Montco author Katie McVay invited to Princeton event

AUTHOR KATIE McVAY (photo from her Facebook author page)

Katie McVay, author of "The City of Lost Secrets: A Mara Beltane Mystery," was recently chosen to participate in Princeton Public Library’s Local Author Day, on Saturday, March 24.

During the three-hour event, which is open to the public, McVay and 23 other authors will display, sell and sign books. Featured authors will also have a chance to read from their work. The Princeton Public Library is located at 65 Witherspoon St. in Princeton, N.J. For more information about the event, visit www.princetonlibrary.org.

McVay self-published the suspense-thriller novel "The City of Lost Secrets," in August 2011. In her words, the book is "about a Philadelphia-based novelist whose quest for the truth behind an ancient tomb in Jerusalem leads her into the arms of a handsome biblical scholar and a shocking revelation that may rock Christianity to its core." McVay describes the book as “The DaVinci Code for chicks,” equal parts mystery, women’s fiction, and archeological thriller. 

The novel - McVay's first - has received favorable attention thus far.

 

In February, "The City of Lost Secrets" made it to the Second Round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in the General Fiction category. Two grand-prize winners, one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction, will be offered a traditional publishing contract with Penguin.

McVay is also in the running to have her book featured with the world premiere exhibition, “Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times.” The traveling exhibit includes ossuaries (bone boxes) from the controversial Talpiot tomb, a first-century burial cave rumored to be the final resting place of Jesus that forms the centerpiece of McVay’s novel. The ossuaries, as well as other artifacts in the exhibit, are being seen for the first time outside Jerusalem. If chosen to be a part of the exhibit, the book will be offered as tie-in merchandise for purchase at select retail locations associated with the exhibit. McVay expects to learn whether her book will be included before the exhibit’s opening at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute on May 12. 

“Some scenes in my book take place in Philadelphia, so to have the book as part of a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit in Philadelphia would be really special,” McVay said.

 

McVay is also hoping her book gets free publicity as a result of a recently announced archeological discovery in Jerusalem. A sealed tomb, dubbed the “patio tomb,” dating to the 1^st century C.E. was found to be associated with some of the earliest followers of Jesus, thus providing new evidence for evaluating the Talpiot tomb, which is located in close proximity to this newly discovered tomb. The patio tomb was discovered in 2010 and a new book just recently published about the finding, entitled, “The Jesus Discovery,” is creating buzz and a fair share of controversy.

“The same authors of ‘The Jesus Discovery’ also put out a very controversial 2007 documentary that introduced the world to the Talpiot tomb. That documentary was the inspiration for The City of Lost Secrets,” McVay revealed. “So the fact that a newly discovered tomb could be linked to the Talpiot tomb will hopefully re-spark an interest in the Talpiot tomb.” And, she adds, get people interested in a novel that centers around the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

McVay is currently working on a sequel, entitled "The City of Sacred Bones," which is primarily set in Rome. She plans to self-publish that book in late summer or early fall 2012.

About the author:

Katie McVay is based in Montgomery County, Pa., where she works in the marketing industry. "The City of Lost Secrets" is available in print and e-book formats on the Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble websites. She has also published a short story, "The Department of Lost and Found," which can be purchased as an e-book on Amazon and Smashwords. To learn more, visit McVay's website: http://katiemcvay.blogspot.com. Her blog is also hosted on The Mercury's Town Square bloggers site at Pottsmerc.com. She can also be reached via Twitter @ktmcvay, her Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/KTMcVay, as well as on GoodReads.com.

Book Giveaway: The Vault by Boyd Morrison

Author Boyd Morrison, who recently released "The Vault," started out self-publishing his thrillers. He's now represented, but more on that later.

I've heard from several area authors on the topic of self-publishing. It seems to self-publish a book - that is to pay for the printing and all other associated costs yourself and try to sell it on your own - is increasingly an achievable stepping stone to securing a publisher for future works.

