C.J. Carter-Stephenson's Blog: ~ Crystal Clear ~, page 13

Accolade for 'The Crystal Ship'

I arrived home from work today and found a very nice email waiting for me in my inbox. Apparently, The Crystal Ship has been given the official seal of approval by Children's Literary Classics and will now be forwarded to their Awards Department for consideration in their 2012 Book Awards. Although the book has garnered some very positive feedback since its release, this accolade is by far the most prestigious. This is one of the seal of approval images they sent me...



The press release reads as follows:

"Children's Literary Classics is pleased to announce that the children's chapter book, The Crystal Ship, a Science Fiction Fairy-Tale written by C.J. Carter Stephenson, and illustrated by, Mauro Vargas, has been selected to receive the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

"The Crystal Ship, a Science Fiction Fairy-Tale by C.J. Carter Stephenson, is the story of a beautiful princess who has been frozen inside a time capsule for over a thousand years. When Princess Sky is sold to the prince of an alien planet by her jealous and spiteful twin sister, she soon becomes the pawn in a series of events that will have readers on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next. --Enter the hero, an unlikely young boy in search of adventure who sets out on a dangerous mission to save the princess, and you have a fantastical story replete with all the makings of an exciting, page-turning adventure.

"This imaginative book with its many twists and turns will keep young readers engaged as they encounter the strange and fascinating world of Princess Sky, her captors, and heroes. The Crystal Ship is sure to delight youngsters and earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval. The CLC Seal of Approval is a designation reserved for those books which uphold the rigorous criteria set forth by the Children's Literary Classics review committee, a team comprised of individuals with backgrounds in publishing, editing, writing, illustration and graphic design.

"Children’s Literary Classics, an organization dedicated to furthering excellence in children’s literature, takes great pride in its role to help promote classic children's literature which appeals to youth, while educating and encouraging positive values in the impressionable young minds of future generations. To learn more about Children's Literary Classics, you may visit their website at www.clcawards.org or www.childrensliteraryclassics.com"

I am honoured that the book has been given such a glowing review and am keeping my fingers crossed for the coming awards.

Another money saving tip...

There is yet another chance to save some money at Lulu.com. Simply enter the coupon code 'CAUGHTUK' at checkout and they will give you 18% off your order. What better time to pick up a copy of The Crystal Ship (http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...), Bloodlust Variations (http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...) or any of their other great titles? Offer ends midnight on 13th July.

Special Offer!!!

In case my recent Bloodlust Variations announcements have whetted anyone's appetite, I have some good news for you. Order a copy of the book at Lulu.com before midnight on 29th June and they will give you 20% off your order. Simply enter the coupon code 'CHASEUK' at checkout. Here's the link...

http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...

Can also be used to purchase a copy of The Crystal Ship (http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...) or anything else from their extensive catalogue.

Yet another announcement!

At the risk of being accused of being stuck on a theme, here is some more Bloodlust Variations news. The book now has its own dedicated page on my website. The link is as follows:

http://www.carter-stephenson.co.uk/bl...

Have a great weekend!

^o^ Bloodlust Variations ^o^ Trailer

Bloodlust Variations, now has its own trailer. This can be viewed at the link below...

http://youtu.be/VGHI3Kdx6GM

As mentioned yesterday, the book is available to buy from Lulu.com (see http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...) and will be arriving imminently at Amazon et al. Keep checking back for more breaking news.

~BREAKING NEWS ~

I am pleased (not to mention excited) to announce that my latest book, Bloodlust Variations has now been officially released. As mentioned previously, it is a collection of vampire fiction and poetry, a little over 300 pages in length. Further details can be found in the Bonito Books press release at the following link:

http://www.carter-stephenson.co.uk/Bl...

The book will be available to buy from Amazon and other online retailers within the next few weeks. In the meantime, interested parties can pick up a copy from Lulu.com at the link below...

http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...

