Meet Rupert Starbright.

 I guess I was destined to write a book for kids. My first published novel was Milky Way Marmalade–a rock&roll, hilarious fantasy for BIG KIDS. Adults who enjoy Monty Python, or Hitchiker's Guide, and the like. And, of course, Rock music. I always have dozens of ideas for books and movies filed away on my hard drives and in the toy store of my mind.  There are some heavier, more adult fare that I want to get to but the idea of going back to the kind of books I relished as a kid kept tapping on the shoulder. I was always a big reader as a kid and books like "Charlotte's Webb", "Stuart Little", "What the Witch Left", "Hardy Boys", "From the Mixed Up Files of whats-her -face",  and the like were the books I ate up. Looking back, I see they did have something in common. It was a feel. A charm. A warmth. And they were totally engrossing.

    

 I wanted to write a book like that. AND I wanted it to be a page turner. It had to have a nasty and powerful villain. And, heck, why not some laughs too! I knew the key to the tale had to be the power of the imagination. I knew it had to have fun creatures and bizarre plants and animals.  I wanted it to be a fast-paced adventure in a deep wilderness and I wanted there to be a heart-felt core to the story.  My hero had to be a misfit without being an anti-social loser. He had to be a good kid at heart who loves his friends and family but someone who had a unique mind. Who was bored. Who would question the assumptions of the adults. Well–he had to be like me!  

     Every author infuses parts of themselves into their characters. We do this with the heros and the villains. We do it with characters of different sexes.  It is a way of placing our souls into new eyes. It is one of the great joys of writing.

    Here is the back of the book story synopsis:

Rupert Dullz isn't very happy. His grandmother's coffus is getting worse, school is boring and there's nothing to do on his days off but rake up endless piles of leaves. Everything in Graysland is, well, gray, and every day is just like the one before it, and the one before that. That is, until a strangely dressed man named Pie O'Sky swoops out of nowhere in his multicolored bagoon and offers a special reward to whoever can open his mysterious door. When Rupert succeeds, he's thrilled when Pie O'Sky carries him beyond it to the brilliantly colored land of Far-Myst. Adventure calls, and Rupert discovers a wonderful world full of something he's never heard of before--imagination. But Far-Myst is in danger, and it may be that only Rupert has the power to save it. Is he the one whose imagination is powerful enough to stop the evil that is destroying the beautiful world beyond the door?

     The Door to Far-Myst: The Adventures of Rupert Starbright (volume one) is an exciting, warm and heartfelt story. I wrote it so I know it is. : ) Notice "volume one"? Volume two will be out Spring of 2012. I am working on volume three.  A certain popular boy hero has retired. He was the king of kid's books for years and deservedly so. But now that HP is done- RS - Rupert Starbright - is ready to conquer your hearts and minds. It is available in paperback and e-book (Kindle, Nook, etc). It features the gorgeous cover art by eight time Hugo award winner Brad Foster.  It is published by the Threshholds imprint of Zumaya Publications.  It can also be purchased through my website: www.mikedicerto.com or on www.amazon.com.

     Begin a new adventure. Your kids will love it and you-you'll feel like a kid again! And isn't that the point?