Readers have little information when discovering a new author. With any author, but especially a new one, readers must take a risk; they must spend their money (and time) to test the book of a new author—without any chance of a refund (of either their money or time). Yes, a reader can click the “Look Inside” tab to read a sample, but that sample is small and is not a fair selection to either the reader or the author.
Therefore, I wrote Into the Mind of Lucifer, the prequel to the Angelic Wars Christian fantasy series. I offer this book for free—no risk to the reader. My initial book, Angelic Wars, First Rebellion is about the wars between angels in Heaven. This prequel, Into the Mind of Lucifer, is the novella that precedes the wars, explaining the mindset of why Lucifer rejected God and invoked the first rebellion. The setting, characters and music of this novella carry over to the full-length novel that follow it.
This free novella is more informative than most prequels. Not only does it open the story and series, but it provides a (free) link to one of the songs I composed, which is offered along with others on iTunes. This song is not representative of all the genres that I composed in Angelic Wars, First Rebellion, but it does display to the reader how a musical novel works, and the interaction between the written word and music sung by characters.
Another point about writing this free novella is to display the use of biblical footnotes. Though the books I write are fiction, I use my familiarity as a long time Bible teacher and online missionary to support many aspects of the story. The footnotes are Scriptural references that support the setting, characters, and the dialogue among those characters. You’d be hard-pressed to find any Christian fantasy book with dozens of footnotes that support its fantasy premise. The Amazon Kindle Sample does not provide the footnote page at the end of the chapter, but the footnoted numbers are displayed.
In general, I wrote the Angelic Wars series, on three levels in order to entertain and inspire its readers: First: they may read it on a fantasy level like any novel that creates an alternative world to take the reader on a fantastical journey. No biblical training (or belief) is required. Second: Christian with some biblical knowledge may appreciate the books biblical footnotes allowing them to see the biblical parallels with its characters and events. This level also mirrors the convention that history is intertwined or vaguely “repeats itself.” In the Bible’s Old Testament, there are Messianic and Apocalyptic prophesies, many of which are fulfilled in the New Testament. Likewise, I wrote this fantasy with a view that acts, locations, and even events arose in the time before the Bible was written, but in a more vivid and dynamic setting. Third: readers can read the Angelic Wars, First Rebellion novel along with its companion, a New Adult Bible Study curriculum (ages 18-25), which is available for a free download at www.AngelicWars.com.