Michael Thomas Perone's Blog, page 12

Danger Peak Is Getting Revamped…Again!

This thing is running out of room.

Writers are never completely happy with their work. Case in point: Danger Peak is getting revised yet again. For those keeping score, this is the third official version of the book, and that’s not even including the dozens of drafts the book went through before it was published. So what’s getting changed this time? Thankfully, there weren’t any spelling or grammatical errors that needed to be fixed (at last), but if you read my book already and thought, “Man, this guy really likes the word ‘suddenly’!” you weren’t alone. I thought the same thing as I reread the book, so I took about half of them out. Also, I agreed with a common complaint of the book by fixing the price of the turbocharger. It’s now $200, not $300, which is slightly more realistic given how much money that was in the 1980s.

I’ve also added two mini-sections to the book: a list of positive reviews from various professional organizations to open it and an expanded bio to close it. (My bio on the back cover was condensed because we couldn’t fit the entire thing.)

But, by far, my favorite revision is sneaking in a little song that is not only one of my favorite songs of 1989 or the ‘80s in general but of all time. Along with Martika’s “Toy Soldiers,” which is already in the book, this song was constantly on the radio in 1989. (And no, I’m not talking about “Batdance.”) In fact, not including it in my last edition was one of my major regrets and inspired this latest revision in the first place. Want to know what song it is? You’ll have to check out the book!

As they say, three time’s the charm. Also, three happens to be my favorite number. Does this mean this will be the final, definitive version of Danger Peak? Who knows? But I’m finally happy with it…for now.

In other Danger Peak news (“No, no, no, Danger Peak is my middle name, babe”), we’re halfway through my second Goodreads giveaway, and around 1,700 people have already entered, which is almost as much as all the entrants of the first giveaway in its entirety. This may have something to do with opening up the contest to Canada. (I’ll sing it again: Oh Canada!) I’m almost out of Danger Peak first editions, so this will probably be your last chance to snag one. I’m not doing another giveaway until next year, and even then, I’ll be sending out second and third editions. You’ve been warned!

MTP

P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

It’s Another Danger Peak Goodreads Giveaway!

courtesy MIT Library News

My last Goodreads giveaway was so successful (almost 2,000 people entered), I decided to do it again. Starting today, you can enter for a chance to win one of 20 signed copies of Danger Peak. You can see the details below. Most of the information is the same, but there are two main differences. First, whereas the first giveaway was exclusive to people living in the Unites States, I’m now opening up the contest to Canada. (Oh Canada!) So if you’re a Canuck with a hankering for some ‘80s action and want to read the greatest ‘80s kids’ movie never made, try your luck!

The other difference is that in my first giveaway, I shipped out the second, most recent edition of Danger Peak to the lucky contest winners. In this giveaway, I’m mostly handing out exclusive first editions, which are becoming rarer and rarer every time I make a change to this book, something that is happening increasingly often (more details in a future blog). So if you want a chance to read Danger Peak in its original incarnation (with all the typos intact), now’s your chance!

Good luck to everyone who chooses to participate. Remember, you need to sign up with Goodreads in order to enter the contest, if you don’t already have an account. I’m glad I got at least one more giveaway in before the holidays. With its neat, portable size, Danger Peak makes the perfect stocking stuffer. Here are the details to the contest:

Goodreads Book Giveaway Danger Peakby Michael Thomas Perone

Giveaway ends December 05, 2022.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

MTP

P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

Danger Peak Won Second Place in The Fall 2022 BookFest Awards

courtesy The BookFest Awards

This will be another short and sweet blog entry. This week, Danger Peak won second place in The Fall 2022 BookFest Awards in the Category of Young Adult Action and Adventure. BookFest is an online event that brings the reading, writing, and publishing communities together. A few of the speakers at the Fall 2022 BookFest were international bestseller Mitch Albom and the actor/writer Danny Trejo. Two of my favorite inspirational books are Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, so it was an honor to have my book included during this season’s festival with Albom as a speaker.

According to BookFest, over 667 entries applied to this year’s Fall 2022 BookFest Awards, and I am honored to have placed, particularly in the category of Action and Adventure, a genre of books I heavily devoured when I was a kid, especially the Choose Your Own Adventure series. A few people have told me that Danger Peak is the greatest ‘80s action-adventure kids’ movie never made. Hopefully, that will change one day!

