The Rise Up Trilogy

 

 

THE RISE UP TRILOGY

Author Name

GENRE:  Young Adult Contemporary

The Rise up trilogy is a coming-of-age story about Hashim, Alex and Maryam, three best friends on the threshold of adulthood. Before they can find their place in this world, they must come to terms with their past and learn to confide in each other as they are confronted by intolerance, ignorance, and corporate greed that threaten to rob them of their future. Inspirational, harrowing, intense and deeply moving, this trilogy presents a ray of hope amidst terrible hardship, misfortune and loss.

Book One: Catch You if You Fall

High school best friends Hashim, Alex, and Maryam must confront real-life issues that loom for Gen-Z today, including the climate crisis, corrupt politics, and racial and gender equity.

When Hashim turns eighteen, he receives a grant from his Mosque that will send him to an Ivy League in New York. His devout Muslim family couldn’t be more proud. And to support their young son on his journey, they arrange a wife for him. There’s only one problem: Hashim is gay.

Hashim’s best friend Alex is struggling with a difficult home life, a non-present father, and financial issues that prove particularly painful when all his friends are planning to go off to college and leave him behind.

Standing confidently alongside these two boys is Maryam, a headstrong Muslim girl who bucks her traditional roots by becoming a vegan activist.

It doesn’t take long until certain evil forces start to draw these three even closer, as their futures and the wellbeing of their community and the world is threatened. They are called to act.

Book Two:  Merry Farm

In the second installment of the Rise Up Trilogy, best friends Hashi, Alex, and Maryam stumble upon a huge government coverup. When more people get sicker and sicker, and nothing about the outbreak makes news, it becomes clear the corruption goes up high.

As the three attempt to expose and stop a tragedy that could kill thousands, they end up framed as the bioterrorists responsible for this exact crime, and a team of hitmen is dispatched to hunt them down. As they grapple with their own growing pains, Hashi, Alex, and Maryam hurry to outrun the disaster, prove that they are innocent, and do what they feel is right.

Book Three: Collusion

Now a well-known activist, Maryam, along with her two best friends Hashim and Alex, is chosen by the President of the United States to draw up a proposal to help fight climate change, mere weeks before superstorm Roxanne makes landfall in the Northeast.

After the President’s Future Rescue Advisory Board hears their climate proposal to set heavy taxes on meat, dairy and carbon emissions, and someone leaks it to the press, chaos spreads across party lines. A few months since they stopped a deadly virus in its tracks, the three uncover a conspiracy on the highest level of the legislative branch.

While the deadly hurricane wreaks havoc along the eastern seaboard, destroying the U.S. Naval Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and hitting New York City with devastating force, Maryam, Hashim, and Alex grapple with forces beyond their control in the government.

How will their stories unravel? What do their futures hold as they mature into adults in a world that may not accept them? Find out in this last book in the Rise Up Trilogy.

Excerpt:

From CATCH YOU IF YOU FALL

“And it’s going to happen tomorrow,” Hashim said as he crouched on the couch. 

Alex drew his brows closer, but soon his forehead smoothed. “Seriously?” he said and studied Hashim’s face. “Wow. We need to get you out of this mess.”

Sharing his predicament with his best friend had calmed Hashim’s nerves. Not that he had told the whole story, like the fact that he was gay. However, that was a piece of information he had only shared with God, though unwillingly, because from Him, you can’t hide a thing. 

Alex’s eyes grew wide. “But you’re just turning eighteen, for God’s sake. Isn’t it a little early to get engaged?” 

Hashim pressed his lips together and winced. You tell me. 

“His mom knows that once Hashim has committed to an engagement, he won’t break it,” Maryam said. She had been following the conversation from the other side of the room, giving the guys some space after she saw how upset Hashim was when he came in. “Without a solid religious reason to back out, that could shame the whole family,” she added. “People won’t greet you anymore or return your calls. You become a nobody.”

About the Author:

Henrik Wilenius is the author of the Rise Up Trilogy, a young adult coming-of-age story about Hashim, Alex and Maryam confronting real-life issues like climate change, corrupt politics, animal cruelty and racial and gender equity. 

The Rise Up Trilogy is now available also as an audiobook and a weekly serialized audiobook podcast on all the major platforms. 

Previously, Henrik as published two books (an autobiographical coming of age book and a YA novel) by a major publisher (WSOY) in Finland before switching to English and self-publishing. The Rise Up Trilogy was inspired by his fifteen-year stint as a volunteer in a Red Cross Youth Shelter and by his vegan activism.

Q&A With the Author:

What is something unique/quirky about you?

I usually write the screenplay first and then the novel. My system of putting a book together doesn’t involve much professional book editing, because the majority of development takes place on the initial screenplay phase of the book. I find it a lot easier to work on the plotlines and character arcs in this stage. I use script doctors extensively. It’s so much easier to move things around in a film script, and all these script doctors are real story-telling professionals. I always pick and choose which feedback to use, but I always make leaps in the character development and plotlines during the process. 

