A Guest Blog by Derrick Hibbard, author of Impish.

The part when the rain poured in sheets, and the two kids were stuck inside the Land Rover, with one kid holding a flashlight, both of them deathly still and afraid, while a Tyrannosaurus Rex stomped around outside. The thumping of its approach, the tiny ripples in the cup of water and the puddles of mud. Or the part, with the same two kids huddled behind the stainless steel kitchen counter, listening to the faint clicking of the approaching Raptor’s monstrous claw. Or what about the time, near the beginning of the film, when you first see the herds of dinosaurs grazing. Do you remember the magnificence of that moment? It was amazing! Something I’d never dreamed of seeing with my own eyes!

I know there were many occasions before this, when I truly escaped, but this experience certainly impacted me the most. I remember I was in elementary school (fourth grade). I remember gripping the arms of my chair like I’d never done before—and have scarcely done since. I remember where I was sitting in the movie theater, the smells, the sounds of quick breathing and shrieks.

Jurassic Park was the first of many experiences like that—where I fell one hundred percent into the moment and was carried away with the story, the characters, the thrills and chills. I picked up the source novel by Michael Crichton and it was one of the first reading experiences that blew my mind. I fell in love with books and the worlds that they opened.

Books like Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, The Rainmaker by John Grisham, ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and hundreds more. I loved escaping into those stories, not because I had to escape, but because it was so much fun.

Although time is short these days, I still love to open a good book—I look forward to a great movie, or a visit to an art museum. Writing has been a natural extension of that passion. I get swept away in the worlds that I create as a writer—and it has opened up endless possibilities of imagination and escape.

So let me ask you this: do you remember the first time that you were carried away? Do you remember the first time that through a piece of art, a movie, book, or whatever, you left behind your everyday worries and escaped for a few moments?

My new novel, Impish, is that kind of escape. I think all my writing is rooted in this love of being swept away with stories, of getting so caught up in a book that you don’t notice you’ve been reading for hours. Impish has that sort of adventurous spirit that pulls you in and doesn’t let up. And why do I tell you this?

Because I’d like to invite you to give IMPISH a try.

As of today, it’s for sale on Amazon.com (only $3.99)and in your favorite bookstore. My goal in writing this book was to make you smile and laugh out loud, to grip the arms of your chair and to… escape and have little fun.

 Impish is one of those stories.