What is The Overlords?

The Overlords: Legend of the Treasure is a story about a young warrior, Harrison Cross, who had been orphaned as a child.  Harrison always dreamed of the day when he would be chosen to join the honored few adventurers who represent his village in their quest to find the coveted Treasure of the Land.  His brave, kind heart is tested throughout the course of his journey as he encounters all kinds of beings, from friendly elves to the brutally evil humanoid race known as the Scynthians.  During their challenging voyage, Harrison and his friends discover that they are in a race against time to find the fabled Treasure before Lord Nigel Hammer and his large, menacing army.  With little more than seven men and a magical dog, our heroes defeat the odds and find the Treasure, the first part of fulfilling the Legend.  Intrigued?  Then read on!

About the Project

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Mike Squatrito.  For many of you who do know me, you know that I have been working on The Overlords for quite some time now.  Make that eleven years and counting!  The Overlords is a trilogy starting with Legend of the Treasure, followed by The Talisman of Unification.  The third book will be titled soon.  As I write this newsletter, I am busy at reworking The Talisman of Unification.

My first book, Legend of the Treasure, has been submitted to over 50 agents.  I did my research and targeted fantasy agencies, but I still have no takers.  Hopefully, my latest endeavor will pan out. I have submitted my manuscript to Gardenia Press, a company that publishes only unpublished authors.  I've found that agents don't want to talk to you unless you are published, and publishers don't want to talk to you unless you have an agent.  Talk about a catch-22!  Gardenia Press is going to give me a professional evaluation of the manuscript.  If they feel it has possibilities, I'm sure I'll have some editing to do.  The good thing is, if they want to represent my book, Gardenia Press will pick up all printing expenses.  With a little more hard work, I believe you'll be seeing The Overlords in your bookstore shortly!

Acknowledgements

Over the past eleven years, I have received a lot of help from many of my friends.  In each newsletter, I'd like to mention someone that helped me along the way.  In the first Overlords Newsletter, I'd like to thank two people.  First, my personal editor, Diane Beaulieu.  Diane has taken my manuscript and made it truly sound like a real novel.  She has spent over a year editing Legend of the Treasure, and I have her signed on for the next books.  My books would truly be worthless without the endless efforts of Diane.

Her talents go way beyond the realms of editing.  Diane’s alter ego, Diane Blue, also is the lead singer of the band The Gypsy Fringe.  You can check on my website for a listing of her gigs.

 Next, I'd like to thank Dale Noelte.  For those of you who didn't know, Dale is a very gifted artist.  She drew the logo for The Overlords, which is pictured below.  This picture was sketched, colored, and scanned by Dale.  It is an original, and cannot be found anywhere else on the web.  If you need something drawn, give her a call.

Dale also led me in the direction of another first time author, Deb Lauman.  Through Deb I was able to find Gardenia Press.  Like they say, sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know.  If it wasn’t for Dale, I would not have made the connection with Deb, and I may never had heard about Gardenia Press.  As for Deb, I will discuss her in the next newsletter.

Special Thanks

I’d like to also take this time to thank two schools for having an interest in my work.  In March I spoke to my son Devin’s second grade class about The Overlords.  We discussed how a book is put together, and the process that needs to take place in order to get it done.  A special thanks goes out to his teacher, Mrs. McWeeney for allowing me the opportunity to speak.

On the third of this month, I spoke at my girlfriend’s daughter’s school.  The speech to Samantha’s sixth grade class was broken up into two sessions of 80 students each.  They found the story very enlightening and were full of questions.  I hope I inspired some kids to write the stories I know they have in their heads.  A special thanks goes to Samantha’s teacher, Mrs. Entwistle, for letting me talk about my book.

Contact Information

Send all correspondences to the-overlords@cox.net.  I have accumulated many email addresses over the years, and have used them to create my mailing list.  Please pass this newsletter along to anyone you feel might be interested in my project.  The more contacts I make, the better the chance of having all my hard work pay off!

If you wish for me to use a different address or to be removed from my mailing list, please send me an email and I will handle your request.  Please feel free to visit my website at www.the-overlords.com.  There you will find character biographies, more details on my books, and links to other sights.  Be sure to visit them too!