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On Heaven's Hill has topical themes of climate change and environmental/animal conservation at odds with government and corporate interest, and ultimately is also a stirring and emotional story of a community coming together.
Author Kim Heacox has won the National Outdoor Book Award twice, for The Only Kayak, a memoir, and Jimmy Bluefeather, a novel.
Jimmy Bluefeather is a perennial backlist bestseller for Alaska Northwest Books, with combined sales of over 10,000 copies for the original hardcover, paperback, and reissued hardcover editions.
Heacox currently writes opinion-editorials for The Guardian on the climate crisis, biodiversity, and threats to US public lands. He has written books of essays and photography, history, memoir, fiction, and biographies.
On Heaven's Hill is a great pick for book clubs (discussion questions will be available), and, with one of the three perspectives in the voice of 11-year-old Kes, strong crossover appeal for ages 12+.
About the author
Kim Heacox is best known for his memoir The Only Kayak and his novel Jimmy Bluefeather, both winners of the National Outdoor Book Award, and for his opinion pieces in The Guardian, where he writes in celebration and defense of the natural world, mostly on the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and threats to US public lands. His book of essays and photographs, In Denali, won the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award. A keen musician and photographer, and former ranger with the US National Park Service, he lives on eighteen acres in Gustavus, Alaska, next to Glacier Bay National Park, with his wife Melanie, two sea kayaks, a Martin guitar, and forty-some chestnut-baked chickadees. Learn more at www.kimheacox.com.
Summary
Finalist for the 2023 Banff Mountain Book Award for Mountain Fiction & Poetry
An Anchorage Daily News Favorite Book of 2023
Kim Heacox, author of the National Outdoor Book Award-winning novel Jimmy Bluefeather, returns with a new, brilliant novel about family love and the lengths one will go to protect it.
"A sprawling novel brimming with suspense, ideas and unforgettable characters, On Heaven's Hill paints a captivating group portrait of a rebel alliance discovering their true selves in America's most glorious natural landscape. This book will appeal equally to aging idealists reared on Edward Abbey and adventurous kids hooked on Gary Paulsen. Oh, and it's laugh-out-loud funny, too."
—Mark Adams, New York Times bestselling author of Tip of the Iceberg and Turn Right at Machu Picchu
"Kim Heacox poses the age-old question—what price progress?—with new urgency in On Heaven’s Hill, his compelling novel of an Alaskan hamlet whose remote location is no defense against big-money development. All that stands in its way is a pack of wolves and the twelve-year-old girl determined to save them. Reminiscent of John Nichols' The Milagro Beanfield War, Heacox deftly weaves lyrical tributes to the healing power of nature with a fast-paced plot that builds to a heart-pounding conclusion."
—Gwen Florio, author of Silent Hearts and the Lola Wicks series
The small town of Strawberry Flats sits on a remote Alaska coast, peacefully left to itself—until controversial plans for a road and a bridge threaten to upend everything.
Former trapper Salt d’Alene never thought he’d find himself in the midst of such a dispute, but he’ll do anything to provide the best care for his son Solomon, recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Eleven-year-old Kes Nash just wants her father—back from war in Afghanistan—to be normal again. And circling the perimeter of the town is a wolf, Silver, and his pack, quietly watching.
Told from three alternating perspectives, On Heaven’s Hill is a vividly powerful story about rediscovering hope and finding new life in the aftermath of trauma. Filled with humor and compassion, it depicts the best of America, a place composed of wildness and kindness.
Foreword
AWARDS: submit widely for fiction awards, NOBA, PNBA, etc.
ADVERTISING: boosted social/Amazon ads around publication to drive orders, considering regional advertising.
EVENTS: author tour with local Alaska bookstores/libraries
REVIEW: reviews, excerpts, author interviews, and byliners in Alaska newspapers, magazines, RTV, and national book media.
ONLINE: social media campaign, outreach to bookstagrammers; book trailer
PROMOTION: DRC via Edelweiss and hard copy ARC will be available; online promotion via author's social media (3.3k followers on Facebook), Alaska writers groups; giveaways on LibraryThing and Goodreads
TRADESHOWS: giveaways/features at PNBA, ALA
