Robert Hobkirk's Blog: Hobkirk Blog, page 3
March 14, 2017
New Book - Tommy in the Promised Land
Just published a new book, Tommy in the Promised Land. Amazon has it - e-book .99 cents and paperback $9.95.
Tommy in the Promised Land is the third novel in the Tommy trilogy. Tommy finds himself on the banks of Jordan Street, wondering how many miracles a door-to-door peddler can expect in his life. He has been knocking on the door for so long his knuckles are beginning to bleed. A Chinese proverb says that a thousand mile journey begins with a single step, but he is only twelve steps away from reaching the promised land. One day at a time, he learns the truth of the archer’s paradox: he won’t hit the target he is aiming at. He also learns that sometimes love has to go away and return because that is where it belongs and will not find rest anywhere else. Some folks think God’s messengers, angels, have big, white wings. Tommy thinks they can have the wings of a sparrow.
Tommy in the Promised Land is the third novel in the Tommy trilogy. Tommy finds himself on the banks of Jordan Street, wondering how many miracles a door-to-door peddler can expect in his life. He has been knocking on the door for so long his knuckles are beginning to bleed. A Chinese proverb says that a thousand mile journey begins with a single step, but he is only twelve steps away from reaching the promised land. One day at a time, he learns the truth of the archer’s paradox: he won’t hit the target he is aiming at. He also learns that sometimes love has to go away and return because that is where it belongs and will not find rest anywhere else. Some folks think God’s messengers, angels, have big, white wings. Tommy thinks they can have the wings of a sparrow.
January 26, 2017
New Release for March
I've finished writing and will release Tommy in the Promised Land sometime in March. It's the third novel in the Tommy trilogy. The trilogy is about 280,000 words and took about 18 months.
Tommy in the Promised Land is the third novel in the Tommy trilogy. Tommy finds himself on the banks of Jordan Street, wondering how many miracles a door-to-door peddler can expect in his life. He has been knocking on the door for so long his knuckles are beginning to bleed. A Chinese proverb says that a thousand mile journey begins with a single step, but he is only twelve steps away from reaching the promised land. One day at a time, he learns the truth of the archer’s paradox: he won’t hit the target he is aiming at. He also learns that sometimes love has to go away and return because that is where it belongs and will not find rest anywhere else. Some folks think God’s messengers, angels, have big, white wings. Tommy thinks they can have the wings of a sparrow.
Tommy in the Promised Land is the third novel in the Tommy trilogy. Tommy finds himself on the banks of Jordan Street, wondering how many miracles a door-to-door peddler can expect in his life. He has been knocking on the door for so long his knuckles are beginning to bleed. A Chinese proverb says that a thousand mile journey begins with a single step, but he is only twelve steps away from reaching the promised land. One day at a time, he learns the truth of the archer’s paradox: he won’t hit the target he is aiming at. He also learns that sometimes love has to go away and return because that is where it belongs and will not find rest anywhere else. Some folks think God’s messengers, angels, have big, white wings. Tommy thinks they can have the wings of a sparrow.
December 13, 2016
Storm Poetry wrote an interesting review
Blind Date is ten short stories, set in and around New Age L.A., California, immersed in the American culture and urban mythos. Robert Hobkirk is a Poet, having written 2 books of poetry, Haiku Avenue: 333 haiku poems and Somewhere Poetry Grows Wild Under the Eucalyptus, both noteworthy works. This book is an exciting departure into short story writing. The author writes “Besides family and friends, he enjoys nature, the arts, baseball on the radio, and ice cold watermelon on a hot summer day.” He runs an art blog where he presents and discusses his own and other people’s art. www.hobkirkartblog.blogspot.ca.
The gift of long silences, the short stories unfold almost like a David Lynch movie, manifesting an array of emotions, fear, angst and yet with humor. An arcane mix of Americana and tales of the street, the themes of the short stories center on childhood, family, life in school, dating, bar room/coffee houses and police. The short stories are well written and feature dialogue, a simple written presentation creating the extraordinary in the ordinary.
This Writer’s favourite is Kathy’s Struggle just for a brilliant representation of serendipity. A good karma story with dark edges.
Also, a story that stood out, just for an odd humor ending was Two Sacks of Groceries.
The crown reamer of stories is Sarge. A retired gay woman from the Marines sits in a gay bar and disses on life with the bar owner. The dry juxtaposition of events was sad, a little crazy and funny.
This collection of short stories lives in the shadowland America. The short stories unfold with subplots like Escher* prints, with an unexpected turn but usually with a soft landing and a dry humor. Presenting truthtelling and the odd webs of uncivilized civilization, “only in America” the work is the craft. In the tradition of American short story writing, not yet with the soft edges of Truman Capote, because it is newly written and written in the post-modern time period (Mr. Capote wrote about mid-20th Century and this is written 60 years later) yet possibly as loved with time. “The shadow knows”, gifts from cityscape America, Blind Date by Rob Hobkirk.
The gift of long silences, the short stories unfold almost like a David Lynch movie, manifesting an array of emotions, fear, angst and yet with humor. An arcane mix of Americana and tales of the street, the themes of the short stories center on childhood, family, life in school, dating, bar room/coffee houses and police. The short stories are well written and feature dialogue, a simple written presentation creating the extraordinary in the ordinary.
This Writer’s favourite is Kathy’s Struggle just for a brilliant representation of serendipity. A good karma story with dark edges.