You can see Danger Peak listed on the BookFest website here:

BookFest Second Place Awards

You can also see Danger Peak mentioned in the full festival video below. (To spare you several hours of viewing, it’s mentioned first at the 28-minute mark and then again at the 5-hour and 52-minute mark.)

Day 2 of The BookFest Fall 2022

I’ve already updated this site’s homepage with the BookFest award seal. For those keeping score, Danger Peak has now won four literary competitions, and if you count Honorable Mentions, that brings the total up to six. This is going to be the most boastful sentence I’ve ever written, but here goes: For those who’ve been reading my blog, especially from the beginning way back in March, and are still on the fence about picking up a copy of Danger Peak, have I convinced you yet that this book is worth reading?

On another note, Danger Peak is now part of Amazon’s KDP Select program, which means you can download the eBook for free on Amazon if you have Kindle Unlimited. There will be another announcement regarding this program later this year, but I want to keep it a surprise.

MTP

P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

Danger Peak Received a Perfect Score From the Website Reader Views

courtesy Reader Views

For a while now, even before it was published, I’ve been curious as to how kids would respond to Danger Peak. Even though it’s ostensibly a middle-grade/young-adult book (and the subtitle even reads “A Kid Adventure”), it takes place in the 1980s, decades before the target audience was even born. All of my reviews so far have been from adults, and although they were positive (mostly!), I still wondered what kids might think, since many of them have never even heard of the shows “Miami Vice” or “Knight Rider,” just two of the many ‘80s-centric references in my book. This week I finally received an answer with my first professional review from a kid, courtesy of the good folks at the website Reader Views, and it’s a perfect score. Similar to the website Literary Titan, Danger Peak received five out of five stars. To read the full review, click on the link below or simply read an excerpt following the link.

Reader Views Review of Danger Peak

Danger Peak is a great and adventurous book that always keeps you on your toes. …The plot was really exciting, especially the mountain-climbing scene. The author writes well, with very descriptive sentences that really bring out the drama. …Danger Peak is a thrilling and perilous book with a lot of excitement and the perfect book for someone looking for a very dangerous ride of a book!

—Reader Views

Since I’m writing my first blog after a weeks-long break, I may as well take this opportunity to congratulate the 20 people who won a free signed copy of Danger Peak at my Goodreads giveaway this week. Your books should arrive in the mail in one to two weeks.

MTP

P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

It’s a Danger Peak Goodreads Give-away!

courtesy Goodreads (duh)

I’ll make this short and sweet. (In fact, this is my shortest blog yet: one paragraph!) Do you like free stuff? I sure do. In that spirit, I recently registered Danger Peak with the good folks over at Goodreads for an official giveaway of 20 signed copies. This is the first time I’ve done this, and, having only registered yesterday, I thought it would take effect immediately. Unfortunately, I learned that it takes at least three full days for Goodreads to review the registration process, which means my book won’t be available to enter the giveaway until Saturday, the earliest. Oops! But last week, I promised my loyal and faithful readers a blog today, and dammit, I’m gonna deliver! (even if it’s a tiny write-up, such as this) This means I’ll have to update this blog with a link to the giveaway when it goes live (again, probably on or around this Saturday). In the meantime, you can sign up for Goodreads if you haven’t already, because you need to have an account in order to enter the contest. Sorry for the misdirect, folks, but that’s how it goes sometimes in the blog biz. Until this weekend, I’ll just have to keep you in suspense.

MTP

P.S.: With the exception of my birthday week back in May, I have been blogging at least once or twice a week for the past half year, so I’m taking a well-deserved break. I don’t know how long it will be, but if something strikes my fancy, I’ll return. Ta-ta for now.

P.P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

More Danger Peak Reviews

courtesy Slate.com

Although I listed a bunch of reviews for Danger Peak last month, more are trickling in, including from a few big names. (Looking at you, Kirkus.) And, to prove that I’m playing fair with you guys, at least one of these reviews is not 100% positive. (Again, looking at you, Kirkus.) Here they are, in no order:

Danger Peak by Michael Thomas Perone is a feel-good, coming-of-age story that follows 13-year-old Robert and his best friends Chris and Rinnie, who are part of the motorbike racing club known as the Wild Boars. Readers are taken on an adventure filled with nostalgia, courage, and determination as Robert sets out to conquer Danger Peak. Perone transports the reader back into the ‘80s, filled with references to Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, and good times like getting into mischief with friends. This nostalgic book reminded me of The Sandlot, but instead of tackling “The Beast,” it is Danger Peak this time.

