Local award-winning author, Peggy Hogan, is thrilled to announce that her second novel, Milo’s Burden, has been released by Double Dragon Publishing. She will host a launch at the Hunter River Memorial Library on May 18 starting at 6:30 pm. There will be readings, signings, refreshments, and Hogan will perform an original song based on a scene from Milo’s Burden.

“I began Milo’s story a few years ago and soon learned that what seemed to flow like magic from a page was not nearly as easy as putting it on the page in the first place! Writing is a craft, and a craft takes diligence and practice―lots of practice. Like anything precious, Milo’s Burden received care and attention until he was ready to reveal his story to the world,” Hogan explains.

In Milo’s Burden, a wooden carving is brought to life by the ancient and forgotten Lifefire. But the new-born woman, Malissa, has a terrible flaw: her only emotion is rage. It feeds the power that surges through her and will not let her rest until she holds the entire world in a vicious death grip. The crew of the Pride and the inhabitants of mythical Uamh struggle to thwart her plans. In a bloody battle, Captain Oprum is taken prisoner and all else is put aside to rescue him.

Milo, the young boy who animated Malissa, has inadvertently upset the forces of Lifefire and sundered its delicate balance. With his sister and her friend, and an old man and his mangy dog, he must travel deep within the mountains to discover the secrets of Lifefire before rage rules the world.

Hogan’s first novel, For a Song, was awarded second place in the adult fiction category of a recent Atlantic Writing Competition. Both Milo’s Burden and For a Song are available at Bookmark and Indigo in Charlottetown, as well as from a variety of distributors. Visit her website for details www.peggyhoganauthor.com.

Hogan and her husband live in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island, where she is working on her next story whose heroine was born just a few miles away in a small fishing village…