Isaac Thorne this week completed work on a beta revision of his next novel, Hell Spring. Because beta reader feedback is valuable in shaping a final product, Isaac has collected names of volunteers who want to beta read his work. There is still time to sign up to become a volunteer beta reader and receive the beta copy of Hell Spring.
“I plan to ship the beta copy on Feb. 7, 2022,” Isaac says. “Because it’s a beta, there won’t be physical copies. Instead, volunteers will receive a digital copy that they can then use to provide feedback. A feedback form that can be filled out by the reader will be provided within the digital copy. I’ll expect feedback by March 15, 2022. If feedback arrives by that time, volunteer beta readers will receive a signed hardback copy of the final product when it’s published.”
Beta readers were important to shaping Isaac’s first novel, The Gordon Place. He says he hopes to repeat the success he had with beta readers for the new novel.
Hell Spring is set in the same small town as The Gordon Place, but in a completely different era. Most of the story takes place on the first day of spring in 1955.
“I wanted to write something in which the characters had to address all their issues without the convenience of modern technology,” Isaac says. “It took months of research, but I think I successfully established the time period. There are problems these days that you can solve just by doing an Internet search or posing a question on a social media site. I wanted my characters isolated from all that.”
To sign up to become a volunteer beta reader, fill out the form below. The deadline to sign up in order to receive a beta copy of Hell Spring is Feb. 6, 2022. The synopsis for Hell Spring is as follows:
In the twilight of March 21, 1955, eight people take cover in their local general store while a thundering torrent and flash flooding threatens life and livelihood alike. None of the eight are everything they claim to be. But only one of them hungers for human souls, flesh, and blood.
An overflowing waterway destroys their only path of escape. The tiny band of survivors is forced to confront themselves and each other when a peculiar stranger with a famous face tries to pick them off one by one.
Can the neighbors survive the predator in their midst as well as the 100-year flood that drowns the small town of Lost Hollow? Or will they become victims of the night the townsfolk all remember as Hell Spring?