The characters are well developed, and the author perfectly portrays the teenage attitude where all kids want to do is hang out with friends and have a good time, making this a relatable read to young readers. Robert’s determination is inspiring, and there are times when you feel sad for him, especially when he has flashbacks of his older brother Danny. I also enjoyed the fact that Robert’s family didn’t come off as the perfect family, and they were going through real problems. The author’s writing is not elaborate or detailed and is perfect for middle-aged readers.

Danger Peak is an entertaining, page-turning read that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. I highly recommend this book to middle-grade readers and even those who want to reminisce about the good old days of growing up in the ‘80s.

5 out of 5 stars.

—Literary Titan

In Perone’s 1980s-set novel, a young man grieves for his brother, embarks upon a dangerous adventure, and gains maturity.

After his brother, Danny, dies while biking the 12,000-foot Danger Peak, 13-year-old Robert Kin has one goal: to bike the peak himself. Robert, along with his friends Chris and Rinnie—motorbiking members of the Wild Boars—prepare what they call “The Action Bike” for their adventure. To do so, they must obtain tools and tires from Robert’s critical, authoritarian father as well as two items that their eccentric science teacher, Dr. Forrest Howard, invented. Specifically, they need Danny’s turbocharger and the mad doctor’s new laser, designed to shatter rocks. However, they learn that the challenge not only involves the bike’s mechanics and finding technology to beat nature; it’s about developing relationships and making important life choices.

In the prologue, Perone immediately engages the reader with Robert’s first ride through his neighborhood as well as with references to 1980s music, television, history, and culture. It’s clear from the start how the young protagonist sees the world after Danny’s death, and readers can taste the freedom of adolescence as the Wild Boars emulate chase scenes from CHiPs and plan like the title character of MacGyver to get what they want. That said, there are moments when the connection between Robert and his father lacks believability, and some of the scenes seem to escalate too quickly. Also, the author’s use of flashbacks sometimes has the effect of taking the reader out of the adventure; this is also true when the third-person point of view switches to Robert’s father’s perspective instead of Robert’s. Overall, though, Perone’s debut novel is reminiscent of Chris Crutcher’s Ironman (1995), presenting an engaging, throwback coming-of-age tale.

A compelling bildungsroman about grief and finding wisdom.

—Kirkus Reviews

(Danger Peak is) a debut coming-of-age novel that grabs you and doesn’t let go. I really enjoyed (it). It’s a great debut novel that is a really nice, quick read. The characters are very engaging, and I really liked the relationship of the three boys. This feels like a very personal book for Perone, and I am looking forward to what his next book might be.

—5-star Amazon review

Exciting and heartfelt. Danger Peak is fun for all ages. A lot of action with some mystery sprinkled in. Great book to read while you are on the beach or sitting by the pool.

—5-star Amazon review

Danger Peak now has over ten 5-star reviews on Amazon. Thanks, peeps!

I also may as well take this opportunity to announce that Danger Peak was a finalist of the 2022 American Fiction Awards in the category of Inspirational.

This was already mentioned in my social media channels (and I placed the award seal on this site’s homepage), but this is the first time I’m making an official announcement in my blog. Honestly, I thought this award submission was a longshot, since “inspirational” probably isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think about Danger Peak (“action-adventure,” “coming-of-age,” “magical realism,” and even “nostalgic” all beat “inspirational” to the punch), but I’d like to think there are inspirational moments in my story, particularly towards the end. I’d like to thank the American Book Fest for this award if they’re reading this, but let’s be real here; they’re probably not.

MTP

P.S.: Next week’s blog: It’s a Danger Peak Goodreads Giveaway!

