Blake Hoena's Blog, page 6

The Science of Hockey

In grad school, at Minnesota State University, Mankato, friends and I would hit Mavericks’ hockey games whenever we got the chance. As students, we got in free, which was about all we could afford at that time in our careers. While I can’t claim to be a huge hockey fan, the games were a blast, sitting behind the opponents’ goal and harassing the visiting team.

But I must admit a guilty pleasure in seeing the Zamboni roll out between periods. Ever since I was a kid, I have been fascinated with how this odd-looking, slow-moving machine worked. Not to mention, I’d be shouting along as the Gear Daddies classic “I Wanna Drive a Zamboni” blare over the arena’s speakers. When younger, I was envious of the person getting to drive it around—probably still am a little jealous.

So when given the assignment to write a graphic novel The Science of Hockey, I knew I had to dedicate a spread to the Zamboni.

My book is be part of the Max Axiom, super scientist series. And one futuristic device Max possesses is X-ray glasses. I thought he could use them to take a close look at how a Zamboni works. And since someone would be driving it around the rink at the time, I asked the illustrator to show the skeleton of the driver, something I thought was a humorous touch.

The Science of Hockey will be released this summer.

Jack and the Beanstalk

I was recently sent proofs of my fractured fairy tale, choose your path adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk. Now I’ve been a fan of this tale since way back before I wrote a graphic novel about Jack’s adventures. It was a childhood favorite of mine growing up. So it’s a story I know and love.

My first retelling stuck pretty close to Joseph Jacobs’ version, but being a “fractured” tale, I twisted things around quite a bit in my new take on this classic. It includes three main paths, and each takes a different character’s POV. One story is told from the giant’s perspective, another from Jack’s (or Jacks, plural, as Jack teams up with some famous Jack from children’s literature), and lastly the mother’s.

It was immensely fun re-envisioning a favorite story from you youth. And in doing so, this project also allowed me to exercise my humor writing a bit, as you probably can tell from this illustration.

Out in the Woods

Last weekend, I headed home for a nephew’s high school graduation. And while I could have crashed on somebody’s couch or stayed in a hotel, my first instinct is always to look for a place to camp. Camping and fishing were some of my favorite summer activities as a kid. Heck, I used take my grandfather’s old canvas tent, which he got it in the military, and set it up in the backyard. I’d sleep out there often as my parents would let me.

So this trip was no different, and I pitched my tent at Collins Park, a park I spent a lot of time at as a kid. I stayed at a car camping site since I was only there for one night and didn’t want to go through the work of hiking into a remote spot.

Whenever I go camping, along with some of the basic supplies needed to survive, like bug spray—the mosquitoes were thick—I bring books. Usually I load up my Nook as I don’t want to carry around too much. There’s just something incredibly peaceful about sitting in the middle of the woods and loosing myself in a book. This trip, I choose to dig into the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. I enjoyed Percy Jackson and the Olympians so figured I made a good choice. I read through book 1 on day one, and then the next morning, as my coffee was brewing, I started book 2.

They are nice light reads—great for that down time between hikes or while sitting around the campfire waiting to make S’mores. And I’m sure I’ll finish book 2 before my next camping trip.

Do You Know The Muffin Man

Starting to see artwork for my Tangled Tunes—adaptations I wrote of classic songs. Here is an interior spread for The Muffin Man, which follows the Muffin Man as he opens up his shop on Drury Lane and bakes some tasty treats. Luke Flowers is the illustrator, and his take on my story in amazingly fun. I love the color palette and playful style. And by the way, the the dog’s name is Cupcake!

To match the lively illustrations, the producer for this song, Mark Oblinger, pulled in a very talented singer, Brittany Mahoney, who gave the song a jazzy feel. Here’s a sample clip of the song, just as a teaser: MuffinManClip

School Tour — Day 2

Wow! I was greeted by a wall full of aliens when walking into the media center at Reede Gray Elementary this morning. It was so fun to see, especially since I center my presentations around the space alien duo of Eek and Ack. They are fun, silly, a little disgusting, and always a hit with kids.

I use examples from my Eek and Ack books to talk about my writing processes, from generating ideas to formulating stories, as well as show students the steps the illustrator, Steve Harpster, had to go through when working on these books. I even have copies of the storyboards and inks that Steve drew up.

I also received quite a send off from Reede Gray. While presenting to one group of students, an earlier class drew up thank you cards for me. So fun! I don’t think that has ever happened to me before.

