. 18 major revisions over 12 years. What I find the most frustrating though is I’m working on the first draft of book 3 in the series and I feel like this draft is already better than Light of Mine is after all that time.

Q: Do you have aspirations of your book being turned into a film or TV series? Why or why not?

A: I have had people tell me it aught to be a TV show on like Pure Flix. I think it would be great. I had a conversation with my daughter about that when I was first writing it and she said. “Daddy if they make it a show or a movie can I be the book slapper?”
I asked her, “What is a book slapper.”
“I want to be able to get on the set and every time they don’t do it like the book I want to be able to slap them with it and say, that’s not right.”
So I think if it ever does get a theatrical treatment it will be in the contract that she gets to be the book slapper.

More from Allen

Still Small Voice is the much anticipated 2^nd book in the Towers of Light series. We will be launching the book with a Celebrate Lit tour on July 24^th. Come on the tour to learn about some of the places author Allen Brokken visited to research the unique frontier setting for the series. Five of the tour stops are interviews where he shares what he learned at different historical locations as well as his inspiration for the second book which focuses in listing for the Holy Spirit’s still small voice.

As defenders of the light, three children embark on a journey to stop the dark forces invading their land.

Louder than ever before, the message of listening to the holy spirit’s still small voice resonates with an urgency that demands action.
”Still Small Voice by Allen Brokken is an adventure of a lifetime! Filled with mystery, action, family bonds, and a healthy dose of animal friends this second book in the Tower of Light Series is a fantastic continuation of the journey of siblings Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan. Their quest to spread the Light as Darkness creeps across the land is a faith-filled adventure worth joining. ~Katie Clark, author of the Enslaved Series”

Blog Stops

Texas Book-aholic, July 23

For the Love of Literature, July 24

Artistic Nobody, July 25 (Author Interview)

Inklings and notions, July 26

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, July 27

Vicky Sluiter, July 28 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 29

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, July 30

A Baker’s Perspective, July 31 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, July 31

deb’s Book Review, August 1

A Reader’s Brain, August 2

Through the Fire Blogs, August 3 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, August 4

My Devotional Thoughts, August 5 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Allen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/fe32/still-small-voice-celebration-tour-giveaway

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