Matching 'voice' with emotion

“Choosing the narrator for a first-person story like 'Downriver' is a crucial decision because the voice has to be one the reader wants to listen to, and the voice has to be a match for the emotion you want the story to carry”  – Will Hobbs

Celebrating his 69th birthday today, Hobbs grew up in a military family, moving often.  When his dad was stationed in Alaska, “I fell in love with mountains, rivers, fishing, baseball, and books.,” he said.  After college and marriage, he settled in the southwest mountains of Colorado where he began teaching and writing.

The author of 19 novels for “Tweens” and young adult readers, as well as two picture book stories, Hobbs credits his sense          

 of audience to 14 years teaching reading and English. When he turned to writing, he set his stories mostly in wild places he knew from firsthand experience. Hobbs has said he wants to “take young people into the outdoors and engage their sense of wonder.

“Seven of my novels take place in the Southwest, in the Four Corners area which has been my home since 1973. I know these mountains, rivers, mesas and canyons well, so it's been natural for me to draw on my own personal experiences here.”

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