Rocking out in the mud!

I arrived back home from the Download festival late on Monday night (after a long delay waiting for a punctured tyre on my car to be replaced) and am still struggling to make the adjustment back to normal life. As anyone who has been to a large-scale music festival will know, they are a world unto themselves. Hard to believe that in a few short weeks, all trace of the tents, the rows of stalls, the miles of fencing, etc. will have vanished. Until next year, of course, which can’t come quickly enough for me. True, it was a little on the muddy side (actually, make that a lot on the muddy side), but it was still a magical experience… tens of thousands of likeminded individuals bound together by their love of music, determined not to let something as trivial as the threat of rain drive them away.



There were so many great moments that it’s impossible for me to choose a favourite. What I will say is that I saw some classic performances, including blistering sets from a few bands/artists that I have wanted to see since I was a kid (Soundgarden, Ugly Kid Joe, Sebastian Bach and Terrorvision to name but a few). As for Sunday night, when Ozzy and Tony Iommi brought the original line-up of Black Sabbath (minus drummer) back from the grave, it blew my mind. Even now, I cannot stop humming that iconic Iron Man riff.

All good things must come to an end, though, so here I am, sitting at my computer, typing out this blog entry, and since this is a website about books, it’s probably about time I moved onto some writing related news. As I may have mentioned previously, I have a collection of vampire fiction and poetry in the pipeline and it just so happens that my checking copy was waiting for me when I got back from Donnington. I have been through it in detail, and although there are a couple of minor mistakes that need to be rectified, I am fairly confident the finished product will be available to buy by the end of next week. It is just over 300 pages in length, and features two novellas, three short stories and a narrative poem. Watch this space for further details.

Incidentally, if anyone out there is interested in picking up a copy of my other book, The Crystal Ship, Lulu.com are running another of their great promotions. Enter the coupon code 'CRACKEDUK' at checkout before midnight on 15th June and get 13% off your order. Here’s the link for the product page…

http://www.lulu.com/shop/cj-carter-st...

Thanks for reading.

A little bit of shameless self-promotion.

The Crystal Ship has received another positive review, this time from Lori M at Readers Favourite. It's available to read at the following link...

http://readersfavorite.com/review/6268

Many thanks, Lori.

In the presence of a great man's great grandson - a great experience.

What a great day it has been! With less than two weeks to go before the release of my new collection of vampire stories, I got to meet the great grandson of Bram Stoker. For those of you who don't know, today is the hundredth anniversary of his famous relative's death and he was the guest of honour at a Dracula talk I attended. I won't go into detail about what he said, as I have a stack of work to be getting on with. Suffice it to say he came across as a genuinely nice person with some fascinating nuggets of information to impart and an enviable collection of books, including Mr. Stoker's very own annotated copy of Dracula, which you can see below...



If I'm lucky, perhaps I will absorb some of the Stoker genius, but even if I don't, it was still worth going. We were even offered a free glass of wine, which I have to say I refused. Not because I didn't want it, but because I couldn't resist the opportunity to utter those immortal words, "I never drink... wine." Sad, I know, but somebody had to do it.

Congratulations x 5... Commiserations x 595...

A big thank you to everyone who entered my recent giveaway and congratulations to the winners (Hai-yen from Canada, Mary from America, Anna from Ireland, Caragh from England and Darren from Ireland). Your copies of The Crystal Ship are winging their way to you even as we speak. Commiserations to those of you who didn't win. If I could have afforded it, I would have given a copy to everybody, but with a whopping 600 entrants, this simply wouldn't have been possible. I still can't believe how many people entered this competition (I was only expecting my mother and maybe one or two others). It makes me very happy to to know so many people are interested in my book. If any of you decide to buy a copy, I would very much like to know what you think of it. In the meantime, watch this space for more giveaway news (I have a collection of vampire stories coming out in the very near future and there will almost certainly be copies of that up for grabs).