Meet Karl F. Hollenbach, Author

The author of The Great Hawk, Karl F. Hollenbach was born in 1925 in Louisville, Kentucky. He received his B.A. and M. Ed. from the University of Louisville. His esoteric and metaphysical articles have been published in Japan and England as well as the United States. He and his artist wife live on Dunsinane Hill Farm near Fort Knox, Kentucky.

The Great Hawk is available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more about the book here.

1. How does your background as an educator influence your work as a writer?

As a previous teacher, I strive for clarity in my writing, being aware that words, besides having a dictionary definition, also produce different degrees of emotional responses from readers. A teacher's greatest reward is the "Ah!" expressed when a student suddenly understands. I write with the hope and expectation of "Ahs!" when the reader understands a difficult concept, considers a new idea, accepts a different opinion, or is challenged by a different twist.

I strive not just for "good writing" or even "better writing," but my best writing. My companion next to my word processor is Roget's Thesaurus, an invaluable source for finding "the right word." I learned as a teacher that writing is not "talk written down," and that reading challenges a different part of our thinking than does listening.

2. Have you had personal experience with falconry and/or birds, or did you need to conduct a great deal of background research for The Great Hawk?

I had no personal experience with falconry nor did I do extensive research. It is the trappings of falconry, not its substance, that entice young Jimmy when he discovers it in reading about King Arthur.

My wife and I live on the farm that has been in her family for five generations.

One spring day I noticed more than the normal four or five hawks that circled overhead throughout the week. Soon they multiplied until there were over thirty. There is majesty in several hawks circling high above, but thirty becomes ominous. "Let's go inside," I told my wife, and we did.

3. Do you think that young people today are experiencing some loss of connection with the natural world?

Young children now spend too much time viewing and listening to electronic devices and neglect those things that help prepare them in the simple skills of dealing with the real world: simple decision-making, choosing, evaluating, experiencing, and judging chance and probability. The mystical experience of nature is replaced by the magic of electronic devices.

4. How does an appreciation of farming and the countryside help enrich our lives, and how do we see this in action in Jimmy's life in your story?

In The Great Hawk, farming and the countryside represent pristine nature, while Jimmy's wish to "train a baby hawk" is his conditioning to control nature. Our electronic culture encourages us to direct nature, if not control it, and certainly not to marvel at its miraculous manifestations: a small device with no wires allows us to listen to music played hundreds of miles away, and our reaction is not the astonishing activity filling empty space but "can I get it louder."

5. What writing project(s) are you currently working on?

A book that begins with a mystery in 1935 that is answered by a story of redemption beginning in 1862. The title is Holy Ground.

Below is the book trailer for The Great Hawk...

Thanks, Karl!

Meet Linda Cadose, Author

Linda A. Cadose is a Registered Respiratory Therapist with 40 years of experience in her field. She grew up in Plymouth, MA and now lives in a retirement community in Carver, MA. She holds a B.A. degree from Boston University and a M.A. degree from Northeastern University. Linda is the author of two novels for middle grades readers, The Underwater Pyramid in the Bermuda Triangle and The Hidden Chamber in the Great Sphinx. Follow Linda on Twitter to keep up with her posts on archeology, writing fiction, and other interesting topics.

1. When did you first become interested in archeology?

I became interested in archeology in Mr. Sawyer's 6th grade Social Studies class. I was 12 at the time and I was fascinated with ancient Egypt. As an adult, I traveled to Egypt and visited all the archeological sites when I was there.

2. Could you tell us about the research involved in writing your two novels?

When I did the research for my novels, I was particularly interested in the fact that the ancient Egyptians possessed advanced technologies. For example, when a photograph of the face of the Ramses II statue was inserted into a graphics program, it was discovered that the left side of the face of Ramses II was the exact mirror image of the right side of the face. This cannot be done with a mallet and chisel. Mainstream archeologists maintain that the ancient Egyptians had only primitive tools. To do my research, I took notes on such books as The Giza Prophecy, The Giza Power Plant, and Lost Technologies of the Ancients. My second novel is based on the discovery of a sunken city of the coast of Cuba in 2000.

3. What inspired you to write for an audience of middle grade readers?

I have a nephew who didn't like to read when he was in the middle school. I got the idea that an action/adventure novel with many scientific and historical facts would entice a middle grade reader to read.

4. What are the particular challenges in writing for younger readers rather than for adults?

The writer must be careful not to write above the child's reading level. The writer must carefully explain things; a middle grade reader does not have an adult's broad knowledge of the world.

5. Are you working on more books which will incorporate archeological themes?

Yes, I am currently working on a third novel which takes place on the Holy Land.

Thanks, Linda!