After Reede Gray Elementary, I spent the afternoon presenting at the Wabasso Public Library, which ended the first stint of my tour, but I still have several more schools to visit later this month.

Stay tuned . . .

School Tour — Day 1

Headed out this morning, bright and early, armed with a thermos of coffee, and left my home in St Paul to visit the students at Minneota Public School (Go Vikings!). It’s the first stop on my tour of SW Minnesota schools.

I always enjoy walking into a school’s media center and seeing my books on display. Not to mention getting students riled up about writing and drawing. We had a fun, full day of presentations, for grades K–6, at Minneota. Here’s some of the students showing off their illustrating skills.

And then, as if I wasn’t exhausted enough after spending the day trying to match energy levels with exited elementary students, I decided to head over to Redwood Falls and hike around Alexander Ramsey Park. It’s the largest city park in MN, and I only had time to cover a fraction of its hiking trails. But since I was in a part of the country that I have never visited, I had to take advantage of the opportunity to see some of the sights.

I’ll be at Reede Gray Elementary School tomorrow.

Everything Birds of Prey

My fourth book in the National Geographic Kids Everything series is out this month. And like all my books, I’m proud of the work I did on this one. It took a lot of research to nail down some of the facts. But also, I have an ornithologist in the family. One of my uncles is a curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. So I feel like I need to know my stuff. I hope he feels I did these amazing predators justice.

Heavyweight Takedown

So I’ve written books on football, skateboarding, and soccer. All of which are sports that I either follow or take part in. But my newest book, Heavyweight Takedown, focuses on a sport I haven’t tackled yet. And while I can’t claim to be a wrestling fanatic, it holds a soft spot in my heart. I grew up watching “profressional” wrestling. I saw live the High Flyers defeat Jesse “the Body” Ventura and Adrian Adonis. Watched the Crusher take on Baron Von Rashke. Sure, it was fake, but it was fun to watch and mimic as I wrestled around with my cousins.

In high school, my interest switched to old Kung Fu movies. But then in grad school, I studied under Terry Davis, author of the Vision Quest, a cult-classic in the wrestling world. So when offered to write a book on wrestling, I had to take on the project, partly for it’s sentimental value and partly as homage to the professor who helped guide my writing career.

Summary: Kyle is the star of his junior high wrestling team’s A squad. Not only does he win most of his matches, but he’s also the heavyweight. So when a new kid, Kenny, shows up and challenges Kyle for the heavyweight spot (and wins it), Kyle’s confidence shrinks. Now on the B squad, Kyle is frustrated. He wants his team to do well, and Kenny is a good wrestler. But Kyle also wants to be on the A squad. Can Kyle come up with a way to help his team?

Peter Pan — retelling

Every now and then, my editors send me teasers of the books I’ve written, whether it’s sketches of the illustrations or a mock up of the cover. I always enjoy seeing my books come to life through the art work, so it’s great to get a glimpse into how things are progressing.

Early last year, I finished up a graphic novel retelling of Peter Pan. I believe it will be released this summer. And not long ago, my editor sent me this mock up of the cover. The book is being illustrated by Fernando Cano. He illustrated my Tony Hawk—Live 2 Skate books as well, and I love his work. His style is really capturing the playful feel of my retelling.

Can’t wait to have a copy of the printed book in hand.

What I’ve Been Reading

It’s been a while since I’ve post anything about what I’ve been reading. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been cracking open a book here and there. Aside from actual writing, reading is probably the most important thing I do to hone my craft. It allows me to see how other authors use words and phrases. How they describe scenes and construct stories. How they create characters and breath life into them. Not to mention, reading provides a necessary break from writing so that my creative juices replenish.

So here’s what I’ve been reading.

The One and Only Ivan—a 2013 Newberry winner and based on a true story; Ivan is an artistic gorilla that is one of the main attractions at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. But when Ruby, a young elephant joins the other attractions, Ivan uses his art to change their lives for the better.

One Crazy Summer—this was one of the books my son had to read for his school book club, so I thought I’d check it out too.

Tesla’s Attic—book one in the Accelerati Trilogy, with each book focusing on one of the world’s most amazing scientists.

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures—I read this one to my daughter, and it had her screaming, “the squirrel got vacuumed up!”

And lastly, I just watched the movie the Maze Runner. I enjoyed it so much that I bought the whole series, and that’s what I’ll be reading next.