New authors Sabine Renz & Martin Koppy to visit Storiebook Cafe |
| Posted by Storie (storiebook) on Jun 09 2009 |
Martin Koppy, grew up in Portland, Oregon, where his American Father met his German Mother at a grocery store. His father, a US Navy Chief Warrant Officer, Machinist Mate, was assigned to the USS Black Hawk in the Far East and China from 1924-1948. The sea and the navy were his passion and he made sure he passed it on to his son, teaching him about machine tools and telling him stories about the sea and the lands that lay beyond. When he was four years old, he showed Koppy how to repair little things. Koppy's father passed away when he was five.
A few years later Koppy and his mother went to Germany to visit relatives, where he started to write a few notes on paper. He began to write diaries and poetry and short stories about the sea. Later he went to college to learn machine technology, but always wrote on the side. After years working, he also became interested in the art of wood working and went to Germany to learn this trade. Koppy was a student for three years in Oberammergau then worked in the Black Forest as a Journeyman Wood Carver. He continued to write, jotting down his idea for the novel Mendozas Fleet in his notebooks. When he returned to the United States, Koppy worked again as a Machinist, and only had time for writing after work or in the spare time he could squeeze in.
When Koppy returned to Germany to work, he met his wife, Sabine Renz. The couple lived in Munich for nine years before returning to Texas. Back in the beautiful Hill Countries at his home in Weatherford, Koppy started teaching Wood Carving and finished his novel, "Mendozas Fleet, in memory of his father.
"Writing will always be a part of me, and my next project, "Green Dragons, the Story of a High Speed Transport in the Pacific," is almost finished," Koppy says.
In "Mendozas Fleet," the second Nicaraguan campaign has entered the final stages in the early 1930´s, with the death of nationalist leader Augusto César Sandino. A sudden and unexpected turn of events, is about to set the region aflame once again. In the wings stand the U.S. navy with sleek four-stack destroyers and the marines, two smugglers Baines and Joe, men of the coast, and a cargo of munitions and weapons. These men stand against a growing American presence in the region, the uncharted coast and the sea itself.
Joe still searches for the forgotten treasure of the coast, long hidden in legend and mystery. He needs Baines beside him because of his knowledge of the sea. Baines must leave behind the woman he met not long time ago. He has made a decision, to once again accompany Joe. Set against the sultry Caribbean, this story based on a true event of that time, is about to unfold. As you turn the pages, you will walk the shaded lanes of cobbled stone streets, of a forgotten town, lost amid the mist shrouded emerald green coast line, of Central America. You will meet the men and woman, who live in a time, lost in memories, shrouded in mist.
Each page hold's a richness of pastel like softness, cast in crystal before your eyes. Let a distant point in time come to life once again, as you open the book, and then turn the pages. Hear the voices, their laughter of life, as it fills you with a renewed spirit, let tears of sadness and joy, touch your life, leaving it enriched with its lingering presence.
Tides recently changed a bit for Koppy, who waded into a new project with his wife, Sabine Renz. The couple created "Stanley and the little Chevi go home to Texas," with the help of illustrater, Gudrun Ernstberger. The little Chevi lives in an old garage in Alaska, where the winters are cold. He is dreaming of home far away, where he once left his heart. He does not have the courage to go back again, because he thinks he is old. But then he met a new friend, Stanley the cat. And it changed everything.
The illustrations are filled with movement and humor. The book features lovable characters, Stanley the cat full with optimistic, the little Chevi, very pessimistic but wise, and their new friends they will meet on their journey. This book and the illustrations are filled with charm and will put a smile on your face.
Last changed: Jun 09 2009
Back