Dear Readers,

Thank you for taking the time to get to know me, though I guarantee my personal story is nowhere near as interesting as the stories I pen.  Perhaps it is for that very reason that I write.  I was born and raised in the small harbor town of Swampscott, Massachusetts, by my mother, a single parent, who gave all she could, often going without herself, and by my grandparents, both selfless people in their own right. Many would look at the paycheck my mother would bring home from her position as a kindergarten teacher (back then they only worked a half day) and question how I could see myself having a privileged life, but I felt as though I had one nonetheless. I sailed with the Pleon Junior Yacht club and rubbed shoulders with Dennis Conner (multi-time winner of the illustrious America’s Cup); I read Shelly and Byron at an elite prep school; and I traveled the world with the Phoenix School, exploring everything from the reefs of Tortola to the brush strokes of Van Gogh in Rotterdam. Somehow, my mother made it all happen for me, and she blessed me with the experiences that color the stories I share with you. Yes, I have had a privileged life, at least in terms of what really counts.



After graduating from Bennington College, in picturesque Vermont, I traveled the world with a rather large backpack, exploring Rome to Sorrento, Paris to Province, the rolling hills of Northern California to the flat roadways of Naples, Florida, where I finally settled for a time to teach high school science. When my grandmother fell ill, I returned to her seaside home to watch over her.  It is in this very house that I grew up and on he very porch which I helped my grandfather build, that I am now writing you from. I have two beautiful girls to whom I am privileged to pass on my stories while watching them explore some of the same places that I so fondly remember. 

But enough about me, and my romanticized life, the story I want to share with you takes place one town over from Swampscott. True, THE JUMPER CHRONICLES are completely fictional, at least, that's what the Manserians would like you to believe… 

This is the first in a series of books that follow the life of a boy and his friends as they explore their own world of wondrous creatures hidden from the view of us poor mortals - a world created by the Nordic Gods, Thor and Odin - a world of witches, hairy beasts and high adventure - in truth, a world much like our own, but far more interesting, and as much fun to write as it is to read about and escape into. 

After I completed writing the first book, (editing took forever - it's like conceiving a baby and then having to wait a year to meet it) I was so enthralled with the world I had created, I needed to take some time away to think about how I could add a few more layers of historical complexity. I spent six months buried in old history books that I had not read in a decade, watching the history channel, and hours and hours Googling. Then, like lightning, the idea I was looking for hit me, and I rewrote, and rewrote, until I reached the half way point and could take another breath. I love this first book, but I wanted to go back and add a few chapters, so that people who picked up the story in book two without first reading book one would not be confused.  As a rule (and its true of this series also) ALWAYS READ A SERIES IN ORDER. What?  You already want to read the second book? I plan on having the second book in the series completed by the end of summer 2010, earlier if the sailing weather is bad! I do hope you will look for and enjoy the second book as much as this first one.

Cheers,
W.C. Peever
Author of THE JUMPER CHRONICLES: QUEST FOR MERLIN'S MAP