Showing posts with label Allen Brokken. Show all posts

Friday, November 24, 2023

Author Interview: Demolishing the Stronghold by Allen Brokken

About the Book

Book: Demolishing the Stronghold

Author: Allen Brokken

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Release Date: November 4, 2023

Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan finally found respite for their whole family in the grove surrounding the Wellspring of Life. However, the threat of the Dark One’s forces still looms over the Heathlands, and lighting the tower of Light in Blooming Glen is their only hope of cleansing their land of The Darkness once and for all. While the family plans a surprise attack on the stronghold at Blooming Glen, the Bishop calls forth the Calamitous Drake, a monster forged from the essence of The Darkness in the corrupted heart of the Iron Mountain. In the midst of the battle, the monster scatters the family, leaving Mother, Uncle, and Tye in the hands of Lord Refi’Cul and the evil giant Skull Crusher who aims to make Tye his wife and become the Master of the Heath Wardens

The children must take to the skies to forge a weapon capable of defeating the Calamitous Drake. Will Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan’s faith give them the strength to Demolish the Stronghold?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband, and a father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. He began writing the Towers of Light series for his own children to help him illustrate the deep truths of the Bible in an engaging and age-appropriate way. He’s dedicated 18 years to volunteer roles in children’s ministry and youth development. Now that his children are off to college, he’s telling stories and sharing clean humor on social media.

More from Allen

As I worked to close out the Towers of Light series, I had to work hard to develop something new and different that still fit the 1800s frontier setting. I had a lot of pressure from my readers to bring a dragon to the prairie. On multiple occasions, I had to remind my biggest fans that there aren’t any dragons on the prairie. But they were insistent that dragons make an appearance.

So, as I put the final touches on the previous book, Wellspring of Life, I thought that the censors spreading evil could bring evil things into the world to corrupt the prairie. So, the concept of a dragon formed from the censor’s smoke made a lot of sense. But what would a “Smoke Dragon” be like? I shared the idea with my Realm Makers critique group, and they helped form something that early feedback says works well. The dragon’s name, The Calamitous Drake, is also an homage to a line from “The Hobbit” that refers to Smaug as a great calamity.

With a dragon flying about, I also had to devise a way for the kids to engage it in the air. This took significant research as I didn’t want to introduce giant eagles or something else that didn’t exist on the frontier. As I investigated different options, I discovered that hot air balloons were more common in the 1800’s than I thought. It turned out they served in minor roles during the Civil War and used a technology they called a gasifier to fill them up. I took some artistic liberty with that, and Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan now had a way to get off the ground to meet the dragon in the air.

This story was so much fun to write, and early reviews from my biggest fans say it was the perfect end to the series.

Author Interview

Q: What was the inspiration behind this novel?

I began the Towers of Light Series as a story for my kids. I was traveling for work 4 days a week and spent a lot of lonely nights in hotels across the country. I started writing a story about them in a fantastic setting and then shared it on the weekends. They loved it.

Q: Do any of the novel’s characters hold a special place in your heart?

Allen: Of course! The main characters are based on, and named after, my three children.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote from this novel?

Allen: “Your Iron Sister at your service little brother.” This comes at a point where I had a really dramatic entrance that I was trying to kind of pull of the Marvel Comics heroic jump into the scene to save the day. I just loved how the whole scene came off. It’s very cinematic and I hope that makes it into a movie some time.

Q: If the novel was made into a movie, who would like you to see play the main characters?

Allen: I don’t know that I have a dream cast overall, but I hope that some day Stacey Bradshaw who does my audiobook narration could be Mother in the story.

Q: Would you share something about yourself that most readers wouldn’t know?

Allen: My first big publication was a letter to the editor of the Marvel Comics Star Wars Comic #84.

Q:What are you reading now?

Allen: A friend of me put me on to a contemporary thriller called The Judge. It’s out of my normal genre and reading tastes, but I’m really enjoying it.

Q: Who is an author you would recommend to anyone and everyone?

Allen: I like funny kid books. Something that takes the edge off. Iggy and Oz: The Soda Pop Wars, by JJ Johnson, or I’d Punch a Tiger in the Eye for You by Ben Wolf come to mind. In my genre, I have a toss-up of who I admire most right now. I love Wayne Thomas Batson’s allegorical style. But I think Robert Liparulo does a great job of dropping scripture naturally in the story in a way that just feels authentic.

