Travel Back in Time with Award-Winning New Novel by Ken Luber
Dog Ear Publishing reviews a new award-winning novel starring a teenage couple and their two friends, who set out to save their Stone Age clan but end up in the 21st century.
Idyllwild, CA, December 27, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Strong characters help drive the story in Ken Luber’s latest work, “The Sun Jumpers.” It’s those same characters that led to his novel earning the Dog Ear Publishing Award of Literary Excellence, and the author couldn’t be happier.
“I’m proud of the fact that it got the award,” he said. “Proud of getting an excellent review in Kirkus (Reviews). And I’m especially proud of what they said about the characters – that they were very endearing. I really liked that part because I worked very hard at making them relatable and interesting people. Besides plot – some genre books have such a heavy plot – you read it for the characters.”
Dog Ear’s editorial team determines award winners, with the managing editor, editorial services manager and publisher reviewing recommendations. Winning books include the award logo on their covers.
As Dog Ear editor Reba Hilbert wrote in her recommendation, "I'm giving this book a 5. It's a smooth, perfectly paced novel with witty dialogue and incredibly endearing characters. The author combines the hilarity of four cave-teens transported to a modern world with the deeper themes of courage, integrity, loyalty, and love.”
Kirkus Reviews calls the novel “a lighthearted romp that’s permeated by humor regarding adolescent antics, 20-something angst, and a wealth of inevitable culture-clash misunderstandings. But it also deals with some serious issues, including modern-day bigotry (the Kishoki are a dark-skinned people), the sometimes-troubled relationships between parents and offspring, and the need to find and follow one’s own truth.”
“The Sun Jumpers” begins 10,000 years ago, with cave-dwelling people facing extinction. “This boy (Ty) gets with his buddies – he’s very macho about it. His girlfriend (Sita) insists on going with them and the four of them set off into the unknown. They wind up in LA in the 21st century with a young filmmaker (Darren) whose father is rich,” Luber said. They end up teaching Darren the importance of standing up against his father and getting out from under his father’s yoke – just as Ty has done.
“One of the other things you get from the book is we’re all part of the same family whether it’s 10,000 years ago or now,” the author said.
Writing the book had its challenges, including cutting it from 145,000 words to 85,000 words to provide more focus. “The other challenge was that actually I started it with the boy as a central character – he is the one who has the vision and wants to find a better life,” Luber said. “But as soon as his sweetheart opened her mouth, she kind of took over the book and I couldn’t stop her. … She had to butt into everything. I had to fight for him.”
A book signing took place Dec. 10 at a local café. His wife, Kathleen, has been spreading news about the book via Facebook, and a copy is in the local library system. “I want people to enjoy it, and I really think they will,” he said, adding that a local librarian is part of GoodReads and read the book a while back in draft form, and she loved it.
Luber would like school libraries to carry the book, which is aimed at youths 11 to 14 years old. “But I think adults will enjoy it and older teenagers will enjoy it because of the female character – she’s very strong; she’s the shaman in waiting. She saves the boys, actually, before they get to the new world. And (Ty) saves everybody” with what he brings back from the future.
It’s not the first time Luber has worked with Dog Ear – he also published a book through the company about seven years ago. He said all staff have been very helpful at each step of the publishing process. “You want assistance. You want them to be helpful and engaging, and they were.”
Luber, who has been writing all his life, lives in the mountain village of Idyllwild. He’s published two of the four or five novels he has written, and he’s written screenplays for film and television and directed theater, television and movies. He has a BA from Ripon College, attended graduate school at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is a graduate Fellow of the American Film Institute in writing and directing.
Luber also wrote “Everybody’s Shadow,” a book of poetry. His first novel, “Match to the Heart,” is available on Amazon.com, e-platforms, and bookstores. He is writing a new novel, “Falling From the Sky,” and is working with a composer on “Esperanza – the Musical of Hope.”
