Series: Falling Angels #4
Publication
date: March
13, 2014
Publisher:
White
Whisker Books
Synopsis
Think twice before you
agree to marry Satan. There’s no divorcing the devil.
The End is Near
Will Megan Barnett go
falling back into the arms of dreamy earth angel, Guy Matson? Or, is she in
fact, falling in love with the demon, Orthon?
Or, will her out-of-control abilities send her falling into Satan’s open
arms?
In the final,
heart-stopping chapter of the Falling Angels Saga, Megan Barnett is on a quest
to rid her life of Satan forever, but Satan has other plans, including a lavish
wedding, and he’s willing to destroy her family and everyone she loves to have
his way. To add to the drama, rogue
demons have risen from hell with plans of their own.
Will Megan finally have
her happily-ever-after, or is she doomed to an eternity in HELL?
As Amanda Ashby, author
of Zombie Queen of Newbury High, writes, “E. Van Lowe is a writing force to be
reckoned with and you are in masterful hands from the first page to the last.”
Hollywood
and Back:
How
Author E. Van Lowe Reinvented Himself in Hollywood
Sitcom
producer and writer E. Van Lowe, who had major hits with "The Cosby
Show" and "Charles in Charge" among others, found as he hit
middle-age that the phone rang less for jobs. He began writing paranormal
romance novels, which, in turn, is bringing him back to Hollywood.
Los
Angeles, CA
In mid-December, Ehrich (pronounced
Eric) Van Lowe received a flat envelope in the mail from the Writers Guild of
America. In it was a letter of congratulations along with a certificate. The
Cosby Show had been selected as one of the 101 best television shows in
history. Van Lowe and other writers were being honored for their roles in
writing and producing the show.
“Receiving the honor was a mixed
blessing,” says Van Lowe. “Many of my current fans weren’t even born when The
Cosby Show aired in first run. They only know it from late night reruns on TV
Land and Nick at Night. They view The Cosby Show the same way I viewed I Love
Lucy reruns when I was a kid—something that happened a long, long time ago.”
Van Lowe laughs when he says this, but
his laughter is bittersweet. Many of the young Hollywood executives who Van
Lowe must look to to get hired to write TV shows and movies were children when
he was writing and producing such stalwart series as The Cosby Show, Knight
Rider, Charles In Charge and Even Stevens. In a culture that celebrates youth,
they don’t see Van Lowe as a seasoned veteran; they see him just as they see
any writer over forty—old and washed-up.
After a head writer stint on The Tom
Joyner Show in 2006, Van Lowe realized his phone wasn’t ringing as much as it
once was. He decided after the show had wrapped to begin his segue into his
next career, that as an author. Van Lowe had begun his writing career as an
author, writing a few paperback original horror novels when he was a student at
the University of Southern California. In the early 80s, Van Lowe had written
"Child’s Play" and "The Power" under the pseudonym Sal
Conte.
“I loved horror when I was growing up,”
says van Lowe. “I still do. I chose the first and last names of two guys I
played basketball with at the Y as my pseudonym. I figured I’d save my own name
for when I wrote the great American novel.”
The great American novel never happened
because soon after graduating from the Masters in Professional Writing program
at USC, Van Lowe began his more than twenty-year career writing television and
film, and never looked back. “The plan was to return to writing books when my
TV run was over. I had no idea it was going to last as long as it did, or be so
successful.”
Van Lowe’s successes includes:
co-writing the Academy Award nominated short film, Cadillac Dreams. A People’s
Choice Award for The Cosby Show, an Emmy nomination for Even Stevens, and
numerous other nominations including several for the NAACP Image Award, and two
for the Director’s Guild of America Diversity Award.
When the Tom Joyner Show wrapped, Van
Lowe made the difficult decision to not take any studio meetings that year in
search of his next gig. Instead, he decided to take the year off and write his
first young adult novel, “Never Slow Dance with a Zombie.” “It wasn’t a
difficult decision for me. I knew my career was winding down and I wanted to
get my second career started before my first career ended. I wrote the book
before the zombie craze had hit, before YA novels like 'Twilight' and 'The
Hunger Games' were hot movie properties. So to many of my friends, as well as
my agents and manager, it seemed like a bad idea. But I have to hand it to my
team, once they understood what I was doing, they embraced the idea as best
they could and never deserted me.”
