with Guest Brock Eastman
I
hated reading. I really didn’t enjoy writing, and my grades reflected it. I
wasn’t exactly the prospect for becoming an author. Why did I need to read
anyway when I had Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis? There was always a new
Sonic game and a more enhanced Dr. Robotnik to beat. I’d sit for hours in my
blue video rocker chair glued to that black controller, connected to my
character through a five foot black chord.
Occasionally
I’d venture outside with my friends, but that addictive little blue hedgehog always
called me back. I remember one of my friends trying to get me to read Louis
Lamoure, I think I made it halfway through a chapter. I’d skim the required
reading books, and the grades on my book reports would prove it. In High
School, my streak of ‘not reading’ continued and my writing reflected the
minimum page or word count required to get a B or C.
It
wasn’t until college that I read a book because I wanted to. The series I chose
is the oft hated, but mostly beloved Harry Potter series. Now some of you
reading this are already averting your eyes, and that’s okay; that’s your
choice, like reading the books was mine. But let me tell you something the
series did for me and many other kids like me; it got me excited about reading.
We could debate the magic of the Harry Potter world as good, bad, etc. but the
real magic about the books was the creative world that drew young readers in.
My imagination was opened and the characters felt like friends. In fact, it
inspired me to become a writer, which I now am. Before I talk about the writing
thing, let’s take a bit of a tangent first.
Now
why did I decide to pick this series up? Well I met this beautiful girl, and we
challenged each other to see who could finish the entire book series first. The
only title not out was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The only reason I
was able to catch up to her was because we both had to wait for the release of
the final book. So when it finally came out, we sat in a Borders bookstore
(sadly they went the way of the dodo bird) and waited for the midnight release.
The
next few days were devoted to reading as much as possible and I am proud to say
I won. Now it is debated if my winning was completely above board or not and
here is why. Early on in our competition, we went to a friend’s house for a
nice home cooked Italian dinner. As we ate, I excused myself from the dinner
table to use the restroom. As I passed my girlfriend’s purse I slipped out her
copy of The Half Blood Prince and took it with me. Then I proceeded to read it
for the next half hour, needless to say my absence in the restroom for so long,
was causing everyone else some concern, but no one checked and I made quite a
bit of ground on my reading. Now with that confession over, you can judge if I
won or not. But I did indeed win in the long run, because the girl married me!
So
Harry Potter inspired me to read and it also inspired me to write, but the
writing thing is twofold. One I thought how cool would it be to create my very
own world, or at least my very own characters. And two I want to write a book
series that is a bit more ethical than Harry Potter. You see my real beef with
the Harry Potter series is not the magic, because, sorry to burst your bubble,
but magic isn’t real. My opposition to the series is the lack of an honorable
hero. You see, though Harry appears to be a great hero, he sort of got there
through a whole lot of lying, disobedience, and arrogance at times. To tell
kids that Harry is a hero, when he overcame evil by committing many wrongs of his
own, seems wrong. Sure little Billy, steal that candy bar as long as in the end
you overcome a great trial. NO! WRONG!
I wanted to give
readers characters they could really look up to, characters they could learn
from and trust. Something else I wanted to do, specifically for The Quest for
Truth, was provide a story without unnecessary death. This wasn’t in reflection
of Harry Potter, but of many series for kids and young adults, and not just in
the secular marketplace. How often do our kids read of a sword slicing through
someone, or a gun fight? We probably wouldn’t let them watch it on TV, so why
would we let them read it in a book?
So
with the desire to provide authentic moralistic heroes and a storyline without
unnecessary death, I began writing The Quest for Truth. And though this kid who
hated reading and writing, hadn’t read anything until he was in college, and
hadn’t written anything larger than a few thousand word research paper, wrote a
100,000 word manuscript with no prospect of getting it published. After all I
was a college student in the middle of the cornfields of Illinois getting a
degree in Marketing. It wasn’t until later that God opened up some pretty
amazing doors.
The fact is God has His plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) says; ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’
So
what are you waiting for? You just read this nearly 1000 word article; go read
some books. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to write some of your own!
As
a thank you for taking time to read this article I wanted to offer a giveaway
for a copy of Taken and Risk, the first two books in The Quest for Truth
series. [Please let us know in the comments that you'd like to be entered. Winners will be announced in the Weekend Edition.] You can find the next two books of the series, Unleash and Tangle,
online or at your local bookstore.
Also
at this time Taken (book 1) is available for FREE on Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks. And the latest
release, Tangle (book 4) is at a special price of $2.99 on Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks. So grab your copy
now.
The Wikk kids have been separated on their quest to find humanity's home planet. Reunited with his parents, Mason makes new friends and clashes with old enemies on board the sinister Übel ship, the Black Ranger. Meanwhile, Oliver, Tiffany, and Austin race to rescue their friend Ashley from a toxic moon—and find themselves in more trouble than they'd bargained for.
Newly added from Brock who said: "This is how a kids' author takes their morning perk up…"
Newly added from Brock who said: "This is how a kids' author takes their morning perk up…"