Also, a story that stood out, just for an odd humor ending was Two Sacks of Groceries.
The crown reamer of stories is Sarge. A retired gay woman from the Marines sits in a gay bar and disses on life with the bar owner. The dry juxtaposition of events was sad, a little crazy and funny.
This collection of short stories lives in the shadowland America. The short stories unfold with subplots like Escher* prints, with an unexpected turn but usually with a soft landing and a dry humor. Presenting truthtelling and the odd webs of uncivilized civilization, “only in America” the work is the craft. In the tradition of American short story writing, not yet with the soft edges of Truman Capote, because it is newly written and written in the post-modern time period (Mr. Capote wrote about mid-20th Century and this is written 60 years later) yet possibly as loved with time. “The shadow knows”, gifts from cityscape America, Blind Date by Rob Hobkirk.
September 12, 2016
Tommy in the Wilderness
I just published another novel, Tommy in the Wilderness. You can get an e-book version for .99 cents or the paperback for $9.95 on Amazon. If you read it, please write a review and post it on Goodreads and Amazon. I'm about 73,000 words into the third novel in the Tommy Trilogy.
Tommy in the Wilderness is the second novel in the Tommy trilogy. Tommy finds himself lost in the wilderness. To find his way out and cross over to the other side, he can’t rely on his trailer to take him there because it’s jacked up on blocks. He has to watch his step in this desert wilderness since poisonous snakes and scorpions crawl about while over promising and under delivering. Tommy can read the writing on the wall, “HERE WE KNOW HOW TO RESURRECT WHAT OTHERS THROW AWAY,” but he doesn’t know what it means. He carries a compass called “faith” to point the general direction to his destination. Like manna falling from heaven, he is provided with all he needs for his journey of transformation, including a loving woman with a man’s name, who drives him to the edge of the promised land.
https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Hobkirk...
Tommy in the Wilderness is the second novel in the Tommy trilogy. Tommy finds himself lost in the wilderness. To find his way out and cross over to the other side, he can’t rely on his trailer to take him there because it’s jacked up on blocks. He has to watch his step in this desert wilderness since poisonous snakes and scorpions crawl about while over promising and under delivering. Tommy can read the writing on the wall, “HERE WE KNOW HOW TO RESURRECT WHAT OTHERS THROW AWAY,” but he doesn’t know what it means. He carries a compass called “faith” to point the general direction to his destination. Like manna falling from heaven, he is provided with all he needs for his journey of transformation, including a loving woman with a man’s name, who drives him to the edge of the promised land.
https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Hobkirk...
August 7, 2016
Kevin's Python Coding Coloring Book
This summer I helped my grandson, Kevin, with learning Python coding. One day, he said that he should write a coloring book for Python. He and I got busy with turning that idea into reality. I had experience with self-publishing on Amazon, which made it pretty easy. Two weeks later, Kevin had his book, Kevin's Python Coding Coloring Book, published on Amazon. We enjoyed the time together, learning Python and publishing his book. He did the art for the cover, and you can check it out on Amazon.
May 28, 2016
Book Review from Debbie
Debbie gave Tommy's Exodus a good review at Amazon.
"I enjoyed reading of the various predicaments Tommy finds himself in as he makes his way home. I found myself wanting to get into the next chapter after completing each one, as the author keeps it interesting. I appreciate Robert's "conversational" way of telling a story. It makes you feel as if you're actually present during all the events."
"I enjoyed reading of the various predicaments Tommy finds himself in as he makes his way home. I found myself wanting to get into the next chapter after completing each one, as the author keeps it interesting. I appreciate Robert's "conversational" way of telling a story. It makes you feel as if you're actually present during all the events."
April 11, 2016
New Book - Tommy in the Wilderness
The book I'm writing now, Tommy in the Wilderness, is coming along fine and it will be out sometime this fall in 2016. It will be the second novel in the Tommy trilogy.
April 4, 2016
Introductory Book Sale
An introductory book sale - 50% OFF - the Kindle edition of Tommy's Exodus will start on April 4, 2016, and run for 7 days, ending on April 11 at 8:00 AM PST. You can check out the sale and take a preview at Amazon. Here's the URL
http://www.amazon.com/Tommys-Exodus-R...
http://www.amazon.com/Tommys-Exodus-R...
April 3, 2016
Library Fines
I had to pay a buck in library fines the other day. That hasn't happened in a long time since the library went to e-mailing notices about soon to be overdue books.
Not that long ago, or maybe it was, the librarian would stamp the book with the due date. You could look at the stamps and see how many and when they checked out the book. It was interesting. You can't do that today. With the use of computers, they don't have to stamp it. I used to pay a lot of fines back in the day with the interesting stamp.
Not that long ago, or maybe it was, the librarian would stamp the book with the due date. You could look at the stamps and see how many and when they checked out the book. It was interesting. You can't do that today. With the use of computers, they don't have to stamp it. I used to pay a lot of fines back in the day with the interesting stamp.
March 28, 2016
Death Valley
Went to Death Valley for the Easter weekend. I thought I had been there once before, but everything I saw on this trip looked new and unfamiliar. So maybe I hadn't ever been there before. Maybe I had been to some other desert. Who knows? At any rate it was awesome and in the 80's. If you make it out to California, you might want to go a few miles off the beaten path and see it for yourself. But don't go in the summer - too hot.