For additional information, please visit www.thesunjumpers.com
The Sun Jumpers
Ken Luber
Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4575-5046-1 296 pages $16.99 US
Available at Ingram, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores everywhere.
“I’m proud of the fact that it got the award,” he said. “Proud of getting an excellent review in Kirkus (Reviews). And I’m especially proud of what they said about the characters – that they were very endearing. I really liked that part because I worked very hard at making them relatable and interesting people. Besides plot – some genre books have such a heavy plot – you read it for the characters.”
Dog Ear’s editorial team determines award winners, with the managing editor, editorial services manager and publisher reviewing recommendations. Winning books include the award logo on their covers.
As Dog Ear editor Reba Hilbert wrote in her recommendation, "I'm giving this book a 5. It's a smooth, perfectly paced novel with witty dialogue and incredibly endearing characters. The author combines the hilarity of four cave-teens transported to a modern world with the deeper themes of courage, integrity, loyalty, and love.”
Kirkus Reviews calls the novel “a lighthearted romp that’s permeated by humor regarding adolescent antics, 20-something angst, and a wealth of inevitable culture-clash misunderstandings. But it also deals with some serious issues, including modern-day bigotry (the Kishoki are a dark-skinned people), the sometimes-troubled relationships between parents and offspring, and the need to find and follow one’s own truth.”
“The Sun Jumpers” begins 10,000 years ago, with cave-dwelling people facing extinction. “This boy (Ty) gets with his buddies – he’s very macho about it. His girlfriend (Sita) insists on going with them and the four of them set off into the unknown. They wind up in LA in the 21st century with a young filmmaker (Darren) whose father is rich,” Luber said. They end up teaching Darren the importance of standing up against his father and getting out from under his father’s yoke – just as Ty has done.
“One of the other things you get from the book is we’re all part of the same family whether it’s 10,000 years ago or now,” the author said.
Writing the book had its challenges, including cutting it from 145,000 words to 85,000 words to provide more focus. “The other challenge was that actually I started it with the boy as a central character – he is the one who has the vision and wants to find a better life,” Luber said. “But as soon as his sweetheart opened her mouth, she kind of took over the book and I couldn’t stop her. … She had to butt into everything. I had to fight for him.”
A book signing took place Dec. 10 at a local café. His wife, Kathleen, has been spreading news about the book via Facebook, and a copy is in the local library system. “I want people to enjoy it, and I really think they will,” he said, adding that a local librarian is part of GoodReads and read the book a while back in draft form, and she loved it.
Luber would like school libraries to carry the book, which is aimed at youths 11 to 14 years old. “But I think adults will enjoy it and older teenagers will enjoy it because of the female character – she’s very strong; she’s the shaman in waiting. She saves the boys, actually, before they get to the new world. And (Ty) saves everybody” with what he brings back from the future.
It’s not the first time Luber has worked with Dog Ear – he also published a book through the company about seven years ago. He said all staff have been very helpful at each step of the publishing process. “You want assistance. You want them to be helpful and engaging, and they were.”
Luber, who has been writing all his life, lives in the mountain village of Idyllwild. He’s published two of the four or five novels he has written, and he’s written screenplays for film and television and directed theater, television and movies. He has a BA from Ripon College, attended graduate school at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is a graduate Fellow of the American Film Institute in writing and directing.
Luber also wrote “Everybody’s Shadow,” a book of poetry. His first novel, “Match to the Heart,” is available on Amazon.com, e-platforms, and bookstores. He is writing a new novel, “Falling From the Sky,” and is working with a composer on “Esperanza – the Musical of Hope.”
For additional information, please visit www.thesunjumpers.com
The Sun Jumpers
Ken Luber
Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4575-5046-1 296 pages $16.99 US
Available at Ingram, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores everywhere.
Contact
Dog Ear Publishing
Ray Robinson
317-228-3656
www.DogEarPublishing.net
Ray Robinson
317-228-3656
www.DogEarPublishing.net
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