P.P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

A Very Brief, True Story That Has Nothing to Do With Danger Peak

courtesy Hipgnosis

I’ve been blogging at WordPress about my book for almost half a year now, and after comparing my blogs to others, I realized I’m doing it all wrong. Most people write random stories from their lives that are 300 words or less. My entries are usually overly detailed and go on for 1,000 words or more, and almost all of them are to promote my book, so, in the interest of solidarity with my other fellow WordPress bloggers, I thought I’d give at least one normal entry a try. As the title states, the following is a very brief, true story that has absolutely nothing to do with Danger Peak.

Last month, I saw Roger Waters, the co-singer/bass player/principal songwriter/creative genius of Pink Floyd, in concert for the fourth time, and he didn’t disappoint. I was especially grateful that he played “Have a Cigar” from the brilliant Dark Side of the Moon follow-up, Wish You Were Here, since I’ve never heard him play it before. (Incidentally, “Have a Cigar” is the only Pink Floyd song that isn’t sung by a member of the band.) Hearing this song live reminded me of the time in college when I attended an outdoor party that featured a DJ spinning track after track of Pink Floyd songs.

Even though it’s my favorite band, I thought Pink Floyd was an odd choice to get a party started. After all, they’re not known for party jams. In fact, one of their greatest hits albums is ironically titled A Collection of Great Dance Songs, with a couple on the cover in the midst of a dance tied down by ropes. Besides “Money” and “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II,” which he already played, the only Pink Floyd song I could think of that had a decent dance beat was “Have a Cigar,” so I casually strolled to the DJ and requested it.

“Sure man,” he quickly replied. “Just give me a sec.”

“Thanks,” I said and returned to the throng armed with my red plastic Solo cup filled with watered-down beer. After attempting small talk with strangers for several more minutes—with several more Pink Floyd songs blaring in the background—I realized the DJ still hadn’t played my special request. Finally, he played a song off Wish You Were Here, but it was “Welcome to the Machine,” the song that immediately precedes “Have a Cigar.”

Not able to stand it anymore, I confidently walked up to the DJ with a wry grin on my face and told him the following: “Close, but no ‘Cigar.’”

MTP

P.S.: Next week’s blog: More Danger Peak Reviews

P.P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

Danger Peak Won The Literary Titan Gold Book Award for September

courtesy Literary Titan

I’m happy to announce that Danger Peak won another award, this time The Literary Titan Gold Book Award for the month of September. Literary Titan bestows this award on books they reviewed which received five (out of five) stars. From their website:

Our literary awards are given to books and authors that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. The Literary Titan Book Awards are given out monthly to the best books reviewed through our book review service. These books deserve extraordinary praise, and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and writing skill of talented authors.

The Literary Titan Gold Book Award is bestowed on books that we found to be perfect in their delivery of original content, utilizing fresh themes to convey innovative ideas, and deftly use elegant prose to transform words into expertly written literature.

Books have the ability to entertain and inform us. They can make the impossible possible. They are vehicles of time travel and windows into perspectives. In books, authors are gods, and imagination is their power, transforming words into characters, emotions, and worlds. Even if we never meet, we are connected by the stories we tell.

I particularly enjoyed the phrase, “(Books) are vehicles of time travel” since my book takes place in 1989, and I have literally marketed it as taking a trip back in time without a DeLorean.

You can view Danger Peak and the other September winners on the following page:

The Literary Titan Gold Book Awards in September

Since I’m on the subject of awards, I may as well take this opportunity to mention that I won Honorable Mentions in The New York and Hollywood Book Festivals. The New York Book Festival celebrates books that they feel deserve greater recognition from the world’s publishing capital, and The Hollywood Book Festival honors books worthy of greater attention from the film, TV, and multimedia communities. (These Honorable Mentions were already “mentioned” on my social media channels, but this is the first time they’re appearing in my blog.)

So far, Danger Peak is four for four in the awards I submitted, but if you don’t count Honorable Mentions, I’m two for four. Not too shabby for my little, independent book!

MTP

P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

“Stand By You” Music Video

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Wil Wheaton (left), River Phoenix, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman search for the body of a local teenager in Stand by Me. The film, directed by Rob Reiner, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

" data-medium-file="https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress..." data-large-file="https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress..." src="https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress..." alt="" class="wp-image-638" srcset="https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress... 1000w, https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress... 150w, https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress... 300w, https://dangerpeakcom.files.wordpress... 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />courtesy Columbia Pictures

It’s almost Labor Day weekend, which means I’m going to continue my annual tradition of watching one of my favorite movies of all time, “Stand By Me,” a movie that takes place during Labor Day weekend. Anyone who has read Danger Peak probably knows how influential the movie (and, consequently, the Stephen King short story, The Body, the movie was based on) was on my book. Here’s a hint: Not counting the Prologue, there’s a reason the first scene in my book takes place inside a treehouse.

