Blog Archives
Friendship and Abandonment
High School Epic follows a teenage girl through her high school years in the early 1990s who struggles with issues of abandonment and with discovering who she is and who she wants to be. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My own life is definitely the inspiration for High School Epic. I had a friendship and boyfriend breakup at the onset of high school that resulted in a type of heartbreak that only emphasized the feelings I had buried of abandonment from when my father left us (the first time) when I was six. Although he did return and remain with my mother for another 11 years, their relationship was shaky at best. Deep down, I was always anticipating when he would leave again for good.
In many contemporary coming-of-age novels, authors often draw on their own life experiences. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Yes! Every event is based on real events from my middle and high school years. Characters are derived from real friends and classmates. The main character has traits that are similar to me, but she really is her own person and not me.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Friendship and abandonment are the most important themes in the book, even within the context of the romance that happens.
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
I have a current project that is part memoir and part short story collection, all with the themes of relationships, love, loss, and heartbreak. I’m hoping it will come out sometime by the end of next year.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Left behind, Dani meets Kevin Martin, an outsider who seems to give her everything her world is missing. Until betrayal cuts deep, leaving her reeling once more. Dani’s circle keeps reshaping again and again: new friends like Ryan O’Leary offer comfort, while old wounds resurface.
Through each season of high school, Dani is tested through heartbreak, mistakes, and hilarious missteps, as she wrestles with who she is and who she wants to be.
Told in a unique blend of letters and chapters, Hannah R. Goodman’s HIGH SCHOOL EPIC captures the chaos of teenage life in the early 1990s with raw honesty, humor, and heart.
Refuge for Human Civilization
Fragments of Light follows a young Archivist named Keela as she uncovers relics of a forgotten civilization while ancient machines awaken beneath the ice. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Winter. It all started with that. I live where winter is a VERY present concept, and as much of an avid reader as I am, rarely did I ever find a compelling SciFi story that took place in winter or somewhere where winter was the norm. So I figured that starting everything there would be something that could generate a different type of texture to the narrative. And one of those threads is the impact – or I should probably say “impacts” – of climate change. As harsh an environment as the Arctic is, climate change has a disproportionate effect on it; everything seems magnified. So to me, that area would likely be a natural refuge for human civilization should the World go to Hell in a handbasket…
Keela’s emotional journey feels incredibly intimate. Was her character shaped by any personal experiences or themes you wanted to explore?
No personal experience per se. However, being a parent, I see that many young people – and having been one myself – are unsure of the potential in them; of the strength that inhabits them. Sometimes it’s easier to wait for someone else to do what needs to be done, but most of the time, YOU could do it, and you could probably do it better. As for the archivist part, that’s purely projection: I’m a big history nerd! I just find it fascinating – good and bad – how technology throughout the ages shaped humans; how it creates a virtuous (or perverted, depending on where you stand) cycle where humans create technology that changes them and allows them to create more “advanced” or different technology that in turn changes them again, and so on and so forth.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Resilience. Ambiguity. Adventure. Friendship. And as corny as it sounds, humor. Because I really do not want to live in a world where even during the worst of the worst we are not able to smile or laugh. Maybe not at what’s happening, but surely at how we deal with ourselves and others.
The machines beneath the ice feel both mythical and scientific. What was your process for designing their nature and purpose?
Well, in Fragments of Light, machines are not generally “under the ice.” Some are, but it’s more because of their purpose, really. In the subsequent books, we see that Keela and Anina need to go outside the safety of their known world – the Arctic – and cross entire continents to continue their quest and get to interact with many different societies, machines, and people.
.
Without spoiling too much, let’s just say that machines are left over from a technologically advanced world that existed pre-Fracture. One where geo-engineering was seen as the way to stop/reverse/curb global environmental collapse. Think huge sun reflecting mirrors, carbon catchers, water purifiers, methane gas processors, etc. These would need to be massive, on a scale that would blow your mind, in order to affect the climate of a system as big and complex as the Earth. And you are right, as with anything that is old, eventually they did drift into mythology or quasi-myth.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Keela was meant to guard the past, not be claimed by it. In the frozen city of Lumik, she touches a relic that hums with memory, and nothing stays buried. Her quiet life shatters, pulling her into a truth no one else will face.
With Anina, a gifted technician who reads machines like language, Keela follows its call across a fractured Earth. Engines stir beneath snow. Salvage-built cities whisper of healing long abandoned. Wonder ignites, but so does danger, as rivals twist awe into power.
This is not destiny. It is choice. And when no one else steps forward, Keela must.
For fans of Skyward, Scythe, The 100, and Ship Breaker. Discovery-driven sci-fi with brave heroines, hidden tech, and the courage to do what must be done. Scroll up to begin.
Open Your Heart
Color Me Skye follows a 12-year-old girl battling fear, grief, and a distant stepfather following the car accident that leaves her mother in a coma. Where did the idea for this story come from?
This story came partly from my own experience of losing my father, who served in the military when I was very young, and then dealing with the addition of a stepfather to our family. I would have loved to have had a book like this when I was growing up, to know that there were other kids like me experiencing the feelings I did. That’s my hope for this book, that it will reach kids who’ve lost a parent, or are dealing with a new step-parent, that they’ll see themselves in the story and learn that healing is possible and there are resources available to help them.
