Dear Reader, this post is unusual for me. I know it is cluttered, but my new novel has gotten so much interest that I couldn’t decide what to post. So I posted it all! I may never have such a popular book again! Thank you all!
Hang in there for me. I’m working on plans for this winter that I think you’ll like!
In the meantime, check out the links below. Don’t miss the Toby Gibben’s podcast. He’s the real star of the podcast he did with me. Thanks Toby. You rock!
Janelle
My newest podcast: The Toby Gibben Shout Out! Radio podcast from Great Britain:
https://youtu.be/IgCLDaG1Hyo?si=1Bxs5jvPYqGPlDXN
New Book Trailer for Geronimo’s Laptop!
Are we having fun yet or what?
Check out the photo in the background. I spent the morning touring a wonderful garden in Tucson when we were there to premiere Geronimo, Life on the Reservation. My new novel, Geronimo’s Laptop, is an extension of that show which was closed down because of Covid. Funny how things work out. He was hired immediately to perform in the Yellowstone tv series. The new season of Yellowstone is coming up. Search for it on your tv channels!
Geronimo’s Laptop is now on Kindle! Paperback! and Audible!
Order yours today!
http://amazon.com/author/janellehooper
Audible books can be ordered in the usual places: Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.
New Comment on Amazon!
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a creative novel and perfect for all generations
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Janelle Meraz has captured the old Medicine Man Geronimo during his later years at Ft. Sill, adjacent to Lawton, OK, where she grew up and where every school kid knew who Geronimo was. Her masterful work of allowing 21st-century electronics to help the old Indian make a case for real freedom for his people to return to their homeland hopefully will allow today’s young readers to better know the Chiricahua warrior.
Thank you, Dan Collier
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a creative novel and perfect for all generations
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Janelle Meraz has captured the old Medicine Man Geronimo during his later years at Ft. Sill, adjacent to Lawton, OK, where she grew up and where every school kid knew who Geronimo was. Her masterful work of allowing 21st century electronics to help the old Indian make a case for real freedom for his people to return to their homeland hopefully will allow today’s young readers to better know the Chiricahua warrior.
dan collier
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a creative novel and perfect for all generations
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Janelle Meraz has captured the old Medicine Man Geronimo during his later years at Ft. Sill, adjacent to Lawton, OK, where she grew up and where every school kid knew who Geronimo was. Her masterful work of allowing 21st century electronics to help the old Indian make a case for real freedom for his people to return to their homeland hopefully will allow today’s young readers to better know the Chiricahua warrior.
An excerpt from Geronimo’s Laptop
One of my favorite characters in Geronimo’s Laptop is an old settler named Jo, who tells Geronimo she has sold her farm to the government and is heading West. The bonnet she is wearing in the book is just like the bonnet my grandmother made for me when she told her stories about life on a wagon train with her new husband. I still have it, it’s the same one in the photo! Writers tend to be very archival, you know…
“What do you do during the day, Mr. Geronimo?” asks a woman with weathered skin and her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her faded calico dress in a floral fabric and faded calico bonnet older than her dress makes her look like one of the original settlers. Geronimo has seen these cotton hats before. Designed with a wide brim, they tie under the chin with a fabric tie and unbutton at the back so a woman can lay it flat to dry after it is washed. She is quite a contrast from the women wearing fancy beribboned bonnets with flowers and dead birds decorating the top he usually sees. In her own way, she is a lot more interesting.
Why is she here? Geronimo wonders if he and his warriors ever hurt one of her family members. It is unlikely. Mainly Comanches and Kiowas roamed the area when Indians were free. Even so, he approaches her cautiously, but she remains quiet and polite.
“Do you live around here, ma’am?” Geronimo asks gently.
“Call me Jo. I did. But not anymore. The government just bought my farm kit and caboodle for a pretty penny. I’m catching the next train west to live with my daughter in California.”
“Are you sad to leave, Jo?”
“Hell, no! Two days ago, my well ran dry and my last cow died. This morning, just when I was wondering how I was going to bury poor old Bessie all by myself, there was a knock on the door and a man with a briefcase showed me a check with a lot of zeros on it. I tried to be honest and tell him the well had run dry. He said that was okay. Then, I told him my last cow had just died. He said he was sorry to hear it, but that was okay too. Then, I told him the house is falling apart. He said it didn’t matter because they were going to blow it to smithereens with their cannons anyway. Quicker than a turtle on roller skates, I shoved some clean clothes into my carpet bag, threw in a few photos, and hitched a ride back to town with him.” As Geronimo was walking away, she said, “I do feel real sorry for Bessie though. Poor cow deserved a decent burial. I asked the man if he could help me bury her real quick but he said he hadn’t brought a shovel. I told him I had one but I don’t think he heard me,” she says, feigning puzzlement.
