Hi, everyone – 

I’m super excited about the forthcoming launch of The Adventures of Captain Pumpkin Head! For my maiden blog, I thought I’d give you a quick glimpse into how the book – and the main character – came to be.

The idea for Captain Pumpkin Head dates back to the fall of 2014 when I was emailing with my sister, Katie, about plans for Halloween. At some point in our conversation, Katie mentioned that her son, Benji – who was five years old at the time – had just gotten a pumpkin and that they were going to carve it. Knowing that my nephew has a wonderful sense of imagination, I asked my sister to let him know that once his pumpkin had been turned into a jack-o-lantern it might do some strange and interesting things, like move around the house at night when he’s sleeping.

Benji was intrigued from the start about the idea of a seemingly magical pumpkin and, predictably, he had a few questions for me about my claims. It was at this point that I asked Katie to let Benji know that I knew someone who could answer his questions far better than I could. Enter Captain Pumpkin Head. Truth be told, I’m not sure where the name or concept for the character came from, but as I typed away on the keyboard, the Captain sprung to life. In the lead-up to Halloween 2014, I must have sent Katie a couple dozen emails for her to read to Benji, each one directed to him from the Captain and filled with tales of pumpkin adventures.

Incidentally, it wasn’t until the fall of 2018 that I would start to formally write The Adventures of Captain Pumpkin Head. Along the way, I decided that the Captain had to have a special talent – namely rapping! A few of the raps are included in the book, and can be downloaded by visiting captainpumpkinhead.com

In closing, writing this book has been a dream come true for me. Although I’ve been telling crazy stories to my own children for many years, it’s wonderful to be able to share this one with the world.

Happy reading, everyone.

Joe