I’m not going to go on at length about this movie, since I already did in an older blog that was an excerpt from my book Lists, Life, and Other Unimportant Details (you guys already signed up for blog updates in the opt-in box at the bottom of my Blog/FREE Book page to get the book for free, right?), so I’ll just mention something I haven’t before, at least not publicly. One of my favorite lines in the movie comes at the very end and is something that, if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss. I actually did miss it the first time I saw the movie, and even if I didn’t, I’m sure its resonance didn’t register with me.

After their great adventure and the kids say goodbye to each other, Teddy Duchamp, played by Corey Feldman, casually says, “See you in junior high,” only, looking back, it’s not casual at all. Obviously, the whole thing is a coming-of-age story, but that very moment is Teddy drawing a line in the sand. He didn’t say, “See you in a few days” or even, “See you in school.” No, he very specifically said, “See you in junior high.” He may as well be saying in boldfaced letters: “THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE END OF OUR CHILDHOOD. THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, AND WE DON’T EVEN KNOW IT YET.”

Of course, Richard Dreyfuss’ narrator (the adult writer Wil Wheaton’s Gordie Lachance grows up to be) underlines this with the film’s final lines: “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” But that line from Teddy gets me every time, too. It’s just much more subtle.

In other words, there’s a reason why this story is set during Labor Day weekend and why King titled the section where The Body appears in his book Different Seasons “The Fall from Innocence.” It’s the end of summer. It’s the end of childhood. The games are over.

I was so inspired by this movie, in fact, that I wrote a song 9 years ago to commemorate it with a few old band members. (I used to play sax and occasionally sing and rap in a ska/punk band you’ve never heard of called All Out Riot.) Then we made a music video. Okay, it’s basically a slideshow, but it was a big deal for me at the time. Notice how the pictures are closely related to the lyrics, so listen well!

This video is already posted on my Bio page, but it’s pretty obvious, at least according to my WordPress site statistics, that most people who visit this website don’t click on my Bio page, so I’m presenting it here in an official blog. If nothing else, you get to hear my terrible Richard Dreyfuss impression at the beginning. Enjoy!

MTP

P.S.: Next week’s blog: A Very Brief, True Story That Has Nothing to Do With Danger Peak

P.P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble

Will Danger Peak Get a Sequel?

courtesy the 1990 version of me

Danger Peak has been out for two months now, and a few people have already asked me if I’m going to write a sequel. Well, short answer: No. I feel I’ve already told the story (and fairly well, if I may pat myself on the back), and it had a clear beginning, middle, and end. As far as I’m concerned, this is the last you’ll ever hear of Robert Kin, his family, and his friends. (Incidentally, for those who are curious, I gave Robert the surname of “Kin” because the book is secretly a personal family story.)

Long answer: I already wrote a sequel to Danger Peak (two in fact), and it was terrible. If you don’t believe me, I’m going to post the details in this blog. This is back in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s when Danger Peak was a short story titled Action Bike. In 1990, I decided to take a stab at the continuing adventures of the Wild Boars, and they went to war. Literally. They grew up and became soldiers in World War III. Maybe I had World Wars on the brain because I was studying them at the time in junior high school, but talk about things that don’t go together: the whimsical, child-like, bike-riding adventures of a group of boys and (again) WORLD WAR III. Against robots. Yes, there were robots. Are you understanding now why I decided not to write another Danger Peak?

Anyway, Robert and his friends get drafted into the war against robots (I think I threw aliens in there too, because why not?), and everyone gets killed except him. Then he runs into a mad genius inventor, since I guess these kinds of stories always need one, like Dr. Howard in the first book, and they build another Action Bike out of the spare parts of the broken robots they destroyed. I suppose even then I realized that my characters were just kids and couldn’t invent things completely by themselves; they needed help either from an adult, a genius inventor, or both.

