Samuel DenHartog's Blog: The Road to 1,440 - Posts Tagged "hero"

Hello, Clean Dreamers and Super Hero Believers,

Get ready to roll out with my latest creation, "Toilet Paper Man," where whimsy meets the every day in the most sparkling of tales. Dive into the pages where Wayne Thompson transforms into the hero our cities never knew they needed—but always wanted.

"Toilet Paper Man" isn't just about tackling the literal spills of life—it's a journey of laughter, unexpected friendships, and the magic found in the mundane. With each chapter, Wayne wipes away the grime, revealing the brighter side of the streets we walk and the places we visit.

Unroll this adventure, revel in the cleanliness, and discover how, sometimes, the hero you need most might just come wrapped in... toilet paper.

With a twirl of the roll,
Samuel DenHartog

Some stories unfold across kingdoms or continents. This one unfolds across sacred ground, where rivers remember, stones watch, and monsters are more than simple villains. At its heart is a journey between two brothers, one shaped for battle and the other for wisdom, traveling through a world broken by ancient wounds. Their path takes them from the safety of home to the edge of the sky, and finally into the deep places where the hardest choice is not how to fight, but whether to.

The monsters they face are drawn from Diné (Navajo) tradition, each one a force of imbalance: giants, serpents, creatures of bone and hunger. But the story is not a catalog of battles. It is a reckoning. Some beings are slain, yes. But others must be spared. And those moments of restraint say as much about the world as the fiercest fights do.

The Holy People, the Sun, and the sacred weapons are all woven into a narrative that stays close to the original structure while allowing room for emotion, silence, and doubt. These characters are not symbols. They are sons, brothers, and seekers. By the end, they do not just survive the journey. They carry it with them. That weight was important to preserve.

If you are thinking of picking up "Monster Slayer and Born-for-Water," I hope you will find in its pages the presence of something older, something that walks beside you rather than ahead. This is not a story that shouts. It follows the rhythm of myth, of memory, of lessons that reveal themselves only when you are ready to hear them. Not all monsters are what they seem. And not all power comes from the blade. Some stories arrive quietly and wait to see if you are listening.

For over a thousand years, the story of Beowulf has endured—an ancient warrior facing creatures that test more than his strength. In this new retelling, I wanted to bring the rawness of that legend to the surface, not just through the famous battles, but through the silences between them. The Battles of Beowulf focuses on the man behind the myth, the monsters that haunt both land and mind, and the long reckoning that comes with legacy.

The book begins where it always must: in the golden hall of Hart, where joy has turned to dread. Grendel, drawn by the sound of laughter he cannot bear, brings slaughter each night. The terror is primal, and no one dares stand against him until Beowulf arrives from across the sea. What unfolds is not just a fight for survival, but a reckoning with the kind of power that isolates as much as it defends.

From the bloody floorboards of Hart to the haunted depths of a mere, and finally to the burning hoard of a dragon coiled in grief and gold, the battles grow heavier, slower, more final. Each confrontation strips something from Beowulf, even as it adds to his legend. The sword swings and victories are real—but they come at a cost that even he cannot outrun. These are not just physical trials, but moral ones, woven with loyalty, aging, and the slow ache of consequence.

What I hope readers find in these pages is not just a hero slaying monsters, but a man wrestling with what it means to be remembered. The violence is only one kind of weight. The real weight is in the choices, the silences, and the scars left behind.