Isle of Swords (53 page)

The brilliant students of Folly Quarter Middle School—Thank you for helping me develop
Isle of Swords
. Dr. Carl Perkins and Mrs. Julie Rout: Thank you for the time to share my books with others. To the 6th Grade Team . . . your talent and expertise inspire me daily. (Deer!) And to Susan Ryan, thanks for the cool pirate book!

Gregg Wooding: Thanks for standing in the gap so many times. All my friends at Thomas Nelson Children's Books & Education: Thank you for the opportunity to set sail on a new adventure. And Beverly and June for helping me make
Isle of Swords
worthy of being published.

My friends at the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Tour: Your actions are “like small stones that start an avalanche in the mountains.” DiscoverSea Shipwreck Museum in Bethany Beach: There's no research like seeing and touching firsthand. I love your museum! The staff of Eldersburg Public Library: I love your quiet study room!

Fantasy 4 Fiction Tour friends, Bryan Davis, Sharon Hinck, and Christopher Hopper: Thanks for an incredible adventure. And oh yeah, Christopher, we need to get back to the Banshee! I hear they have a new sandwich with Jamaican jerk sauce. And finally, to my readers: I pray that this adventure is worthy of your time and hope that it'll lead you to greater adventures of your own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wayne Thomas Batson
is the author of five best-selling novels:
Isle of Swords
,
Isle of Fire
, and The Door Within Trilogy. His books have earned awards and nominations including: Silver Moonbeam, Mom's Choice® Silver, Cybil, Lamplighter, and American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year. A middle school reading teacher in Maryland for eighteen years, Wayne tailors his stories to meet the needs of young people, whom he cares so deeply about. Wayne writes adventures set in imaginative locales because he believes that on a deep level we all dream of doing something that matters and long for another world. When last seen, Wayne was tromping around the Westfarthing with his beautiful wife and four adventurous children.