When creating Skye, did you have a plan for development and character traits, or did they grow organically as you were writing the story?
I wanted Skye to grow and change into someone who was more other-centered at the end than she was at the beginning. But some of the specifics, like her being unable to sit in the front seat after the accident, weren’t planned.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
People are seldom who you think they are, healing doesn’t always look like what you think it will, and it comes when you open your heart to new possibilities.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I’m working on a middle-grade fantasy in which the main characters are fairies who must go on a quest to save their forest and insect friends from destruction by humans. I have no idea when it might get published, but I’m enjoying the journey of writing it.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Then last year her mom married a quiet, distant guy who Skye calls Dim Tim. He doesn’t seem to be interested in having a stepdaughter. And that’s okay with Skye; she doesn’t want a stepfather, either.
But now, a car accident has left her mom in a coma. Which means she and Dim Tim are going to have to figure out how to do all the stuff her mom did. To actually talk to each other. Worst of all, one question is tearing Skye up inside: What if her mom never wakes up?
Told in free verse, with color filled words and sketches, Color Me Skye follows the emotionally charged journey of Dim Tim and Skye as they navigate their new normal. Along the way, Skye discovers a best friend who is funny, feisty, fabulous, and the perfect antidote to Skye’s troubles. For ages 9-12.
Color Me Skye
Color Me Skye follows twelve-year-old Skye as she navigates the aftermath of a terrifying car accident that leaves her mother in a coma. Stuck with her emotionally distant stepfather, Dim Tim, Skye battles fear, loneliness, guilt, and grief all while slowly learning to open her heart again. Through days spent at a hospital daycare called the “Fun-ny Bone,” she meets Star, a larger-than-life friend who helps Skye rediscover joy, hope, and strength in unexpected ways.
The writing is lyrical but raw. Adams paints Skye’s emotions with texture and depth, layering them like strokes on a canvas. It doesn’t pull punches. The pacing is fast, the chapters short and sharp, often written in free verse that mirrors the chaos and swirl of grief. Skye’s voice is crystal clear, funny, moody, honest, and incredibly relatable. There were pages that made me laugh and others that cracked my heart wide open. What moved me most, though, was how the story treated pain not as something to run from but something to live through. And how beautifully it shows that healing doesn’t always look like you think it will.
I also really appreciated how the book handles relationships. Skye and Dim Tim’s dynamic is awkward and strained at first, which feels true. He’s no superhero. But he tries. That matters. Watching them slowly fumble toward understanding was as satisfying as it was believable. And Star? What a sparkplug. She bursts into the story like a firework and stays lit the whole time. I wanted to bottle her energy. Their friendship gave the story warmth and color just when it needed it most.
If you’ve ever lost someone or felt like your world was tilting sideways and couldn’t seem to right itself, this book will feel like a soft place to land. It’s ideal for middle-grade readers and anyone who’s dealt with grief, change, or feeling like the odd one out. I’d recommend it to parents, teachers, and counselors, too. It’s the kind of story that starts conversations.
Pages: 184 | ASIN : B0FBKYS69R
The Love of a Dog
Sixty Seconds with My Dog is a moving middle-grade novel about a grieving twelve-year-old who gets a magical chance to talk to her dog for sixty seconds, forcing her to confront what truly matters. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Like many Americans, our family got a dog during the 2020 Covid pandemic. I was not working at the time so training largely fell to me. I was not very good at it and I would often look into the big brown benevolent eyes of our dog and think to myself how great it would be if we could talk to each other. From there it evolved into thinking that it’d be an interesting book idea if you constrained the time period to just one minute.
Dudley is a fantastic character. Were there any real-life dog inspirations or specific Goldendoodle traits that you drew upon to create him?
The inspiration was largely my Havapoo Phoebe, but also from other dogs such as the Bernese Mountain Dog I grew up with, who very much reminded me of the Saint Bernard used in Beethoven. The goldens I’ve known have always been big, friendly, and loving dogs which is why I selected the breed for the story.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I really wanted to focus on the importance of “needs” vs “wants.” I believe that this is a struggle people deal with their entire lives and never fully master. Generally, adults are better than children at recognizing the importance of focusing on getting what they need over what they want but it’s a lesson worth repeating. Ultimately there is no greater need in life than the love of family and friends and I wanted to show that when times are tough and everything is seemingly going against you, you can always turn to your family and friends for support to see you through.
I also wanted to get people thinking about their loved ones and what they might say to them if they had just one more minute to speak with them.
What message or feeling do you most hope readers take away from Sixty Seconds with My Dog?
I want them to root for Phoebe and her redemption. To remember that family will always be there for you. And of course, to remember that there’s little better than the love of a dog.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Sixty Seconds with My Dog tells the story of young Phoebe, who is struggling with the loss of her father and the trappings of teenage life. When her wish comes true, she wrestles with how to spend those sixty seconds with Dudley. Does she spend the time telling Dudley how much he means to her? Does she use it to let Dudley ask her questions? Ultimately, she decides to use that minute to teach Dudley a trick that can be used to generate her own fame.
Only after nearly losing her best friend Dudley does she come to realize what truly matters in life. This story of friendship and family will appeal to kids and parents alike, as well as to anyone who’s ever thought about how great it would be to be able to speak with their dog.
LITERARY TITAN 