In 2007, Van Lowe’s faith in his team
was rewarded when his agent, Jim Kellem (JKA Talent & Literary), did what
Van Lowe thought he couldn’t by inking a book deal at Tor Teen, a division of
publishing powerhouse MacMillan/St. Martin’s. By then, the book was highly
anticipated. "Never Slow Dance with a Zombie" was released in
September 2009 with an initial order of 70,000 copies. While the book never
made it onto the best seller list, "Never Slow Dance with a Zombie"
went on to garner a nomination for an American Library Association Award. The
book became part of the first wave of YA zombie novels and launched the
beginning of the current YA paranormal craze.
Soon after the sale of "Never Slow
Dance with a Zombie," Kellem called again telling Van Lowe the family of a
teen Hollywood star wanted to meet with him. Jim had slipped the manuscript to
the young star’s family. They loved the story and wanted to option it for their
daughter. Van Lowe declined the option because he realized he could have a
resurgence in Hollywood if he were the rights holder and producer of this and
several popular novels. How would he become the rights holder to more books?
He’d write the books himself.
“I wanted to become a beloved novelist,
not a guy who wrote one book that became a movie,” says Van Lowe. “I love books
and the people who read them. As much as I wanted to renew my Hollywood career,
I knew I had to write several books that readers enjoyed. If I did that, the
rest would take care of itself.”
Van Lowe says his greatest reward has
been the fans. Although his protagonists are always teenagers, his books appeal
to young and old alike. Van Lowe particularly loves interacting with his
younger fans. “They’re so enthusiastic,” he says. In 2009 Van Lowe’s young
fan’s enthusiasm was on display when many of them showed up to his Never Slow
Dance with a Zombie Fest hours early to get made into zombies by a professional
Hollywood makeup artist.
Van Lowe was on a roll. His second and
third novels, (the first two books in The Falling Angels Saga) "Boyfriend
from Hell" and "Earth Angel" became eBook Best Sellers in 2012.
The four-book saga is being published by White Whisker Books, owned and
operated by Van Lowe’s college classmate and friend, Christopher Meeks.
“Working with Meeks has been a dream.
I’m able to have a hand in all aspects of the publishing process, including
design, marketing, and release dates. I’m a hands-on kind of guy. I try to
write page-turners, and with Chris’s help, I believe we deliver the best
visceral experience for my fans that we possibly can.”
Meeks only has admiration for Van Lowe.
"Ehrich saw what I was doing at White Whisker and asked if I'd considering
publishing his Falling Angels Saga. I was only one chapter in and saw this guy
is a magician. He can write. His fourth book comes out in two months."
Van Lowe takes as much care with his
new career as he did with The Cosby Show. The highly anticipated fourth and
final book in the saga, entitled "Falling," debuts on March 13th
2014. White Whisker is hosting a launch party at Vroman’s Books in Pasadena on
launch day, where Van Lowe will do a reading. The event is free and open to the
public. Van Lowe is hoping his latest book becomes another best seller. “My
fans are going to love the final book. I put everything I had into it,” he says
with pride.
Van Lowe is quite busy in his new
career. He spent much of the summer in meetings at every major studio and many
production companies shopping his projects. He and a partner wrote a sitcom
pilot for a cable network. In December, he teamed with Hollywood heavyweight
Peter Bergmann to produce the Falling Angels Saga as a feature film franchise.
He is currently at work on the screenplay for "Boyfriend from Hell,"
the first book in the franchise. In January, he resumed taking meetings for
more TV projects based on his works. He’s also working on a new novella and his
next novel.
“I can’t believe how busy I am,” says
Van Lowe. “Two years ago I couldn’t get arrested. Some days I feel overwhelmed,
but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. My new career is every bit as rewarding
as my first, possibly even more rewarding because I’m older and wiser. Who said
youth is wasted on the young? I feel as youthful as ever. I’m having a ball.”
Van Lowe hopes his story can be an
inspiration for men and women who believe the work world is preparing them for
pasture. “We can all continue to be productive members of society,” he says,
“if instead of lamenting the end of our careers, we take a moment to rethink
our career strategies.”
Contact Information
White Whisker Books
Christopher Meeks
No comments:
Post a Comment