About Blake Hoena

My earliest memory of putting a story down on paper was in 2nd grade, and I really wish I could remember the name of my teacher from way back then. She was amazing. During a story-writing activity, I complained that I didn't know what to write. She encouraged me to just let my imagination do the work.

And I did: Something was wrong with the moon. My dog, Archie, and I flew up in a rocketship to investigate. It was robots! They were trying to steal the moon. I didn't have any rayguns to stop them, but since they were made of metal, and Archie and I had to pee . . . we made them rust in place.

My teacher loved the story and didn't even criticize the potty humor.

Throughout elementary school, I was the typical reluctant reader. I worked my way through the Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators, but I didn't like reading (at least I hadn't found anything I truly enjoyed other than Spider-Man comics). I read only because it was required, and I was placed in a below-grade-level reading class. Then in 5th grade, the RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) truck came to Emerson Elementary. Every student got a book! While I was excited to pick out a book of my own, I was also at a loss. There were stacks and stacks of books, and I wasn't familiar with any of them. As I hovered near an orange-covered book, a friend suggested, "Get that one; I liked it." It had a dragon on the cover, so I knew it had potential. 

The Hobbit was the first real novel I read, and I couldn't get through it fast enough (and I have read it several times since). I was so excited about it that I bugged my stepdad to read it until he caved and cracked the book open. Not only did it hook me on reading (and my dad), but I give JRR Tolkein credit for inspiring the storyteller in me. From then on, I knew I wanted to be a writer.

MORE TO COME . . .