John Atkinson, formerly of Glen Allen, has a new novel, “ Timekeeper” that can be pre-ordered now from Fisher King Press. It will be out in December 2007. Go to http://www.fisherkingpress.com  or call 1-800-228-9316 . USA Today and Reuters have given rave reviews !

Sharon Baldacci , author,  “ A Sundog Moment” writes:

“The first sentence of Timekeeper, a novel 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 ultimatelyfinds 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. “

I just finished editing Timekeeper and I cried at the end just like I did the first time, and that’s a fine thing, to cry and to be reminded of how much heart, spirit, and soul fills this book. I sincerely thank John Atkinson for writing Timekeeper. His story needed to be told, and now the world needs to hear it, for the Timekeeper, for the Fisher King, for Check, for Chief, Mama, and even Bugdaddy, but most importantly, for the Universal Soul. - Jackson Fisher, Editor, Fisher King Press http://www.fisherkingpress.com

Timekeeper and Mister Wicked - aka: Illiteracy
In an attic, stashed away some place obscure and long forgotten, is a black and white silent film of a May Day celebration at Glen Allen Elementary School.  It was the early1950s and the question was, “What can we do with Johnnyboy?”  At school, May Day was to be a fun day.  Kids hung onto colored ribbons attached at the top of a flagpole and braided the ribbons together all the way to the bottom of the staff.  Someone filmed this event and my job was to run about with a huge lollipop waving it at anyone I pleased.  I waved it and licked it too, something they asked me not to do.  The film was shown to my class weeks later.  I can still see my classmates looping the pole with a high measure of accuracy because a copy of that film is in my head.  Because of Mr. Wicked, not a soul on the face of the earth could’ve believed I’d become a writer.
Mr. Wicked is an evil one, a morbid creature that eats his victim from the inside until nothing is left but a hollow shell.  And Mr. Wicked is a slow eater.  He starts with the young one’s heart.  He looks for little boys, but an occasional girl fills Mr. Wicked’s sweet tooth.
The mean creature came for me a long time ago.  Yes.  He held me captive for fifty years.  But one day I escaped his prison.  Now I write to free my spirit from his wickedness.  It’s plain what he did to me.  I must warn others.
The word illiteracy meant a lifetime of hardship, a prison I grew to see so well but was always invisible to everyone else.  The condition of illiteracy led me to shame, poverty, hurt, but worst of all, isolation.  Illiteracy was a monster that had to be conquered.  The word illiteracy had such a profound grip on my life that I grew to hate not just the condition it brought, but the word itself.  A word like that should have a name like Mr. Wicked because of the negative power it has over lives.  I named illiteracy Mr. Worrisome T. Wicked.  The T stands for Threatening, forever threatening to take away the joy in life.  And that’s what Mr. Wicked did when I least expected.
Oh, Johnnyboy, don’t fret yourself.  Mr. Wicked’s reign has ended.
“But he left a mark on my soul, the wounded man-child, Timekeeper.  Now is the time for the Time Man to leave a mark on him, that awful monster, Mr. Wicked.  He’s got it coming.”
Timekeeper, lodge with Great Spirit.
“Chief!  Is that you?”
Last journey.  Peace in your heart.
“I understand.”

Timekeeper, an interview with the Author, John Atkinson
From the blog:
Novels by Mel Mathews
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Interview of John Atkinson, author of Timekeeper

Recently, I was privileged to preview a forthcoming title that is to be available in December of 2007. Within the first few pages, John Atkinson’s Timekeeper had weaved its essence around my heart and refused to let me go. Written in the same spirit as Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, Timekeeper is a magnificent tale of a young boy who can’t read, or at least he hasn’t found the means to do so up to this point in his life. Misunderstood by his teachers and elders, and physically beaten into the ground by his father, Johnnyboy runs away from home at the age of fourteen and sets off into the unknown to find himself. What he couldn’t find in his own father, the universe provides for him in a multitude of miraculous ways. In spite of all his suffering and adversities, Johnnyboy’s spirit remains in tact… better yet, like a boxer taking a relentless barrage of punches, he spits his beating into the ringside pail and comes out dancing like never before into the next rounds/chapters of this magnificent tale of redemption. Readers, Booksellers, Journalist, Reviewers, Critics, and even you Movie Makers, about all I can tell you is, ‘Better get ready ‘cause the Timekeeper is coming to town!‘

Click the following link to place your advance order for Timekeeper

Published by Fisher King Press and available from Baker & Taylor, Ingram Books, your local bookstore, and a host of on-line booksellers, and directly from Fisher King Press - ISBN 13:978-0-9776076-3-1 / ISBN 10: 0-9776076-3-1, Publication Date: Dec-2007, Price: $15.00. To order your copy in advance click on the Timekeeper link above or call 1-800-228-9316. International orders call: 00-1-831-238-7799

The reviewer, Mel Mathews, is the author of several novels, including the Malcolm Clay Trilogy (Fisher King Press). His books are available from your local bookstore, a host of on-line booksellers, or you can order them directly from his website at: http://www.melmathews.com or http://www.malcolmclay.com

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