Q: What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

Allen: I play a lot of games. Lately, it’s a mix of XBOX, No Man’s Sky to be exact. I’ve got a gaming group and we’ve been playing online for over 20 years. We’re mostly all over 50 now and a bit slow. We call ourselves Team Fail and our motto is “Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory since 1999.” For my 50th birthday, we all got together in person, and it was a blast. I also play Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures battles with my eldest son on Sundays after church as a way to make sure we stay connected now that he’s out of the house.

Q: Where can readers find out more about you and your novel?

Allen: On my website towersoflight.net. I am also on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Blog Stops

Artistic Nobody, November 11 (Author Interview)

Fiction Book Lover, November 12 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 12

Texas Book-aholic, November 13

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 14

Guild Master, November 15 (Author Interview)

Lots of Helpers, November 15

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 16

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, November 17 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, November 18

Blossoms and Blessings, November 19 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, November 20

A Reader’s Brain, November 21 (Author Interview)

For the Love of Literature, November 22

Lights in a Dark World, November 23

Beauty in the Binding, November 24 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Allen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

Link for giveaway: https://promosimple.com/ps/28d36/demolishing-the-stronghold-celebration-tour-giveaway.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Author Interview & Giveaway: Fear No Evil by Allen Brokken

About the Book

Book: Fear No Evil

Author: Allen Brokken

Genre: Christian Middle Grade Fantasy

Release Date: December 5, 2020

Across the land of Zoura, people and creatures alike continue to fall prey to the persuasion of darkness. The seeds of evil pollute not only those outside the Light, but those within it. Pitting neighbor against neighbor. Brother against brother. The Dark One gains ground in his pursuit to shroud the heathlands in eternal darkness. Zoura’s only hope lies with three children.

Twelve-year-old Lauren and her younger brothers, Aiden and Ethan, are determined to reignite the Tower of Light in Blooming Glen. But an attack by dark forces separates them, driving them into a valley of darkness. Without each other or their Knight Protector, the three siblings must navigate the wilderness while fending off creatures tainted by evil. They fight not just for Zoura, but for their own survival.

Will the darkness overtake Lauren, Aiden, and Ethan? Or will they prove their faith is stronger and that they fear no evil?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband and father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. He began writing the Towers of Light series for his own children to help him illustrate the deep truths of the Bible in an engaging and age appropriate way. He’s dedicated 15 years of his life to volunteer roles in children’s ministry and youth development. Now that his own children are off to college he’s sharing his life experiences on social media @towersoflight, @twodadsandajoke, and through his blog https://www.lightofmine.net.

Author Interview

How long did it take you to write this novel?

Allen: That’s a tricky one, the first two chapters were actually written as a part of Still Small Voice book 2 in the series in a notebook like 3 years ago. But then I lost the notebook. So the ideas just bounced around in my head until NaNoWriMo November 2019. At that time I sat down and wrote about 25,000 of the ~40,000 words in Fear No Evil then. I was finalizing and launching Still Small Voice at the time, so I didn’t finish Fear No Evil’s first draft until June of 2020, and I finalized the book in October. So really it’s just under a year start to finish.

Do any of the novel’s characters hold a special place in your heart?

Allen: The family in the story is based on my family. So there’s a lot of each of my kids real personality in the story. Which really chokes me up from time to time as I’m writing because I can hear my own kids saying some of the lines.

Do you have a favorite quote from this novel?

Allen: I don’t want this to be a spoiler, so I’m not going to put in the context. But this is definitely my favorite line in Fear No Evil: Aiden had to suppress a giggle at that. They were definitely going to cause some trouble with the butter knife.

What do you hope readers take away from this novel?

Allen: I really hope that kids take away the idea that when they become isolated, and have reason to fear that they can reach out to God for his comfort, reassurance, and courage.

Would you share something about yourself that most readers wouldn’t know?

Allen: When my kids were about the age of the kids in the story we all did Karate together as a family, and I attained the Red Belt.

More from Allen

The stakes have been raised in the 3^rd book of the Towers of Light Series, Fear No Evil. The children have been separated from one another in the darkness shrouded, Muddy River valley. Evil prowls around them at every turn. Do they have the faith to fear no evil?

My favorite part about writing this book was a conversation I had with the real Ethan. I had a tight editorial deadline to meet and I decided to go on a writing retreat to finish the book. While I was trying to leave home, my youngest the real life Ethan kept asking me questions and delaying my departure. Finally, I said, “You know the last time I wrote there was a ferocious bear about to eat Ethan. If I don’t sit down and start writing soon, he’s going to be a bear food.” Ethan’s reply was, “Yah you better go write now!” You’ll have to pick up Fear No Evil to see if I got back to the story in time.