STOMPER HAS ARRIVED
Posted on June 7, 2012
STOMPER REX is on the loose, ready to run about and give your brain a mindswirlie. I'm very proud of the book and how well it delivers on the two goals I set forth to have for it. I wanted to tell a quest story with loads of peril and action and I wanted to hide among the creative high adventure, writing advice and tools for young writers to use in their own stories.
From the nice comment Piers Anthony has made about the book, it appears I succeeded on both counts. Here's what he said just this month on his website:
"I read Stomper Rex, by Brian Clopper. Bradford, nicknamed Stomper, is a fifth grader who has issues at school. He lives with his mother, his father having walked out. His mother is understanding but firm about his need to shape up. She gets him a tutor, Wanda, a teen girl he has a crush on, so he does pay attention as she reviews the material. This setting is competent, as the author is a fifth grade teacher; the secondary characters are well rounded. Then two odd men descend from his bedroom ceiling to take him to a fantasy land where he is needed. They are Ruffloon and Strivelwunk, who put him on a ladder which then flies into the land of Crawlspace, where there are many monsters, and much of the magic is made by figures of speech. Yes, the very thing he is having trouble with in school. I suspect this novel was a female dog to write, because coming up with relevant figures of speech when you need them can be a challenge, as I have found in my own writing. For example, when he is threatened by multiple snakes, he says "Fake snake!" and they merge into one pretend snake. That's pretty simple, but others aren't, such as "Try knocking loose those lox." That's homophone magic to make locks give way. It seems he has been summoned to defeat the cruel mistress of this realm, Stigma, a girl who visited but then decided to stay and rule, and they need to be rid of her. They have many adventures, requiring different figures of speech. Naturally there's a climactic showdown, and strange things happen as they fight with whatever figures of speech they can think of under pressure. This novel represents a kind of course in figures of speech, and fifth graders who read it will surely develop a better understanding and possibly become better students. That may be the hidden agenda. This author continues to be a writer who deserves better attention in the literary world; this novel is anything but mindless."
Anyway, do me a favor and check out the book on the Nook and Kindle. it's at a very affordable price when you consider all the witty word play you get tucked inside its digital covers.
A special thanks to writer and web maestro, Keith Robinson, for all his help in getting my book published as an e-book. I would not be anywhere without his guidance and know-how.
And as for your last paragraph — you're very welcome!! :-)