Guest Post: Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson Authors of The Familiars Series +GIVEAWAY

This week sees the release of the third book in 

The Familiars series: Circle of Heroes

Can the familiars bring magic back to the queendom?

Vastia is in a state of war. Led by the evil Paksahara, whose command of the Shifting Fortress gives her nearly unstoppable power, an army of undead animals is wreaking havoc on the queendom. With human magic still gone, it's up to the three prophesized familiars--Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert--to capture the fortress and bring Paksahara down.

But it won't be easy. The three familiars must embark on a quest to gather seven descendants of the most ancient and powerful animals in Vastia. And to make matters worse, Aldwyn finds a troubling scroll that causes him to doubt the very truth of the prophecy that guides them.

To celebrate and keep with the hero theme the authors are here to share who their heroes were when they were in middle school.  

Welcome Adam and Andrew!

With the release of the third book in The Familiars series, The Familiars - Circle of Heroes, we are stopping by some of our favorite blogs discussing all things heroes. Jill asked us to share with you who our heroes were when we were in middle school, why, and whether or not they stopped be our heroes. 

In 7th grade, Adam's class took a trip down to Washington, D.C., where he visited the Smithsonian Institute. There, he bought a T-shirt of Albert Einstein (the very image shown here), because at the time, Einstein was Adam's hero. He wore that shirt once a week for the rest of the school year. He thinks he was always in awe of genius, and Einstein was considered the greatest of them all. He was on the Science Olympiad team, and thought that one day he would be a great scientist, too. While that didn't turn out to be, he still respects Einstein and the way he was able to think so far beyond what anyone else was doing at the time. And perhaps the similarities of his (Epstein) and Einstein's last names didn't hurt in his admiration, either. 

As for Andrew, he recently discovered an old middle school English journal where he was asked to write about someone he looked up to. Apparently, when he was 12 years old, he thought his older cousin, a lawyer living in Chicago, was something of a hero to him. The reason: he took him to see Michael Jordan play up close and live for the Chicago Bulls. This was about the coolest thing imaginable. But alas, Andrew forgot all about this as he grew up, and doesn't think much of this cousin at all, anymore. Apparently there's more to being someone's long-lasting hero than just hooking them up with basketball tickets when they're a kid. 

We want you to send in stories about your own heroes, the real people who have had an impact on your life. Parents, grandparents, teachers, or friends. We'll be featuring them on our blog, our Twitter feeds, and our Facebook page. We want to know who's in your Circle of Heroes. The ones voted the most inspirational will win a signed copy of book #3. Send them in to thefamiliarsbook@gmail.com!

The Familiars - Circle of Heroes will be on-line and in bookstores everywhere September 4th.

Thanks guys!!!! In middle school I think my hero was the kids from the movie The Goonies.  What brave kids! :)

To learn more about the series you must check out 

The Familiars Website!