After putting the parts together and making the new bike (somehow that worked), they realized that they accidentally built the world’s first time machine (somehow that also worked). Robert realized he could go back in time to save his friends, which of course he does, and wouldn’t you know it? The time machine gets destroyed right after saving his last friend, but it doesn’t matter, because with the gang back together, they beat back the robot/alien menace and save the world. In other words, ripped from today’s headlines.

As usual, I illustrated the book with my own crude drawings (I used to want to be a cartoonist), and here they are, starting with the cover:

I like how I rated the book PG-13 as if it was a movie. (I had “Batman” on the brain, having seen it less than a year before, and was blown away at how “edgy” it was with that rating, so I copied it.)The boys had hover boards in this one. (I called them “Power Boards,” and Robert used one to help create the new Action Bike.) Yes, I stole the idea from “Back to the Future, Part II,” which, like “Batman,” had come out only a year before. Also, check out the way I spell the word “awesome.” I was still learning, people!I went all out in this pic. I used two different-colored pens!I guess I was inspired by Rambo in this pic, though I hadn’t seen any of the movies at this point. (I was too young.) That’s supposed to be a missile shooting toward Robert’s mullet there.Joe (who’s named Chris in Danger Peak) is the first casualty in the book. That’s some pretty grisly gore coming out of him in the front. Luckily, this is only a back shot.I admit; it got a little dark. (Also, you gotta love the super profound lines: “War! I hate it! Aaaah!”)This is supposed to be an overhead shot of Robert blasting a robot. It’s not a bad perspective, but clearly, my artistic skills weren’t there to pull it off. (Obviously, since I have to explain what the picture is.)“Ugh!”Here’s the design of the Action Bike 2, complete with the Power Board propelling it from below.Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on here. (I think they’re traveling back in time?)

You might be thinking, “Wow, no idea can be worse for a Danger Peak sequel than that.” Well, hold onto your hats: How about the gang battling neo-Nazis and a newly resurrected Adolph Hitler? Yep, that’s what happens in the next (and, thankfully, last) book in the series, Action Bike (a.k.a. Danger Peak) 3. Again, I had World Wars on the brain from my studies at school (and also possibly the “Wolfenstein” videogame, though I’ve never played it).

At the start of the book (well, short story), we learn that the U.S. military has created a device called “Project Life Again,” which can resurrect the dead, but they only use it on soldiers to decrease the risk of war. The Action Bike gang, who are now veterans themselves, realizes the device could fall into the wrong hands, so, with the help of the government (again, they’re always getting help with these things), they build each of them the Action Bike 3, which is sleeker and looks like a hovercraft, to guard and protect the machine.

Eventually, the blueprint plans for the new Action Bikes and the Project Life Again machine are stolen by the KKK, and they resurrect Hitler in Germany. (I should’ve made them neo-Nazis, but I guess I thought they were all the same when I was younger.) Hitler and hundreds of his formerly dead Nazi soldiers storm across the Atlantic on the newly created Action Bikes to attack America, which sounds like an idea I stole from the movie “The Rocketeer.” Of course, our boys defeat the Nazi scourge with the help of their own bikes and a plan that, looking back, is somewhat ingenious, at least coming from the head of the teenager I was at the time. Of course, there’s a confusing and distracting subplot about springing Rinnie out of an insane asylum he gets mistakenly sent to, but I think I’ve covered enough of this story.

Being older, I had already abandoned the idea to become an artist and started focusing more on writing, which is why this “book” is written on actual ruled paper, not construction paper that’s more appropriate for doodling. Also, besides the cover, I only drew one picture inside: the plans for the new Action Bike.

I actually kinda like this cover, except of course for the swastikas (in case someone thought I was endorsing Nazis). At least the logo is pretty cool.I also like the design of the Action Bike 3. So the cover, new bike design, and battle plan at the end of the story are the only good things in the book, but they still aren’t good enough to turn into a full-fledged novel. And again: resurrected Hitler.

Now you know why there will never be a Danger Peak sequel. . .unless someone throws a wheelbarrow of cash at me!

MTP

P.S.: I guess I was wrong when I said I’d never do another Danger Peak photo essay. Oops!

P.P.S.: Next week’s blog: “Stand By You” Music Video

P.P.P.S.: Danger Peak is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

AmazonBarnes & Noble