Scheduled for an early May release, I can not wait to introduce to you my new Whitetail Adventure Series of books! The books will target any young hunter who reads, within the ages of pre-teen to teen (8-14). The first book has yet to be fully titled, but it contains 15 chapters and will be approximately 150 pages long. It reveals the fictional adventures of 3 teenagers and their father as they not only hunt together for the first giant buck in the series, but have to contend with poachers and everyday life as well. While enjoying a story with adventure, an every expanding cast of characters, suspense and deep meaning, young readers of these books will learn advanced hunting and habitat techniques woven throughout the story; without realizing that they are actually learning. The front cover has yet to be fully sketched, but the above picture is a small tease for the release of the original artwork that will be provided by Nicole Larson.
I am really excited about the release of the first book in my new Whitetail Adventure Series, and I will provide the exact dates for when you can purchase it as soon as possible. Also, the book will be available in both an eBook version, as well as paperback.
The Whitetail Adventure Series of books will be the perfect fit for any young hunter (boy or girl), who enjoys reading. I also suspect that there will be some kids who will read these books, even though they do not typically read any other books. Make sure to let your own children know, as well as you nieces, nephews, grandchildren and any other young hunters...that this series is coming soon! And if you are already within the age range for this type of adventure...I can't wait for you to read the first one.
I will add many more details over the course of the next several weeks, but here are 2 completely unedited portions of the book. The following excerpts may change slightly, but they will provide a little flavor of the book:
"It was still sad even now, the pain was still there, and it was always there. But, it was at times like this when nature's beauty not only reminded me of her, but at the same time comforted the emptiness that her passing left. Dad looked at me out of the corner of his left eye with a slight smile and a glossy twinkle. I knew that she was in both of our thoughts at this very moment.
"Hey look at that!" whispered Autumn in an excited tone that snapped me back to reality. Just over the crest of the ridge in front of us and less than 100 yards away, a doe and two fawns moved from the left out of the corn, and to the right into the side-by-side fields of beans and alfalfa. "I don't think they even knew we were slowly driving down the road." Which wasn't uncommon because of all the typical traffic of tractors, trucks and farmland machines.
"It's still over 2 hours before dark and the deer are already moving, that storm must have really motivated the hunger pains!" said Dad. "Why don't you pull over here Jim and we can try to sneak in; does that sound good?"
"Sounds like a good plan Mike," said Jim as he came to a slow stop close to the wall of corn on our right. "Do you have enough room to get out Sam?"
"Sure, I will just push the corn a little bit; I can be quiet," Sam whispered.
Dad and Autumn seemed to always work their way to the front, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because Dad was tall enough to start to see over the crest of the ridge and hopefully see an ear or antler before the deer could actually spot the rest of us. At the same time Autumn was always light on her feet, and a very quiet stalker.
We all moved ahead slowly, hugging the edge of the road and the corn to our right. And then Dad stopped while dropping slightly, turning around and raising a finger to his lips to make sure we stayed quiet, before speaking slowly in words that we could just barely make out, "BIG antlers, over the crest, 75 yards to the Southwest."
As we all inched slowly forward while crouching as low to the ground as possible, we reached a point along the crop land where the corn ended, and the long, East to West field of alfalfa began. There was no cover at this point, but at least we weren't exposed to the feeding deer on the backside of the slight ridge that ran through the field. We turned slowly to the west while still keeping the corn on our right side."
Excerpt #2:
As she eventually described to us, Autumn's ride down the hill road was cold, but quick. The moisture below was just starting to clear the valley as she rode into the fog while slowing down to make the turn into the lane to her left. She parked the bike against the metal "No Trespassing" post on her right as she began to quietly walk uphill on the sandy old logging road towards the corner where the stump camera was. Even though the stump was normally fairly easy to see through the canopy of trees that shaded the forest floor, Autumn could just barely make out the shape of the land and trees around the camera, through the cloud of fog lifting with the morning thermals. As she walked forward while leaving no sound or scent on the soft surface of the road, a stick broke above her and to the left. "Cool" she thought to herself, "I bet I am walking right up to a deer, I wonder if it's Turn Tine." She even stopped for moment, hesitating, while wondering if she should continue and potentially spook some deer.
She moved forward even more slowly, knowing that she had plenty of time to still reach the Mathews home that was nearly in shouting distance from where her bike was parked. As she finally reached the old stump, she noticed that the mock scrape that Sam and I had made nearby had been worked by a buck, and she was really excited. Another stick broke now to her immediate left. She remembered wondering, was something getting closer? But she couldn't see very far up the hill into the fog. A chill went down her spine and she actually felt a little scared for some reason. Was it a 6th sense of danger in the air? She quickly changed the SD card and started walking downhill, with the steep bank on her right as she moved slowly.
Directly above her she heard the rustle of a leaves and her heart started pounding to an intensity that she couldn't remember feeling before. Time, became a blur. She Stopped and began to turn towards the sound. And then it happened! Out of the corner of her right eye she saw a dark shape, leaping off of the high bank and towards her to a point so close that she could smell the collection of grease and grime on his clothes. Autumn let out a piercing scream.
Chapter 11
Dad's cell phone started ringing a little bit before 8, before Sam had even had time to finish his 5th pancake in 5 minutes. I think we all wondered if Autumn was calling about seeing a big buck or something when dad said, "Wait, wait...wait, are you OK Sweetie?!" Autumn was obviously on the other end, "we will be right there, OK? It will be OK, I love you!"
"Dad was is it Autumn? Is she alright?" Sam and I burst out at the same time, while Dad said very sternly, "She seems fine, she is scared and I am very mad-let's go!"