Guardian Angel (46 page)

Authors: Adrian Howell

Much like a superhero’s secret identity, the pen name isn’t there to protect me, but rather to protect the people closest to me… from me! I tell no one, not even (and most especially) my immediate family what I write. Yes, they know I’ve published something, but they don’t know what, and I believe that this is for the best because I myself would not want to be put into a position where I’m socially obliged to read someone’s book (as likely as not in a genre that I don’t enjoy) simply because I personally know the author. Thus I won’t put others in the same uncomfortable position. And as much as I appreciate good reviews, I don’t care for biased praise, however glowing. I love my family very much, but regarding my writing, I prefer the readership of those who, like yourself, enjoy the genre enough to find the books on their own.

As to why I chose “Adrian Howell” as my pen name, this is pretty simple: Any pen name was as good as another, but using my protagonist’s name allowed my first-person narrative to read like an autobiography. I just thought it would be more fun that way. Confusing, perhaps, but fun.

Do I share any other traits with Adrian the character? A few, actually. I share his lack of spiritual direction as well as his dislike of firearms. I don’t watch television. And I do wear the amethyst. I have for most of my life and will probably wear it till the day I die. But my reason for this is very different from Adrian’s. What that reason is, exactly, is strictly need-to-know. Sorry.

Aside from those details, however, I am very different from Adrian the character. Whereas Adrian is mildly vertically challenged, I’m a fairly big guy. And though I lived for a time in the kind of suburbia that Adrian begins his journey in, by his age, I was already living in Tokyo. I am an educator by trade, and as such I would like to think that I am a more principled person than Adrian becomes in his later years. But he’s the better cook.

Adrian Howell (pen name)

One Rainy February Day, 2014

Tokyo, Japan

About the Author

Born of a Japanese mother and American father, Adrian Howell (pen name) was raised for a time in California and currently lives a quiet life in Japan where he teaches English to small groups of children and adults. Aside from reading and writing fiction, his hobbies include recumbent cycling, skiing, medium-distance trekking, sketching and oversleeping.

Send comments and questions to the author at:

[email protected]

Introducing Lester Smith’s D6xD6 Role-Playing Game

Adventure in the World of the Psionic Pentalogy

Come adventure in Adrian Howell’s Psionic Pentalogy world as your own unique character, with the D6xD6 Role-Playing Game! If you’re new to role-playing, you’ll find the game a quick-and-easy way to get started: Character creation takes only five minutes. If you’re an old hand at the hobby, you’ll find surprising depth to the system, which one reviewer called “the haiku of role-playing games.” Created by four-time Origins award-winning game designer Lester Smith, the D6xD6 Role-Playing Game is simple but elegant, a marriage of equality between storytelling and game mechanics. It features two dozen different worlds of adventure by professional authors, with new ones being added regularly. So join the secret psionic war in which young Adrian and his friends have become embroiled, and explore countless other worlds besides. To learn more, visit
www.D6xD6.com
.

A Plea for Word-of-Mouth

Thank you for reading
PSIONIC Book Five: Guardian Angel.
The
Psionic Pentalogy
is an independently published work. Consequently, it does not have the big financial support of traditional publishing houses to promote the books, and instead relies much more heavily on reviews and word-of-mouth by readers such as yourself. If you have enjoyed this book, please tell your friends about it. Please give it a mention on any social networking sites you use such as Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please also consider leaving a review on your online bookseller’s site. Even if it’s only a sentence or two, it would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated.

Amazon.com Review Links for the Psionic Pentalogy

Follow these links to leave reviews on any or all books in this series:

Wild-born
(Book 1):

http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00AM1H5PK

The Tower
(Book 2):

http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00ARMPOBQ

Lesser Gods
(Book 3):

http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00AWMLU96

The Quest
(Book 4):

http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00B26LDCU

Guardian Angel
(Book 5):

http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00B7OHHXQ