Gray Hawk of Terrapin

Gray Hawk of Terrapin is a heart-wrenching Y/A fantasy by Moss Whelan that introduces Melanie (Mool) Fraser. Ever since her father's death, Mool has been talking with an imaginary green lion named Inberl. When Mool's mysterious uncle gets sick, she and her mother take the train from Vancouver, Canada to the inner world of Terrapin, where Inberl is arrested because he's looking for Gray Hawk. Springing into action, Mool sets out to rescue Inberl. Mool's know-it-all cousin, Olga, helps track down family friend Parshmander who might know how to save Inberl. They corner Parshmander at home, where they overhear mention of Gray Hawk, but the girls are captured and interrogated. Upon release, Mool feels success when she sees a secret map, finds a hidden bridge and crosses it with Olga. On the other side of the bridge, they find a secret city that keeps Terrapin at war. Prepare yourself for a wrenching journey laced with evil, chronicling histories of cruelty, kidnapping, and false imprisonment in search of meaning and justice.

About the Author :
Raised by hippies in the 1970s. Began writing as a way to survive abuse in a communal environment called The (CRCA) Co-op in New Westminster, BC. Father, a Cannabis dealer, was sent to jail and then died. Survived bullying, suicide attempts, and hippy shunning. Began the fantasy world of Terrapin (based on the lyrics of Robert Hunter) in the 1990s / mid-twenties. Joined Hemp BC to promote industrial Hemp and protest Cannabis prohibition. Attempted a non-wood / tree-free paper mill named The Green Man Paper Mill. After the turn of the century, Studied Creative Writing at Douglas College, writing for Screenplay at VFS, and English Lit at STFU. Began working with Tihemme Gagnon, Kial Natale, and others in credited and uncredited work. In 2012, put the orange on The Maynard online poetry magazine. After years of struggling with mental illness, finally diagnosed with PTSD but unable to find medication or therapy that works in what he calls the "soft sell out" of the mentally ill: dealing with the symptoms but not the cause. Moss works in the fantasy world of Terrapin as a stage for stories to encourage and empower children to resist advertising and media that promotes self-hate, revenge fantasies, and war. Rahiem Jerome Brooks is the breakout novelist and is a member of the Mystery Writer's of America. His debut thriller, LAUGH NOW won 2010 African-Americans on the Move Book Club's (AAMBC) Book of the Year & he earned 2011 AAMBC Author of the Year. LAUGH NOW also the Most Creative Plot at the DMV Expo's Creative Excellent Awards. Rahiem was also nominated at the 2011 & 2012 African-American Literary Awards for Mystery of the Year for Con Test and Murder in Germantown. Brooks grew up in Philadelphia before trekking to Los Angeles to study film/TV at UCLA. Finding it difficult to break into Hollywood, he adapted his screenplay into his first novel and later pursued an English degree at Harvard University and making writing a full-time job. He lives in Philadelphia with a Manx.

Review :
"Gray Hawk of Terrapin is a backhand in the mouth parading as the smartest, sharpest fantasy you'll read in 2018, twisting the true-life horrors inflicted on a family and beast in the name of justice―and selling us cheap trinkets―into a wrenching story of friendship, loss, and terrible revenge."--Book Review Concierge "Sometimes, our imaginations can literally carry us away. Such is the case in Moss Whelan's Grey Hawk of Terrapin, where young Mool survives a dull life by talking to her imaginary friends, including a curious green lion named Inberl. But then her mother reveals that this humdrum, thin world is but a border to a place rich with color, ambition...and family. Mool takes readers through an amazing adventure of self-discovery, showing us that in any land, strange or thin, it is family that gives us the power to soar above the darkness. Whelan has given young readers a heroine they can smile shyly with and befriend in their own imaginations, who will, just maybe, accompany them on the train of thought to a new adventure within."--Jean Lee author of Beauty's Price and Middler's Pride "Looking for intelligent writing with artfully inserted meanings? Look no further! Tears, laughter, insight: an all-around fantastic fantasy!"--Joshua Cox-Steib author of Fen Telum Sorceress for Hire "Gray Hawk of Terrapin is an Alice in Wonderland for the 21st century. From the very first page, I was utterly enchanted by 13-year-old Mool and the magic of her glittering rainbow world where green lions not only talk but also offer sage advice, and every day is Thursday. For all of us dreamers who love nothing more than falling into the golden well of our own imagination, reading about Mool and her adventures will feel like coming home.--Lauren Sapala author of The INFJ Writer