Johnny Ray Barnes's Blog

Strange Forces 1 is FREE for Kindle download Thursday (5/24) and Friday (5/25)! Jump on board with the first volume of the Strange Forces saga!

Haven’t read Strange Forces 1 yet? Now’s your chance! Strange Forces 1 for the Kindle is a free download at Amazon today (5/17) and Friday (5/18)! Head over and check out the first volume of the Strange Forces series!

Strange Forces 4 is now available for your Kindle!

Here’s the summary:

Rilo the Buru came to the town of Fairfield as a renegade slave, a monster on the run in desperate need of help. He found help in the form of Morgan Taylor and the kids of Fairfield Junior High. Knowing the strength of the forces they were about to face, Rilo performed the ancient Apa Tuni ceremony, bestowing the children with the powers of incredible, supernatural creatures. Now, together they fight to survive in a secret world of terrifying creatures, supernatural treasure-hunting, and paranormal power struggles, while growing ever closer as friends.

To Rilo, they have grown into something more. To him, they are an adopted family, a new tribe to replace the one he lost.

Rilo thought he was the last Buru.

He was wrong.

After receiving invitations to a mysterious competition, a test of skill for the world’s greatest supernatural hunters, Rilo and the kids receive the biggest shock of their lives — and it appears at the doorstep of their homebase, Fairchild Manor.

Rilo faces his greatest challenge as he rushes to save his friends from the dangerous contest, and the Buru from certain extinction.

He will find himself faced with the hardest decision a Buru has ever had to make.

When all of this is over, will he truly be the last Buru?

Thanks to everyone for the great response to this series! As always, you can leave your reviews on Amazon and Goodreads!

Strange Forces 3 is now available for the Kindle!

For those of you who are new to the series, here's the summary of SF3:

Halloween is here.

The excitement level in Fairfield is at an all-time high. The town has been named the scariest place in the country, and the media has descended to see what happens on the creepiest night of the year.

Their timing couldn't have been worse.

Something's come to life in the field behind the oldest estate in town, Fairchild Manor. Something so incredible, it's wanted by the most powerful supernatural treasure hunters in the world. They're on their way to Fairfield to claim the prize and they'll stop anyone who gets in their way.

Especially Rilo Buru and his team of young adventurers.

Once again, this renegade monster has joined forces with the kids from Fairfield Junior High. Together, they battle the dark armies threatening their town. Possessing supernatural powers themselves, the kids think they can handle whatever creepy craziness arises in their town on All Hallow's Eve.

They're wrong!

Strange Forces are invading Fairfield in search of the power to turn the town inside out, and expose the area's darkest secrets to the entire world.

Can Rilo and the kids survive the night while defending Fairfield against its greatest threat?

All eyes are watching . . .

And for those who are fans of Strange Forces 3 and the series — we invite you to leave us reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. We love to hear from our readers!

Strange Forces 4 for the Kindle coming soon!

Marty and I have signed up for accounts on Goodreads. Come on over and check in.

Goodreads is a social network for book reader and writers. Readers can recommend books and keep a record of what they have read. It's a great place to find new book suggestions and keep up with some of  your favorite authors.

While we will continue to post all of our news and other thoughts here on the blog, we'll re-feed it over to Goodreads. It's just another place to keep in touch with us.

I encourage you to head over to Goodreads now and sign up. It's a great place to discover new stories!

Marty's Goodreads Page

Ray's Goodreads Page

Ok . . . 2011 was quite a year. So many things happened, and it's been hard to keep up. There are things we are working on that 2011 affected, and will develop over 2012.

Looking at the date of the last entry, we're a little embarrassed. The blog was started last year but wasn't updated as much as we'd like. Part of the problem is time, but the larger part of the issue is this — we only wanted to update you with big news. Most of the time, there is no big news. We're writing. When a project is nearing completion, we like to release a cover image or maybe a teaser chapter, but these aren't monthly occurrences. So, we're re-examining things. The blog is staying and will be updated — we're  just going to try some new things. We'll see where that goes, but you can expect  more frequent updates. It's a New Years resolution, by golly.

Strange Forces 3 and 4 are coming soon for the Kindle. This is where we hit our 2011 4th quarter snag. Upon cracking open our digital files to begin conversions, we discovered our digital files were not the final files. Legendary Fail. Hence, both books have to be practically re-input. We have no interns here at Engle and Barnes, so it was up to us to re-type and proof. This was a lengthier process than initially thought, not to mention creating brand new cover art for both books. Strange Forces 3 is practically done now, and Strange Forces 4 is in process. We're looking to have both out by the end of February, and should be posting cover art very soon!

There is not much we can say here, other than there are things happening. We were honored last year to have one of our stories, Creature Features, adapted to the small screen for the HUB show, R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour. This was an awesome opportunity for us, and we visited the set and met some great people! Strange Matter is still a very important part of what we do!

We're working on new stuff, and it's not Strange Matter or Strange Forces-related. Over the years, we've dreamed up a lot of stories. These ideas change as the culture moves on sometimes, but we keep good concepts in the file. Current technologies and distribution options have given us the freedom to produce some of the ideas we're excited about, and you'll be seeing them develop in 2012. We'll be announcing some of these shortly.

So this the first blog update for 2012, but expect them more often. We're going to be trying new things and we would love your feedback. Thanks so much for reading our books and we hope you enjoy what's to come!

Tune in for R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour, Creature Feature Part 2. It airs Saturday and continues the story adapted from our Strange Matter book, Creature Features.

Here's a promo:

Here's a clip:

And you can download the Creature Feature Part 1 at iTunes:

Creature Feature Part 1

Enjoy the show, then come back here and let us hear from you!

R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour has its second season premiere tonight at 8pm EST on The Hub Network! The story “Creature Feature” is adapted from our Strange Matter #15 story – Creature Features. The episode features Joel Courtney, Brendan Meyer, Sarah Dugdale, Emma Grabinsky, Matt Angel and many other great talents! Be sure to check out Part 1 tonight, and Part 2 on Oct. 8!

The Haunting Hour Season 2 Premiere Teaser featuring Joel Courtney

The Haunting Hour Season 2 Trailer

R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour has its second season premiere tonight at 8pm EST on The Hub Network! The story "Creature Feature" is adapted from our Strange Matter #15 story – Creature Features. The episode features Joel Courtney, Brendan Meyer, Sarah Dugdale, Emma Grabinsky, Matt Angel and many other great talents! Be sure to check out Part 1 tonight, and Part 2 on Oct. 8!

The Haunting Hour Season 2 Premiere Teaser featuring Joel Courtney

The Haunting Hour Season 2 Trailer

Strange Forces 2 is now available for Kindle download at Amazon — fresh with new cover art!  You can buy it here for 99 cents!

The story returns to Fairfield and checks in with the kids as they deal with the developments of Strange Forces 1 and the devastating changes to their lives. There is also a new threat seeking power in the supernatural world, and this quest takes the stranger to the steps of Fairchild Manor, home of the kids' monster mentor — Rilo Buru. This adventure brings the battle to Fairfield and beyond — revealing to the kids an entire world of shadowy treasure hunters and unimaginable creatures that lie just outside discovery by man. Favorite characters return, new characters are introduced and the true scope of the threats that challenge our young adventurers is laid before them.