distinction from Bath Spa University with an MA in Writing for Young People. He works as a Planner for Ogilvy & Mather in the UK.Hofmeyr applied the Page 69 Test to Stone Rider, his first novel, and reported the following:
Is page 69 representative of the book?Visit David Hofmeyr's website.
Yes, I think it is. I’ll give you the opening lines and closing lines of the page.
It starts with a dream sequence:He glides through a desert, infinite in all directions. The sun rides high with him, a blazing white disc. Heat waves float from the ground. Then a cry goes up. He turns. Wild animals flank him, either side. To the left, a lupine shadow. To the right, a sinuous panther. The animals lope beside him, quick over the ground.And it concludes with action:A scream outside. Wild-throated and high-pitched. Adam sits bolt upright, covered in a cold sweat. His heart hammers in his chest.This mix of action and dream-like pursuit through an epic, dystopian desert is actually very reflective of the novel.
Stone Rider – my debut novel – is a gritty coming-of-age story in which a boy who has lost everything joins a brutal race to win the chance to escape his dying world. The story begins in the wind-swept dustbowl town of Blackwater, where rival Tribes of teenagers ride semi-sentient mechanical bykes and when they join the Blackwater Trail they are thrown out into a bleak and savage wilderness.
The story is about how we maintain humanity in bleak and trying circumstances. It’s about endurance and willpower. The Race is primal and long distance course, which permits moments of quiet, solitude and introspection interspersed between high-octane adrenalin madness. Expect fear and dust and a good amount of blood.
Stone Rider is one of Rachel Paxton-Gillilan's top five YA books for Mad Max fans.
My Book, the Movie: Stone Rider.
--Marshal Zeringue
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