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Homer Hickam

Goodreads Author

Born

in Coalwood, WV, The United States

Website

http://www.homerhickam.com

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homerhickam

Genre

Memoir, Historical Fiction, Fiction

Member Since

June 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/homerhickam

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Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) is the author of many best-sellers including his latest, Don't Blow Yourself Up. An eclectic writer, he wrote the "Coalwood Series," which includes the # 1 New York Times best-selling memoir Rocket Boys, (made into the ever-popular movie October Sky) the World War II-era "Josh Thurlow" series, the juvenile sci-fi "Crater" series, the adult thriller The Dinosaur Hunter, the romantic Red Helmet, and many others. Among his many writing awards are the University of Alabama's Clarence Cason Award and the Appalachian Heritage Writer's Award plus an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Marshall University. For more information on Mr. Hickam and his books and cats and everything else, please go to ...more

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What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Homer Hickam Of all the things I've done in my life, I'm happiest when I write. Because of my memoir Rocket Boys and especially the movie October Sky, a lot of peo…moreOf all the things I've done in my life, I'm happiest when I write. Because of my memoir Rocket Boys and especially the movie October Sky, a lot of people think I'm principally an engineer or a scientist. This is frustrating. What they don't know is that I've been a successful writer nearly all my life and that Rocket Boys/October Sky only happened because I was already known for my writing, especially my first book, Torpedo Junction. I explained all that in my Kindle Single (also a paperback) "From Rocket Boys to October Sky." Writing has always been a passion. My grade school teachers copied my short stories and shared them with the Jr. High School students & teachers. They told me I'd someday make my living as a writer and they were right. It's just that I had a passion also to build rockets & for that I needed to learn engineering. But I minored in English and my engineering professors agreed with my grade school teachers. I was going to be a better writer than an engineer! I wrote about that, a little, in "Sky of Stone." Anyway, being a writer has given me a great deal of freedom, a steady income over the years, and, in the case of Rocket Boys/October Sky, an amazing amount of fan mail telling me that those works have inspired many people to go forth and do great things.(less)

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How did you get started as as writer? And what made you realize that what you really wanted to be an author?

Homer Hickam When my teacher in the 3rd grade read a short story I'd written, she told me someday I'd make my living as a writer. I thought, "Why wait? I could use…moreWhen my teacher in the 3rd grade read a short story I'd written, she told me someday I'd make my living as a writer. I thought, "Why wait? I could use the money now!" I started my own newspaper which was successful until I wrote a funny story about my mother who, unamused, took away my First Amendment rights until I reached college where I wrote a weekly column for the college newspaper.

I studied engineering in college and after graduation, spent six years in the Army, including a tour in Vietnam. When I returned from the war, I took jobs as an engineer to support myself while I worked on my writing career. For the most part, I wrote for scuba diving magazines, gaining respect as a writer about diving on shipwrecks. The research I did for several articles led to my first book, a military history best-seller titled Torpedo Junction which came out in 1989 and has recently been optioned for a motion picture.

After writing a short article for a magazine about growing up in West Virginia and building rockets, I was approached by an agent who thought I should write a memoir based on that part of my life. I did. It was titled Rocket Boys and the film October Sky was based on it. After the great success of both the book and the movie, I permanently retired from engineering and became a full-time writer which I am to this day. For more, please go here: www.homerhickam.com (less)

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Homer Hickam’s books

Average rating: 4.09 · 39,996 ratings · 4,735 reviews · 28 distinct works • Similar authors

	Rocket Boys (Coalwood #1) 4.20 avg rating — 24,089 ratings — published 1998 — 71 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator 3.88 avg rating — 6,251 ratings — published 2015 — 58 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Coalwood Way: A Memoir (Coalwood, #2) 4.18 avg rating — 1,893 ratings — published 2000 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sky of Stone (Coalwood, #3) 4.34 avg rating — 1,273 ratings — published 2001 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crater (Helium-3, #1) 3.39 avg rating — 1,058 ratings — published 2012 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Keeper's Son 3.94 avg rating — 812 ratings — published 2003 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dinosaur Hunter 3.51 avg rating — 765 ratings — published 2010 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	From Rocket Boys to October Sky: How the Classic Memoir Rocket Boys Was Written and the Hit Movie October Sky Was Made 4.18 avg rating — 602 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Back to the Moon 3.83 avg rating — 507 ratings — published 1999 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Torpedo Junction: U-Boat War Off America's East Coast, 1942 (Bluejacket Books) 4.12 avg rating — 426 ratings — published 1989 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Homer Hickam's Blog

Let's Just Go To The Moon And Mine the Blame Thing

In 1960, when he asked me what I thought we should do in Space, I told Senator John F. Kennedy we "should just go to the moon and mine the blame thing."

My opinion has not changed.

It is an opinion undoubtedly colored by the unique place I'm from, a town called Coalwood in a state called West Virginia in a place called Appalachia where it's difficult to get there, difficult to live there, but has r

Series by Homer Hickam

Josh Thurlow (3 books)
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Homer Hickam (Goodreads Author)

3.85 avg rating — 1,412 ratings

Helium-3 (3 books)
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Homer Hickam (Goodreads Author)

3.52 avg rating — 1,518 ratings

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Melania

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Feb 20, 2025 09:13PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Melania by Melania Trump. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Melania by Melania Trump <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Homer Hickam finished reading Don’t Blow Yourself Up: The Further True Adventures and Travails of the Rocket Boy of October Sky by Homer Hickam (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 30, 2024 11:12PM · 2 likes · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Don’t Blow Yourself Up by Homer Hickam. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Don’t Blow Yourself Up by Homer Hickam <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Homer Hickam (?)

“I had discovered that learning something, no matter how complex, wasn't hard when I had a reason to want to know it.”
― Homer Hickam, Rocket Boys

tags: complex, curiosity, determination, homer-hickam, learning, october-sky, rocket-boys

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“All I’ve done is give you a book,” she said. “You have to have the courage to learn what’s inside it.”
― Homer Hickam, Rocket Boys

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“Not much comes easy in this world, Sonny. If it does, it's best to be suspicious of it. It's probably not worth much.”
― Homer Hickam, Rocket Boys

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Homer’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-2) post a comment »

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message 2: by John

Apr 04, 2014 06:53AM

Thanks for the recommendation. I picked it up on Amazon at a great price and am starting it today.

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message 1: by Homer

Apr 03, 2014 12:50PM

John wrote: "Homer,

Saw this in the Alabama Dept of Archives and History newsletter: April Museum Make & Take:
Paper Rockets!
Saturn5 Did you know that the Saturn V rocket that propelled Americans to the moon..."

Thanks, John. If I didn't have so many writing deadlines, maybe I would but I fear my rocket building days are well behind me. Writing has always been my true passion, in any case. Have you read "From Rocket Boys to October Sky" which tells how I came to write Rocket Boys and the movie was made? I think you'd like it, I swan. http://www.homerhickam.com

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