Book Review- The Guardians of Elijah’s Fire
The Guardians of The Hidden Scepter
by Frank L. Cole
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published March 8th 2011
by Cedar Fort, Inc.
ISBN 1599554488
4 stars
Amber never dreamed her archaeology class would turn into a top secret mission that would take her across the globe, but when her teacher goes missing, Amber realizes it’s up to her to protect the Hidden Scepter or risk unleashing an ancient power too terrifying to imagine. This guaranteed page-turner from the bestselling author of the Hashbrown Winters series is perfect for the adventurer in your family.
Fire and Ice is honored to be one of the stops on The Guardians of The Hidden Scepter blog tour hosted by Cedar Fort Books.
If you are looking for a high adventure YA book with a fun twist of humor, this one’s for you! Frank L. Cole’s writing is witty and sarcastic with an intelligent archeology smart heroine and a junk food shoveling sidekick named Trendon. What started out as four students enrolled in a private school’s archeology course soon turns into an uncovered conspiracy with plenty of bullets flying. The plot is well paced and storyline similar to Middleworld by J&P Voelkel. Frank’s strength is the detail he builds into each scene and character. This book is just like being sucked head first into a movie and ending up halfway across the world. I would recommend The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter to readers 14 and older or as a read along with your students/children due to some violence in the first couple of chapters. Otherwise a clean read it will also appeal to an adult audience. And did I happen to mention how much we enjoy the author? My kiddos have met him at a couple of signings and are true fans of Frank’s first series entitled Hashbrown Winters.
We are thrilled to have Frank L. Cole here with us today to answer some exclusive interview questions…
What are your hobbies?
Obviously writing books, but I love reading, hanging with my family, playing basketball, and watching all sorts of sports and movies.What are your favorite all-time books?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, and The Taily Po (children’s book that scared me to death.)When did you start writing your first book and how long did it take to get it published?
I started writing The Adventures of Hashbrown Winters in 2003 and it was published in 2009, so about 6 years from start to finish with a lot of rejection along the way.
Who is your hero/ mentor? That’s a tough one. I’ve had a lot of people that have shown their support for me over the years. I suppose, if I had to pick one, it would be my wife, Heidi. She’s been there for me throughout this whole experience. She cried when I faced rejection after rejection and she screamed when someone finally said yes. She gives up her nights to let me read what I’ve written to her and she doesn’t let me quit. Every writer could use a mentor like that.
What suggestion would you give young writers? Find a story that you really want to tell and finish it. Don’t worry about the other stuff that goes along with getting published at first. Submitting and trying to find a publisher or an agent really puts a clamp on the writing ability. At least it does for me. I get so stressed and worried about what people think and if I’m not focused, it takes me a long time to finish a book. Discover your story, pull (if you can) from your own experiences, and find your beginning, middle, and end of your book.
Who is your favorite author? I really love JK Rowling. Her stories are so amazing and she writes her characters in such a way that they’ll never be forgotten. I wish I could write that way.
How do you find time to write with other responsibilities? It’s tough. Full-time work, full-time family, and of course, other responsibilities make it difficult to write. But because it’s something I love so dearly, I find a way to do it. Usually, I write at night when the kids are asleep and I have a free hour or two to just relax and go to work. Story telling is in my blood and it really brings me a lot of joy.
What was your road to being published like? Oh, it was grueling. My first book (still unpublished) was rejected at least 50 times. I refused to give up when, now looking back, I realize I should’ve moved on to other books earlier. I went to conferences, mingled with authors and publishers, and made all the mistakes rookies do when trying to prove to people you’ve written something worth taking a look at. Luckily, Cedar Fort gave me a shot. They read my first book and like all of the others, rejected it, but invited me to submit something else. That was Hashbrown. I’m so grateful for all they’ve done for me. They’re a great company!
What is your all-time favorite children’s book? I know I said The Tailypo, but that book scared me so bad as a kid that I slept in my parents’ bedroom for months. I really love Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. My mom read me that book as a kid and I bought it for my own kids a few years ago. It’s just a cool idea.
Do you have a writer’s group? I meet with some guys in Layton once a month and we brainstorm for an hour or two. It’s great to get out and get other ideas. I highly recommend them
Thank you so much to Cedar Fort books for choosing Fire and Ice as a blog tour stop Be sure to find Frank L. Cole on his blog