(From Crowder College)
A local author who is seeing sales success for his latest political thriller has pledged all of his royalties for the next six month to a regional center that trains college students and current educators to work effectively with children with autism. Kent Farnsworth, who writes under the pen name Allen Kent, has committed all royalties from his novels to the Behavior Support Center at Crowder College through June of this year. If royalties generate sufficient revenue, the college has agreed to name the Center after the author’s autistic grandson, Maddox Hill, who lives in Orem, Utah.
“I have a comfortable retirement,” Farnsworth said when asked about the donation. “I decided that if my books did well, I would try to commit what they make to worthwhile causes. Crowder had to issue bonds to purchase its new Behavioral Support Center and has been seeking a major donor to help retire that debt. I thought this would be a good way to help autistic children in our area and recognize Maddox and my daughter’s family that has done such a great job supporting him.”
Maddox is a fifth grader in the Life Skills program at Foothill Elementary in Orem, UT.
Kent’s “The Wager,” published by Kindle Press, was released in electronic format in October of 2015 and has experienced brisk sales.
“Though written well before the current political situation developed, it has turned out to be eerily timely,” Farnsworth said. “That has definitely contributed to its popularity.”
All of Allen Kent’s novels can also be purchased in paperback through Amazon. Though the books have been selling in the thousands of copies per month since release of “The Wager,” Farnsworth says they will need a boom in sales to meet the autism center’s support needs. “We need at least $70,000 to make our goal,” Farnsworth says. “That’s the royalties from 42,000 copies. It’s an ambitious goal but for a wonderful cause, and we think we can reach it.”
“The Wager” is a contemporary political thriller that takes the reader through a roller coaster ride of catastrophic events resulting from a bet between two influential figures in American politics. Each wagers that he can select a candidate for the presidency, then manipulate his choice into office. The book currently has a four star rating on Amazon and has been described by one reviewer as “Non-stop, heart-pounding action with an elevated, intricate plot. Timely and, unfortunately, totally plausible. Wager is top shelf material in the political thriller genre.”
Kent writes across genres and his novels include something for most tastes. Three, The Shield of Darius, The Weavers of Meanchey, and The Wager are international thrillers and make up what is called the “Unit 1” series. His River of Light and Shadow is a historical novel set in 1840s Missouri and Backwater is a contemporary mystery set in the Illinois river town of Quincy. His sixth novel, Guardians of the Second Son is what Kent describes as a Da Vinci Code type mystery based on an early Christian tradition about the Apostle Thomas. His books can be found at www.amazon.com/author/allenkent.
Those interested in supporting the Maddox Hill Behavior Support Center campaign can purchase any Allen Kent novel through Amazon for $2.99, with $1.70 of each purchase going directly to the Autism Center through the Crowder College Foundation. Those wishing to support the effort may also make a tax deductible donation directly by going to the Foundation website at www.crowder.edu/foundation.
The Behavior Support Center at Crowder College offers programming that provides teachers, parents and other care-givers of children with autism the tools needed to help the child reach his or her full potential as productive adults. In partnership with local school districts, the center provides schooling to a dozen autistic children in the region, serving as a laboratory for college students and teachers in training.
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