Havan's Heavenly Haven: Excerpt Tour: Onwaachige the Dreamer @jayjordanhawke @PridePromo @HarmonyInkPress

Onwaachige the Dreamer

Jay Jordan Hawke

Series: The Two-spirit Chronicles, book three – series is best read in order

Release date: December 17, 2015

Let the excerpt begin…

A Scout is Brave

“What the fuck are you looking at?” Levi challenged Robby, beginning his favorite sport. The other kids in Levi’s band immediately took interest in the challenge. They put their towels to rest and quickly joined in on the fun, happy to allow their own towel wounds some time to heal.

Levi’s abrupt challenge surprised Robby, catching him off guard. Robby had just been standing alone, minding his own business, lost in his own thoughts. Mainly he was trying not to look like a dork standing there by himself. He simply wanted to blend in with the crowd. Levi was not going to allow this. Robby found some solace in the hope that Levi was talking to someone else. That comfort only lasted a second.

“Answer me, you little fuck!” Levi challenged again, staring right into Robby’s eyes.

“Excuse me?” Robby murmured, snapping out of his daydream. His voice cracked, and his eyes refused to meet Levi’s wild and powerful stare. His heart immediately started to pound.

“I said, what the fuck are you looking at?” Levi shot back threateningly, this time shoving Robby backward. The gang laughed riotously, almost as if on cue. The sight of this lonely and defenseless boy, totally powerless and totally unable to defend himself, was just too funny for them to bear.

Pukawiss the Outcast

As the drummers beat the central drum, the singers joined in with their chants. Joshua immediately fixated on Mokwa as he entered the arena in perfect step with the beat. Joshua and Jenny now gawked in unison.

“Yo, ah, aye, yo ah, aye,” the singers chanted in synchrony with the drumming. “Aha yay, aya aye.”

As they drummed and chanted, Mokwa matched their rhythm. When they sped up, he sped up; when they slowed down, he slowed down. When they varied the beat, Mokwa always had a crowd-pleasing spin to perform. It was a sight to behold. Joshua could barely even recognize the two-step pattern anymore in the midst of Mokwa’s seamless free-form style.

Joshua realized he had a lot to learn if he wanted to be a dancer like Mokwa. But that didn’t matter right now. Joshua simply gazed at Mokwa, hypnotized by the chanting, the drumming, the colorful regalia, and by Mokwa’s mastery of the Fancy Dance. Powwow dancing was truly a gift of the gods, Joshua realized—a gift of Pukawiss.

Sitting next to Joshua, however, was a constant reminder that he had competition. Joshua felt foolish when he imagined that Mokwa would like him more than Jenny. Jenny was his girlfriend, and Mokwa was clearly straight. But still, such thoughts were easily suppressed when combined with the smitten heart of a fantasizing adolescent. Even as reality kept telling Joshua to give it up, he still entertained the notion that Mokwa secretly wanted him and not Jenny.

Just then Mokwa did a triple pirouette in perfect sync to a completely unanticipated three-drum pounding. The audience erupted in applause. Jenny stood up and cheered for Mokwa.

“So juvenile,” Joshua muttered, reacting to Jenny’s childish display of affection.

Onwaachige the Dreamer

As the boys arrived at the lakefront, the embers from the previous night’s campfire were still red. Joshua filled up a birchbark basket with water from the lake and poured it over the glowing hot wood, extinguishing the remaining ashes. Smoke fled the hot residue as if being liberated from its prison.

“Joshua!” Catherine called out, sounding as though she was in a complete panic.

“She’s getting closer,” Little Deer said stoically, assessing the situation.

“Okay,” Joshua whispered, looking up at his two best friends. “It’s now or never.”

“So we’re not going to back out?” Mokwa asked, as if finally realizing that Joshua intended to go through with this.

“Let’s go,” Little Deer said.

“Go where exactly?” Mokwa asked.

“The voice in my dream came from this way,” Joshua said. He pointed toward the forest opposite the lake.

“Dude, there are no trails there. We’ll be leaving the village.”

“I know,” Joshua said, heading toward the woods anyway. “But we have no choice.” He stopped and took a moment to look around the lakefront one last time. “Pywacky,” he called out to his cat, careful not to get his mother’s attention. “I’ll be back, little guy. Don’t worry.”

And with that, the three slipped silently into the immensity of the majestic Northwoods.

Blurb:

What would you do for the boy you loved? What if to save him you had to abandon him forever?

Fourteen-year-old Joshua Ishkoday faces an impossible decision as a terrifying dream sets him upon a thrilling and treacherous journey of self-exploration through the dangerous vastness of the Wisconsin northwoods. There, along with his best friends, Mokwa and Little Deer, Joshua summons the power to confront his greatest fears. To do so, all he has to do is trust in his dreams. Unfortunately, Joshua discovers that his dreams have been deceiving him thanks to the intrusion of strange creatures. For out in the middle of the forest dwell the enigmatic Memegwesi, bizarre manitous who have a special plan for Joshua. Joshua soon realizes that he has three monsters to battle: the extraordinary creatures haunting his dreams, the dangerous torrential storm brewing in the northwoods, and finally, the greatest demon of all—his homophobic mother.

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Paranormal, Young Adult

200 pages / 57,547 words

Publisher: Harmony Ink Press

Cover Artist: Anne Cain

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It’s all about the author…

Jay Jordan Hawke holds a bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. in history, as well as a second master’s in Outdoor Education. He loves everything sci-fi, especially Star Trek! He teaches high school history and anxiously awaits the day when he can write full time. His hobbies include camping, movies, reading, running, and writing. His first book, Pukawiss the Outcast, was a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Best Young Adult Gay Fiction. He resides in one of the Great Lakes states.

…and stalking them :)