Wayne Thomas Batson is the Bestselling author of five adventure novels including the fantasy epic Door Within Trilogy and the pirate duo Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire. A middle school Reading and English teacher for 18 years, Batson loves to challenge—and be challenged by—his students. So, when he began writing stories to supplement the school district’s curriculum, it was his students who taught their teacher a lesson. Batson’s students were so taken by one of the stories that, over a thirteen year span, they pushed him to make it into a full-length novel. That story became The Door Within. Since then, Batson’s students continue to be his frontline editors. Says Batson, “Two things you can count on from middle school students: Intelligence and Honesty. Kids are so much more perceptive than a lot of us ‘Big Folk’ give them credit for. And when something’s not write in the story, they’ll tell you about in very clear terms.” Batson is teaming up with author and friend Christopher Hopper for a new book series, The Berinfell Prophecies. The first book, Curse of the Spider King, will hit bookstores in October 2009. It promises to turn the traditional “portal fantasy” on its head, posing the question: What would happen if the fantasy came to us? Batson believes his books appeal to so many kids and adults because, at a deep level, we all long to do something that matters, and we all dream of another world.