What was your inspiration for writing this book?

Years ago, I published a YA novel in Finland about three best friends at the threshold of adulthood. I wanted to find a publisher abroad but felt that something was missing. Since my early teens I’ve been fascinated by Islam. Sufism, the mystical sect of Islam, played a key role in my own spiritual awakening and spurred me to become a writer. Then one day as I was browsing books in a bookshop in Amsterdam, I came across Sex and the Citadel by Shereen El Feki about Arab sexuality, including the history of homosexuality in the Arab world. During the Golden Age of Islam, homosexual yearnings were very well tolerated, even celebrated among the poets, intellectuals and upper echelons of the society. What happened to this open-mindedness over the centuries really captivated my imagination, especially since I knew from Sufism how forgiving and merciful Islam is. The third big inspiration came from within as I became vegan myself and saw how for our diet, we are not only ruthlessly killing farm animals but also ourselves while destroying our planet in the process. 

How did you come up with the name of this book?

The title of the Rise Up Trilogy came easily. I wanted it to reflect activism and how it can bring positive changes not only to the world around us but inside of us too. The title of each book in the series was a lot longer process, going through many changes. Each title has multidimensional meaning and could be understood several different ways, depending upon the angle one has. The title needs to have a literal meaning, fitting to the themes of each book, but also an ethical and a spiritual aspect to it, and even some irony. 

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

If I must pick my favourite part of writing, it must be the dialogue. It really flows naturally out of me, and often it shows my characters’ vulnerability which I love. It’s so rewarding to be able to see behind the mask to their true selves, not that they are pretentious but it’s something they would rather not show or are not even aware of. I really hear their voices in my head, especially of my three young heroes. Another thing I love about the dialogue is the silliness. Maybe it’s because I love to be silly myself with my husband and friends. I think it’s overly underrated among adults. I feel sorry for those who don’t how to be silly. It brings so much joy to everyday life.

What is your writing Kryptonite?

First and foremost, I need to be alone. I’m very sensitive to other people’s energies, and I can’t concentrate if someone else is in the room. This is something people don’t understand, and it frustrates me to have repeat it over and over again. I love to write by a window with a view to the sky.  The room must be clean and tidy. I’m a minimalist, but a plant would be nice. It doesn’t have to be all quiet. We live in the centre of a little Mediterranean seaside town, and I like to keep the window open, but if someone is having a loud conversation down on the alley, then I might close the window.  

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?

I have three manuscripts in different stages of development in my virtual drawer that I’ve been working on lately. All of them are coming-of-age stories with strong social justice issues. I haven’t yet decided if I will continue writing about Hashim, Maryam and Alex, though. I guess I’m still waiting Rise Up Trilogy to gain more readers. As of right now, I don’t see the point of continuing but then again, if this blog tour hits off, the chances of me getting back to these characters increase. Then I would pick a time maybe two or three years after Collusion, book three, ended. I have some ideas already, but I rather not yet talk about except that there are big surprises coming.

What Are Your Top 10 Favorite books/authors?

I’m a voracious and eclectic reader who’s reading at least five books at the same time. In young adult fiction, I love John Green and Adam Silvera, and the way they write about heavy themes without losing hope. 

Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White was a paradigm shift for me. It’s a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel about growing up gay in the 1950’s in the Midwest that became a mainstream bestseller, and I ended up reading all the books he has published during his relatively short but prolific writing career. Same applies to Felice Picano and Armistead Maupin. 

Of Finnish writers, my favourite is Mika Waltari, especially his historical fiction. His novel Sinuhe Egyptian became an international bestseller in the early 1950’s and it was turned into a Hollywood movie. The story takes place in the ancient Egypt and has been lauded for its historical and cultural accuracy. We both share a great fascination with Egypt. When I was a kid, my father would wake me and my brother up by bursting into our room and reading Kalevala, a compilation of the Finnish epic poetry, which I learned to love. 

Every day I read in Spanish too, and my favourite Hispanic writer is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Although his style is very different from mine, it holds some magical power over me. 

And last but not the least. I adore Russian literature and especially the stories about the Soviet times. If I must name the most beautiful language in the world, it would be Russian. Although my own pronunciation is far from perfect, in my ear I hear it in perfect form when I read. Sergei Dovlatov and Lyudmila Ulitskaya are the Russian authors I admire the most.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVJ1TNFG

Buzz Sprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2264640

Website: http://www.henrikwilenius.com

TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/henrikwileniusauthor

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/@henrikwileniusauthor

GIVEAWAY

The author will award the winner's choice of an audiobook set via Spotify or a digital book set of THE RISE UP TRILOGY.

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