News

 

6/20/11 - Red School ranked #20 in Men's Adventure Fiction on Amazon Kindle list

Red School is currently ranked #20 overall in the Kindle readers Men's Adventure Fiction Top Picks list:  

http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/digital-text/157067011/ref=zg_tr_nav

Red School also ranked #28 in the Kindle readers Spy Stories and Tales of Intrigue Top Picks list:  

http://www.amazon.com/gp/top-rated/digital-text/157322011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_tr_kinc_2_7_last#2

Bryce quipped, "Well, I don't know what crazy algorithms they're running over at Amazon, but if I only get to say it once in my life, 'Tom Clancy, eat my dust.' "

 

 

5/29/11 - New novel/trilogy in development

Hello all,

It's been awhile since I've written a personal note on the website, but I wanted to thank you all for spreading the word regarding Red School and Little Island, and equally, for your continual requests regarding Children of Moloch's release.  It's great to know readers are hungry for more, and there's nothing that pleases me more than when you ask for more material.  Wish I had a date, but some great changes (see below re: Chelsea and I working together) have delayed the release of Children.  

That said, I do have something of an update on what I'm currently working on.

As always, I am mulling new ideas and trying to establish what best will please you, dear reader, and I think I've come up with something really delicious idea-wise for my next piece.  

This by no means suggests that I'm stopping the Red School series.  Actually, it's quite the opposite.  After a hiatus of a couple years in writing to self-publish the books, do a significant edit and polish on each of the first three books (all 1,100 pages of them!), jumping back in the fire is a bit daunting.  With expectations high for the series (both yours and mine), I'm taking a book-long break from the Red School series to try something new and come back into the writing fold with something that won't hinder my preexisting stories.  

Also, I think the idea I have is good...and dark...and something I don't want to risk losing with time.

I'm still in the research phase (have right at 50 pages of research material), but the story revolves around one big hypothetical that I've often thought of but never really had a story to go along with.  Well, now I do, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me.  

If you liked Red School and Little Island, then you'll likely fit into the audience for this piece as well.  I am again taking how we perceive teens and young adults and doing my best to turn that perception on its head.  I don't know where exactly I came to this being a major theme of my work, but regardless, it will stand true in this next piece as well.  

You'll know more soon, I assure you, but for now, that's where I'm going to have to leave off.  I am wishing you all the best, hope that you are having a celebratory Memorial Day weekend, and bid you adieu for now.

Be good and be good to each other, 

Bryce



 

4/15/11 - Bryce signs with Maria Carvainis Literary Agency

We are thrilled to announce that Bryce has signed with literary agent Chelsea Gilmore of the Maria Carvainis Literary Agency!  Chelsea will serve as the representative for all of Bryce Holt's literary and intellectual property regarding the Red School series.  

"It's an unbelievable feeling to have signed with the #1 agency at the top of my list," Bryce said.  "Not many authors have the peace of mind to know that their work is being handled by one of the top agencies for the past 30 years.  It's a huge feat and I'm thrilled with this opportunity." 

With offices in the heart of New York City, MCA has represented a wide variety of best-selling authors since 1977.  With a client list of 75 authors, their list of represented work ranges from literary fiction to celebrity memoir.  Before joining MCA in 2010, Chelsea worked at Oxford University Press and then as an Associate Editor at Avalon Books.  

 

 

 

3/24/11 - Outline for Red School series books 4, 5 and 6 in process

 

Though there are few specifics available, books 4, 5 and 6 all have tentative stories attached to them.  Much the way Red School, Little Island and Children of Moloch were lightly mapped out all at the same time, Bryce is developing the next three books in the series.  

 

His only specific notes are that 1) the books will address our primary characters introduced in books 1 and 2, 2) one story will revolve around a main character's history, and 3) "not every story has a happy ending."

 

Bryce will begin either book 4 or a standalone work in summer, 2011.  More on Children of Moloch's revised release date soon!

 

 

 

1/28/11 – Red School T-Shirts now available!!!
 
