Langley City paid-on-call firefighter Bruce Kilby and Cloverdale shelf and racking maker Ken Johnson have joined forces – again – on their third children’s adventure book.
And that book, entitled The Secret of the Eternal Dragon, will be unveiling this weekend in Langley.
The book launch is being held at NY Grill & Bistro on Sunday, Nov. 13, from 1 to 4 p.m.
The pair of 60-something writers first met when they were teenagers. They actually started penning their first children’s fantasy book back in 1998.
Life, however, got in the way.
It wasn’t until 2011 that they came back to it in earnest –determined to get that first book published.
This pair of long-time friends and songwriters have since published that first book, The Legend of the Tooth Fairy.
Given its success, they moved on to write The Witch of Weasel Warren.
And now, despite very busy work and life schedules, they found time to collaborate on this latest book, with The Secret of the Eternal Dragon taking somewhere between 18 to 20 months to write, Kilby said.
“The best part of writing this book was the many hours of conceptualizing with Ken then writing it down,” he elaborate.
“You enter the world you have created and live there for awhile creating a visual painting through words. It’s always sad to write ‘The End’.”
Asked to elaborate on the storyline of this latest book, Kilby was happy to oblige.
“This adventure sequel continues in the modern day city of Bicuspid from the escapades of 800 years ago by the magician Garth described in The Legend of the Tooth Fairy by a magical teddy bear by the name of Taddy Boy,” he said.
“It’s an exciting story of a young girl by the name of Holly, called upon by the tooth fairies, to become a dragon rider and magician’s apprentice to save the dragons. Much like her ancestor Garth did many centuries before but this time it is to bring back to life dragons that had perished in the first story in the great Dragon Wars. All except for Fangor, of course.”
While explaining more about the storyline, KIlby interjected that the character of Holly and a young boy Conner are based on Johnson’s children, who are now adults.
“Joined by her friend Taddy Boy, a chameleon named T-Pick and a dancing Praying Mantis called Hip Hop, this quest takes [Holly] to places such as Gumgolia, Brusha, and Tonsilvania in search of the dragon eggs and the magical items needed to bring them back to life.”
The story, Kilby said, is written for a wide-ranging audience, from ages eight to 80.
“Many adults enjoy the adventure stories that are often made into the animation features we see today,” he said, noting that they’re hoping to approach an animation company now that they have a sequential second book to The Legend of the Tooth Fairy.
He added that a story rarely gets completely written without the suggestions and ideas of friends when the subject comes up in casual conversation, the firefighter explained.
“ I have to thank Murray Campbell, Colton Platzner and my son Ryan for some comic relief and ideas that I included in the book, and Ken and Jan for some of the brilliant characters introduced into this sequel.”
How to Win!
A copy of their newest book, The Secret of the Eternal Dragon, is up for grabs for one lucky Langley Advance reader. How do you win?
• Click this live link, and tell us why you want this book. You will automatically be entered into the draw. Preference will be given to Langley residents.
Postings must be received prior to 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18, and the winner will be notified by email and/or phone. No staff or family of the Langley Advance or Black Press are eligible. This giveaway is restricted to online participants, 19 years or older only. Must include name and phone number.