I first met Nathan Everett at the 2009 PNWA Convention, at the same time I met Jason Black. Nathan and Jason were in the process of getting their publishing company, Long Tale Press off the ground, and I was a new author trying to figure out this whole writing business. I can remember a few conversations Nathan, Jason and I had by the windows outside the main ballroom at the Sea-Tac Hilton. I didn’t quite know what they were trying to do, nor did I get to know them very well.

I probably met Nathan a few more times at PNWA events in the following months, but it wasn’t until Nathan got up in front of a crowd of people at the Barnes and Noble in Bellevue in June of 2010 that I heard anything about his book, The Gutenberg Rubric. The session that day was being given by Janna Cawrse Esarey and was focused on creating great pitches to give to agents at the next month’s conference.

Nathan got up, gave his pitch, and knocked our socks off. When he threw the words biblio-terrorist out to the crowd, he had everyone’s attention. He then went on to win second place in the 2010 PNWA Literary Contest in the Mystery / Thriller category.

The Gutenberg Rubric is a fast paced novel about a secret project created by Johannes Gutenberg, the man who revolutionized the book publishing world when he invented mechanical, movable type. This secret project, hidden for some 600 years, is part myth, part mystery and part magic. When professor Keith Drucker and his new love Madeline Zayne become unwitting pawns in a conspiracy to uncover the secret, they must stay one step ahead of those who are chasing them, and must test themselves to see if they are worthy of learning the secret Gutenberg never meant anyone to know.

If you liked Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, you will like this one. Nathan is clearly a man who is very passionate about books and printing. I suspect that this book, due to it’s topic, was a labor of tremendous love for Nathan, and that the history presented in this book is likely to be text book quality. It’s provided as backstory when appropriate, and is quite fascinating. Not only was I thoroughly engaged while reading it, I know I learned something as well. The main characters are likable, the pace is fast, and the places exotic and very well described.

It’s really cool to see a book of this quality out there by someone I know. Nathan is currently getting ready to tour the US to promote this book, and I wish him all the best, and hope this one gets all the press it deserves. If you want to know more about the book, or to find out where he is going to be on his tour to meet him, check out his site at www.gutenbergrubric.com.