The rest of Geronimo’s visitors grab whatever they can reach to hide their laughter. Men hide their faces behind their hats; women hold their purses in front of their grins. Jo’s sense of humor is so unexpected. Only a strong woman could live such a hard life and keep such a sense of humor. Although Geronimo had never met Jo when the Apaches were fighting the settlers, he remembers other women who must have been just like her. Strong. Resilient. Brave. Determined. Geronimo will never forget her. Or them.
A carriage pulls up. Jo’s ride to the train station has arrived.
Geronimo picks up the thread of his spiel before he met Jo, but his unexpected encounter with a former foe makes it difficult. “If I’m not having my picture taken somewhere or downtown sitting under the big bank clock selling my bows and arrows to tourists, I’m with my cattle. The army promised me no one will take our cattle unless we sell them. That’s a big deal because Naiche and I have helped Apaches to raise a huge herd and they’re worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yeah. I’m not kidding you.” When he hears laughter, he immediately knows his audience is not laughing about his cows. They are laughing about poor Bessie. Stifling a chuckle, Geronimo charges determinedly on, accepting he has lost control of this visit hijacked by a pioneer woman and her dead cow…
Top reviews from the United States on Amazon
Newest-
5.0 out of 5 stars HOOKED FROM PAGE ONE!
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023
GERONIMO’S LAPTOP is a story of survival, strength, loss, heartbreak, and wonder. Humor is woven throughout the story, from its imaginative premise of a mystical laptop to the characters themselves. Janelle Meraz Hooper respects her subject and the circumstances and times that shaped his life. GERONIMO’S LAPTOP is a powerful and engaging history lesson. “In this way, Geronimo tells the story of his people: the pain mixed with humor. The humor mixed with pain. The sadness mixed with both.” (from page 32) VFG
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John W Brees
5.0 out of 5 stars In an Alternate Universe
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2023
This was a fascinating story. Part history lesson, part science fiction, part speculative fiction, and entirely spot on. History is written by the victors, and the conquered rarely get a chance to tell their side. In Geronimo’s Laptop, however, author Janelle Meraz Hooper has finally done just that. It’s Geronimo as you’ve never encountered him before – human, pragmatic, philosophical, and determined to set the record straight. There’s humor, but it’s muted with the burden of truth it carries.
Geronimo’s personal liberty might have been reduced to the confines of Fort Sill Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, but his reputation could not be contained. As the American public sought out this living relic of Native America so they could say they had actually seen the infamous Geronimo and actually spoken with him, Geronimo milked their curiosity for all it was worth. And the laptop. Oh, yes. This technological marvel with supernatural programming is the icing on the cake. Essentially, Geronimo is past, present, and future. It’s an intriguing concept.
The bottom line, however, is that the reader finally gets to read the other side of the story, and it’s tough going. It’s an eye-opener for those of us who accepted what we’d been taught as gospel. Is there justice, after all? Perhaps. The lesson here is to question. Always question what you’ve been told. And in the questioning, the truth may finally be told.
Geronimo’s Laptop is history the way it should be taught. It’s got the hook, for sure. It’s also got the facts. Highly recommended.
Read less
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Elizabeth Lyon
5.0 out of 5 stars Gotta love Geronimo’s WeSquawk network
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2023
This story made me laugh and cry. Worth reading many times and recommending to others. Geronimo’s Laptop is among the most unique historical humor fantasies on earth! Set in Fort Sill, where the Apaches became POWs, Geronimo receives visitors and answers their questions. He’s well aware of his celebrity and does everything to utilize it to set the record straight, petition for his people’s freedom, and make money to help his tribe. Janelle Meraz Hooper, author of many novels, historical and modern and humorous (and some serious), adds the fantasy element of Geronimo using a laptop, that he, well, “borrowed” from one of the officers who is away from the base. With his setup of WeSquawk network, he can reach out to other “Indians,” dead or alive. Hooper deftly keeps suspense in the air through the mysterious appearances of white feathers, delivered from an unknown man, often to Geronimo’s beloved wife, and trying to locate the missing lieutenant who most understood and helped Geronimo.
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DEL
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, Enlightening and Educational!
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2023
Who would’ve thought Geronimo would ever use a laptop to communicate? Entertaining, educational, fantastical and fun. A very inventive way into the life of one of America’s most misunderstood historical figures. Geronimo lives… to send emails!
Buy now on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/author/janellehooper
Note: Geronimo, Life on the Reservation, is a one-man show I wrote for Rudy Ramos (Now on Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone (Paramount Channel).