Red School tee’s have been released!  The t-shirt image is based off the cover art done by Tim McCabe for Bryce Holt’s first novel, Red School.  Click here to order your Red School t-shirt now!!!
 
 

 

1/02/11 – Note From Bryce
 
Happy New Year to you all!  
 
I hope that 2011 is an exciting and fulfilling year for each of you.  I want to take a moment as we enter the New Year and share with each of you the outlook for 2011, along with some things that happened in 2010 that you may not have heard before.
 
If you are new to bryceholt.com/the Red School series Facebook fan page, I’m thrilled to announce that I was fortunate enough to be offered a movie option for the first book in the series, Red School, in July, 2010.  Since signing the agreement, the management group that owns the film/tv rights has been working to see that it succeeds as a screenplay and gets into the right hands.  More than anything, I’m thrilled by the partnership as well as the quality of work that they have done.  The treatment (i.e., the tentative script that they have written and are beginning to submit) is stellar, and I’m really blessed to be working with writers and developers who care about the source material almost as much as I do.
 
Also, with Red School and Little Island available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble online, it’s time to get the ball rolling on releasing Children of Moloch, the third installment in the series.  I don’t have a set date, but I know that I will be releasing the book sometime in 2011, provided nothing substantial changes regarding the direction of my work.  For those of you wondering what this story will involve, let’s just say the beginning.  The very beginning.  
 
Children of Moloch is the genesis of the school itself; the where and why of Red School’s origins.  I think it will surprise some of you who don’t know exactly where that beginning is, but let’s just say that the road to Red School’s creation and implementation was not an easy one…
 
And finally, my big project (outside of perhaps finding a literary agent to help take my work to the next level), will be writing book 4 in the series or a standalone novel I've been noodling.  I have book 4's tentative story…now I just have to build upon it, flesh out the characters and put the hardest 2 things to write down on paper:  “Chapter 1”.
 
Thank you all for continuing to endorse my work, spread the word and share your thoughts with me as you go about unearthing the world I’ve created.  I hope you discover elation in everything you seek out this year, and my best wishes go out to each and every one of you who is reading this.  
 
Be well, and look forward to hearing from you…
 
Bryce Holt
 
Jan. 2nd, 2011
 

 

 
10/15/10 – Preparation for Book 4 in the Red School series has begun!
 
With 300,000 words spread over three novels in the Red School series, Bryce Holt is thrilled to announce that he’s ready to add a few hundred thousand more.
 
“I’ve been waiting on writing this book for some time,” Bryce said.  “I didn’t feel that what I needed to write it had been invented yet.  But, with where we’re currently at with our technology, I don’t think it’s too much of a leap to take what I’m going to build into my fiction piece and project that…if it’s not already here in some manner of speaking…it could be soon.”
 
The story will supposedly take place in the current timeframe, and involve a very few central characters from Red School and Little Island.  Also, the story will hinge around a piece of highly-coveted technology created by a civilian inventor.
 
Bryce suggested that he plans to flesh out the story and begin book 4, “…the minute Children of Moloch is released.”  
 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Suspense Novel Casts New Lens on Post 9-11 New York
Minor Planet Press launches second book in The Red School Series

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Little Island, the second installment in the Red School Series by author Bryce Holt, has been released by publisher Minor Planet Press.

Continuing the captivating suspense saga of American orphans trained to be government spies and assassins, Little Island catapults readers from a remote section of the American Midwest to the heart of New York City. It is there, on the “little island” of Manhattan, that Noal Cavanaugh and his black op entourage are cast headlong into a fight against global terrorism that will tear them apart and test the sacrifice that each of them knew might be their fate.

Set in post 9-11 New York, Little Island captivates readers with its intriguing characters, their surprising twists of fate and the moral dilemmas of their actions. As Noal and his team converge with the true forces of darkness and a climactic battle becomes inevitable, the explosive ending will leave readers craving more.

