BIG NEWS!! My Fantasy Series 'Pool of Souls' is Contracted!

*Insert MAJOR dork dancing galore!*

I can't say it any better than the J. Taylor Publishing offical press release:

Debut Novelist, Terri Rochenski, signs two-book deal with J. Taylor Publishing for Pool of Souls - a fantasy series set in fictional Derlund.

Terri Rochenski signs two-book contract with J. Taylor Publishing for her Pool of Souls series, including Eye of the Soul and Secrets of the Soul.

Apex, NC - December 17, 2012 - Terri started writing stories in the 8th grade, when a little gnome whispered in her brain. Gundi’s Great Adventure never hit the best seller list, but it started a long love affair with the fantasy genre, and from that, came the Pool of Souls series including Eye of the Soul and Secrets of the Souls.

“Pool of Souls started as a necessary way of working through a tough time in my life a few years back,” says Rochenski. “What sprouted as a simple story took life and grew into something I never expected or imagined.”

“The Pool of Souls series is a fantasy adventure, laden with conflict and a pathway to finding one’s true self,” says J. Taylor Publishing. “In a world unlike our own, the characters struggle in a way adults will be able to connect—whether it be hardship of life, relationships, religious or faith issues and even loyalty.”

The Pool of Souls series is set in fictional Derlund, in a fantasy world where humans and ‘Natives‘ rarely intermingle, and tracks the story through the perspectives of Hyla and Miri, both Natives, Jadon, a warrior, Belwig, a high priest and Conlin, a particularly interesting young man. Each character sets about on a pathway toward a single location, and as their stories intertwine, their purposes are revealed.

“Enlightenment is a key element to this story, but in multiple ways and in different manners for each character,” says J. Taylor Publishing, adding, “We fell in love with Ms. Rochenski’s writing and the vivid imagery of a new world, coupled with a new race of creatures. We’re very excited to add these two novels to our catalog and to bring Ms. Rochenski from short-story writer to debut novelist.”

“Twelve years ago, Anne Tyler told me I’d one day be signing a book for her,” says Rochenski, adding, “I strived to fulfill that prophecy, but quit when the tough times began. Here it is—a new life later—that I’m finally going to be able to mail a book to her, signed of course. It was her mentoring all those years ago that instilled the dream I’m now realizing. If not for her belief in me, I would have put the pencil down and given up long ago.

Now, as Terri escapes to Middle Earth during her rare ‘me’ moments when her two young daughters allow, she can call herself a published novelist, and when not playing toys, picking them back up, or kissing boo-boos, she can be found sprawled on the couch with a book or pencil in hand, creating more worlds for all of us to enjoy.

Eye of the Soul is planned for release in October 2013 with Secrets of the Soul to follow one year later.

     How friggin' COOL is that????? I'm still jumping out of my skin.

*One last dork dance as I click 'publish'*