Fisher King Press announced today:Available December 2007 from Fisher King Press:
Timekeeper
a novel by John Atkinson
"It's more humane to face a firing squad than a classroom, humiliated because of illiteracy. One is swift, the other leads to a lifetime of isolation and hardship. Timekeeper is my triumph over letters. Parts of my journey are no longer clear. Forty-eight years later, I have re-imagined events that seem most consistent to my memory. In 1959 ground swept under my feet like a starving man scrambling for his next meal. I'd fled a dysfunctional family in Virginia. I met many people along the way, but no one could compare with Chief in Oklahoma. He filled a void in me and taught me how to join together the many pieces of life. Chief wasn't surprised that I'd crossed the country at the age of fourteen. I was a big kid and had become hardened to the ways of the streets. Right away Chief understood why I didn't fit in. The main thing was, I couldn't read. He looked into my soul and saw the suffering I'd endured in the white man's world. He also saw into my future. Anyone with a lick of sense would've been frightened of Chief, an old medicine man with strange powers. But after everyone else had given up on me, he saw how I could help myself. At first I thought he was foolish as a fish flopping on a riverbank when he said I should go north to a place he'd visited as a boy. Hell, that was back before we had automobiles. But he said I would go with a great power. I couldn't imagine where the power would come from. I thought it had to be a strong car, a big Buick Road Master. Every boy my age wanted a car. But the old man gave me a name, Timekeeper. I was no longer Johnnyboy, the affectionate name my Mama had called me. But the gift of the new name stayed a mystery for forty-eight years, the time it took me to figure out Chief 's predictions. For all those years I've searched for his meaning, and now I know."
"The first sentence of Timekeeper, a memoir by John Atkinson, drew me in and wouldn't let me leave until I finished this wonderful book. The writing is first rate and made even more impressive by the fact that the young Atkinson was thought to be stupid by his teachers, unable to be taught how to read like everyone else. It is a story about abuse and a boy leaving on his own at 14 to find answers, and ultimately finds redemption. I'm thankful he takes us along with him. This is a deeply moving book and you will be the better for reading it."
--Sharon Baldacci, author, A Sundog Moment--
"Award winning author John Atkinson tells an intriguing tale of a boy's coming-of-age with this fast-paced memoir that reveals the toughness of youth as well as its vulnerability. No one with any feeling in their makeup could resist this engaging young man's journey to freedom and a wild dog's devotion and uncompromising love and sacrifice."
–Jean C. Keating, award winning and Pulitzer nominated author of the Genna Kingsley and Sky dog mystery series.-
"John Atkinson's Timekeeper is an engrossing, heartfelt account of a young man's quest for self-discovery and a place at the table of life. Johnnyboy's evolution into Timekeeper will have you rooting for this engaging underdog."
-Howard Owen, author of Turn Signal and Littlejohn
"In Timekeeper, John Atkinson tells a story that is uniquely American, evoking the best of literature. This work is a coming-of-age story that shows man at his best and worst. He also manages to connect his incredible journey to the traditions of native people, a mixture that young adult readers will find compelling."
- Lee Irby, author, 7000 Clams and The Up And Up -
"Timekeeper is the story of a troubled young boy locked within himself. It's the story of a youngster who has no-one to rely on but himself and by trusting his instincts, he meets one person after another - each one a possible doorway to a new life. True to himself, he follows his heart, gratefully using the gifts that each teacher offers."
- Pat Adler, Publisher, Live Wire Press
"Johnnyboy - What I Love About Your Writing:
To hear your resonate voice telling your stories
Stirs up memories long forgotten
Your writings are compelling, captivating
A page-turner that can't be put down
Eccentric characters and their names are unforgettable, delightful'
Adventurous and more fun than a piano hurling off a truck
Plotting suspense and tension at every turn
Making us laugh out loud and cry in secret
Your human warmth and compassion come through boldly
As you write with your heart
You always surprise and treat us
Filling our souls with yearnings for more.
And you understand the top of the hill,
'The Sacred Mountain' making us soul mates"
- Margaret Sibley -
John Atkinson's novella, Mercy Me, was nominated for a Library of Virginia Award in 2001. Other awards include first place fiction at the Chesapeake Bay Writer's Conference. Over the past twelve years, his articles and short stories have appeared in local newspapers and magazines. Three chapters of 'Day of Reckoning' were published in 2005 In Good Company. John is an active member of The Chesapeake Bay Writer's Club, The James River Writers, The Virginia Writer's Club and two bi-monthly critique groups.
Timekeeper ISBN 13:978-0-9776076-3-1 / ISBN 10: 0-9776076-3-1, Publication Date: Jan-2008, Price: $15.00. To order your copy call 1-800-228-9316. International orders call: 00-1-831-238-7799 or visit: www.fisherkingpress.com
Click the following link to place your advance order for Timekeeper
Timekeeper cover image, 'The Dam Dancer," is a painting by Sheri Mallory
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