Early readers describe the novel as “a page turner in the truest sense,” and, “eagerly await its translation into a movie or TV series.” Other test readers say, “It stacks up against any book I’ve read recently…a triumph,” and, “perfect for readers of thrillers and suspense, and anyone who appreciates a great, riveting story.”

Holt says, “I love New York, and setting my characters there and paying homage to a city I love as only a non-native can was important to me. Little Island was my favorite novel to write thus far, and I just hope that carries over to the reader in every word.”

Although Little Island ranks with the best top-selling thrillers, it also provokes thought about controversial issues that are of concern in today’s world –national security, increasing interest in conspiracy theories, and the distance the American government will go to keep the nation safe.

Little Island is now available for purchase online through Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and BooksaMillion.com. It currently is available in paperback and Kindle formats. For more information, please visit www.bryceholt.com.

At only 30 years old, Bryce Holt has imagined so vividly and with such tension a world of espionage that is not unlike suspense-thriller authors such as John Le Carré and Robert Ludlum. The Red School series is destined to capture its reading audiences in ways few novels are capable.

# # #

Title: Little Island
LCCN: 2010901532 
ISBN: 978-0-9840920-2-4 
Pages: 316
Price: $14.95 
Publication: February, 2010 
Website: www.minorplanetpress.com, www.bryceholt.com

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
Monday, Nov. 16, 2009

New Suspense Novel Combines Conspiracy Theory
With Difficult Moral Question
Minor Planet Press launches the first book in new suspense thriller series

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Today, upstart publisher Minor Planet Press introduces its first fiction novel, Red School. The opening saga in a captivating new series by up-and-coming author Bryce Holt, Red School introduces readers to six U.S. orphans spirited away to a forgotten section of the American landscape to learn global languages, survival tactics, and the science of assassination.

At the age of five, Noal Cavanaugh and his five classmates begin learning how to become the most dangerous assets America possesses. Yet their secret education is compromised when a Washington reporter threatens to expose the government black op that is Red School.

Set in the late 1990s, Red School captivates readers with its intriguing characters, their surprising twists of fate and the moral dichotomy inherent in their training. Mixing action with heightening tension, the reader will be left asking, “Could this really happen?”

Initial readers describe the novel as, “a Bourne Supremacy-type story, set in a world no one would ever imagine.” Featuring child assassins who are trained in espionage and violent, strategic ops meant to bring about a “greater good,” Holt notes the reader will be forced to explore the ethical question, “Who is the real villain here?”

"Red School is meant to entertain, first and foremost," Holt said, "but beyond that, I want to leave the reader with something more substantial than entertainment alone. I think there are two enduring questions: 1) Could there really be a black op like Red School, and 2) Would I be for or against its existence? If readers ask themselves either of those questions, I’ve done my job."

Although Red School is commercial fiction, it provokes thought about issues that are relevant to the world in which we live today – constant concern about national security, swelling interest in conspiracy theories, and the distance America’s government will go to keep itself safe at night. Red School is now available for purchase online through Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and BooksaMillion.com. It currently is available in paperback, with e-book and audio formats expected soon. For more information, please visit www.bryceholt.com.

# # #

Title: Red School
LCCN: 2009907813
ISBN: 978-0-9840920-1-7
Pages: 291
Cover photo: Available at http://www.minorplanetpress.com/red-school-media
Price: $13.95
Publication: October 20, 2009
Website: www.minorplanetpress.com, www.bryceholt.com

 

9-17-09: Bryceholt.com Goes Live!

Hey all.  It's been about six months now since I've had a fully functioning website where you could get updated as to what is happening with the Red School series, as well as what projects I'm currently working on. I am delighted to finally have the site up and running, not to mention during such a pivotal time as the launch of the first book in the series, Red School.

As we continue to update and grow this site, please don't hesitate to send in comments regarding how easy or difficult the site is to use, as well as what you want to see added. Your help in making this site better is pivotal!

Hope this finds each and every one of you well!

Bryce Holt