Blake Hoena's Blog, page 13

Happy Holidays!!!

Talk to you next year—it’s time to go spread some of that holiday cheer.

Hope your holidays are filled family and friends.

Christmas Presents

Now, I’ve given up on buying gifts for my oldest three nephews (my sister’s boys). At this point, iTunes gifts cards do the trick as they then have control over what they get.

But there is a crop of young ones in my family (my brothers’ kids). And thanks to a recent event I did at the Barnes and Noble in Roseville, MN, I got some Christmas shopping done.

For my nephew Gavin, I picked up a copy of Polar Express. It’s a classic, and he loves trains.

For my niece Zoe, I went with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Mo Williems creates a funny story with such simple art. He makes me want to try my hand at illustrating.

And for the newest addition to that family, Aila, I got Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin. Yeah, another book where a fowl causes things to go a foul.

I hope the young ones enjoy some family reading time!

Campfire Crisis

We’re under a snow emergency here in St Paul, so I’m fitting in some extra writing time. Of course, I’m taking breaks to shovel (we have about 8 inches on the ground, and it’s still falling) and play with Ty in the backyard. She loves chasing a soccer ball that I kick around in the snow. But I’m enjoying the excuse to stay in and plunk away on my keyboard.

My current project is providing some warm thoughts. I’m writing a choose-your-path book called Campfire Crisis (for an early elementary grade audience). I’m hoping that it’ll be expanded into a series: Adventure Kids. The main character (you, the reader) has two friends who go on adventures together. In this first tale, a mishap while camping causes the kids to flee their campsite in the middle of the night. Each choice the reader makes involves learning about camping tips and tips for surviving in the wild.

Campfire Crisis is due to be release this coming spring

 

[image error]

(the view from my studio)

 

School Visit

Last week I visited the Kenyon Middle School/High School to talk about my book: Greek Mythology’s Adventures of Perseus, a choose-your-path book. I prefaced my presentations by saying that this is what authors do when they have a new book; they go around talking about it to promote their work.

But I’m not one to just talk when I present, so I told the students a little about my writing process, and then had them do an exercise. They created characters, whether robots or animals or talking fruit. Using those characters, we wrote a story about what happened when the characters came to their school. What did their friends think? What did their teachers think?

The exercise lead to some giggles!

I’m always amazed at the creativity and imagination of students. We had a great time, and there was even a nice write-up in the Kenyon Leader about my visit.

Go Knights!!!

Eek and Ack

They’re back!!!

Though this time around, they are coming to your galaxy in chapter book form.

More details to come . . .

Live 2 Skate series

My editor liked my first story in Stone Arch Book new Tony Hawk series, Live 2 Skate. So I’ve been asked to write a second book.

Here’s what I’m thinking for the plot: Carter thinks he’s finally made it. He’s in 8th grade. He’s one of the older kids on the local skate team. And now is his time to shine. He’s going to be more than just a sub this year. He’s hoping to be one of the star skaters on the team. The only problem is that his younger brother is also a skater, and he’s got some moves. Carter ends up having to compete against his brother for a spot on the skate team. Not only that, but a couple of the older boys are harassing him. When they start to threaten Carter’s younger brother, Carter needs to step into the big brother role. But if he does, some of the kids on the skate team could turn on him. It seems like no matter what he does, he either has his family or his friends gunning for his spot on the team.

National Novel Writing Month

I started strong, with 1,900 words. The working title for my novel is Dragon Born, and here’s a snippet from the first chapter (I image each chapter opening with a short clip pulled from some fiction reference book)

CHAPTER 1

During the spring equinox of his sixteenth year, a very odd notion struck Cedric Volans—awaken a dragon. This sudden urge was so persistent (and peculiar) that he did not know whether the impulse to perform a task which had killed, or driven mad, some of the most accomplished wizards of his day sprung out of his own longing to escape yet another arduous planting season, helping his father with the annual jewelweed crop, or if he should believe his life-long friend, Trenton, who had suggested . . .

(from Histories of the Dragon Born by Fferibush Newt)

 

“How else could such a crazy idea just pop into your head?” Trenton said. “A wizard must have put it there.”

This was similar to how Trenton explained away everything. Last fall, when his father was missing a quiver of arrows, he had blamed the theft on elves. When the neighbors found their motorcycle in a ditch with a dented gas can, he had accused goblins and their reckless driving habits. Now he was blaming Cedric’s dreams on wizards. As if elves, goblins, and wizards didn’t have better things to do than stealing arrows, crashing motorcycles, or depositing odd notions into people’s heads.

Luckily for Trenton, the local farmers were suspicious of faerie creatures, allowing him to get away with his tall tales. And probably a few lies. Cedric, on the other hand, was less inclined to believe his strange desire to awaken a dragon could be so easily explained away.

Greek Mythology’s Adventure of Perseus

Recently watched Clash of the Titans with a friend of mine, and note, it was the old version, as in the 1981 movie with the mechanical owl, and not the remake done a few years ago.I haven’t seen that one, and don’t know if I ever will. I just love the original so much—it helped inspire my love of mythology.

One thing that always bugged me about the movie, though, is that Perseus is riding Pegasus on his quest. I suppose for the big screen that that is more dramatic than having him zoom around on winged sandals as he does in my retelling.

In myths, Pegasus is born from the blood of Medusa when she is slain, so this horse wasn’t even alive while Perseus was on his quest. But back during the Renaissance, painters started to depicted Perseus riding Pegasus. Again, they probably did it because it made for dramatic scenes. Myths have often been changed to make them more exciting.

Ever since, people always think that Perseus is the hero who rode Pegasus. But it was Bellepheron, another Greek hero. So as a bonus, I added the story of him slaying the Chimera to the end of my tale about Perseus. Not only will you get to follow Perseus on his quest to slay Medusa, but you will get to ride along with Bellepheron as he captures Pegasus and then battles the Chimera, a three-headed fire-breathing beast. Enjoy!

Upcoming Events

With my newest book, Adventures of Perseus, at the printer, I’ve been scheduling a few events to promote the book. Please come see me if you can.

Read and Signing

WHERE: Barnes and Noble in the Galleria Mall (3225 W 69th, Edina, MN 55435)

DATE: Nov 16th

TIME: 7:00 pm

Read and Signing

WHERE: Barnes and Noble in the Galleria Mall (3225 W 69th, Edina, MN 55435)

DATE: Nov 29th

TIME: 7:00 pm

Read and Signing

WHERE: Barnes and Noble in the Apache Mall (1201 12th Street SW, Rochester, MN 55902)

DATE: Dec 8th

TIME: TBD

Free Little Library – part 3

My dad has completed and delivered my Free Little Library. Now I just need to get my official signage for it, install a post, plant it in the ground, and then fill it up with books. Soon . . .

[image error]