Jim Maust of Trappe recently self-published "From the Driver's Seat"- a memoir about his career as a bus operator for local operator Perkiomen Motorcoach LLC (view my blog about his book here) - and has found success in selling the book to his peers. He hopes to list the book for sale on Amazon.com in the near future.

Katie McVay of Pottstown is moving ahead with plans to publish her first novel "The City of Lost Secrets" as an e-book - a publishing option she says is less costly than a print book. She is currently having her novel formatted for Kindle and other e-readers.She also recently published a short story for sale on Amazon.com for a mere 99 cents. For more information, check out Katie's insightful blog here.

Some other originally self-published works of note, according to Wikipedia, are:

• "The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield
• "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma Rombauer
• "What Color is Your Parachute?" by Richard Nelson Bolles
• "Poems in Prose" by Oscar Wilde
• "Chicken Soup for the Soul" by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

Boyd Morrison started out as a "self-publishing phenomenon," according to his now publisher Touchstone Hardcover/Simon & Schuster. Morrison recently released his latest thriller, "The Vault: A Novel" (Touchstone Hardcover/Simon & Schuster, July 5, 2011, $24.99, 448 pp.). I have a copy of that novel to give away to one lucky reader (see details below).


Unable to find a publisher for his novels, Boyd marketed "The Ark" (May 2010), the story of industrial engineer Tyler Locke’s quest to uncover Noah’s Ark to readers through Amazon’s Kindle program and his own website. His books, according to his publisher, became a word-of-mouth Internet sensation, with over 7,500 copies sold in 3 months. Shortly thereafter, Boyd was signed by Touchstone Books, a division of Simon & Schuster for a multi-book deal. "The Ark" became a national bestseller.


The publisher describes Morrison's new book, "The Vault," as a continuation of Tyler Locke's adventures:

Former combat engineer Tyler Locke races against time to unearth the truth about the fabled touch of King Midas. Locke's routine commute on a Washington State ferry is interrupted by a chilling anonymous call: his father has been kidnapped, and a truck bomb is set to detonate on board in 20 minutes. When Tyler reaches the bomb on the boat's car deck, he's stunned to find classical languages expert Stacy Benedict waiting for him. She's received the same threat, and her sister has also been taken. In order to disarm the bomb, Tyler and Stacy must work together to solve an engineering puzzle — a puzzle written in ancient Greek.

But preventing the explosion is only the first step; they soon learn the entire setup is a test created by a ruthless criminal who forces them to go on a seemingly impossible mission: uncover the legendary lost riches of King Midas. Tyler and Stacy have just five days to track down the gold.

Armed with an ancient manuscript penned by brilliant Greek inventor Archimedes, they begin a quest to unravel a 2,000-year-old mystery whose answer is hidden within the workings of a cryptic artifact: the Antikythera Mechanism, a device designed by Archimedes himself. To save their loved ones and prevent their captors from recovering a treasure that will finance unspeakable devastation, the two scramble to Italy, Germany, Greece, and finally to the streets of New York City in a race against the clock to find the truth behind the story of King Midas.


About the author:

Boyd Morrison (pictured at left) has a PhD in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech and was formerly employed by NASA, Microsoft’s Xbox Games Group, and Thomson-RCA. In 2003, he fulfilled a lifelong dream and became a Jeopardy! Champion. He is also a professional actor who has appeared in commercials, stage plays, and films. Boyd resides with his wife an 10-year-old son in Seattle. To learn more, visit his website.

Boyd Morrison is currently on tour in support of "The Vault," but his tour schedule does not bring him to the Philly area. You can catch him at the storied (yes, I went there) Tattered Cover Bookstore in downtown Denver, CO., on Monday, August 8, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Other upcoming stops include Milwaukee, Houston and St. Louis.

If you'd like to win my review copy of "The Vault," courtesy of Touchstone Hardcover/Simon & Schuster, email me with your mailing address at mkaras@pottsmerc.com or simply post the information in a comment below.