"I truly enjoyed reading, "Heirs of the King."  I could not put the book down.  I felt such an excitement at the power surrounding Nikki throughout the story.  As I read I wanted the same power as the Warrior Princess had when she put on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6).  Her battles were won using the WORD.  How inspiring for us Christians!

Ivah Styka, Sterling, MI / Cape Canaveral, FL

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For years, Winton A. Hancock, Jr. heard people complaining about the poor content in television shows and movies, so he decided to do something about it.

He became a teen fiction novelist because young people are very near and dear to his heart.

     "Teenagers are especially vulnerable to the media's filth, yet most just give in to anything Hollywood sends their way," Mr. Hancock said.  "With danger, deceit and destruction being fired at them from everywhere, how can our teens get entertained without getting the wrong message?"

     Mr. Hancock, 45, has always had a desire to entertain youth.

     He is a former radio and roller rink deejay and high school Sunday School teacher.

     "With a passion for entertaining today's youth, I decided to create a Christian teen fiction novel with a message of hope, he said.

     The book is titled "Heirs of the King - The Princess of Power."

     "In light of everything that's packed into this novel, the reader will find the deceit of underaged drinking, the power of how Jesus sets people free and heart-warming restitution between parents and a teenager, he said.

     "I really enjoyed the book because it taught me that I don't have to compromise my true Christian self when it comes to peer pressure," said 17-year-old Deanna Rankin of Mims.

     Mr. Hancock was born in Peoria, Illinois and raised in Schenectady, New York.

Raised at a time when "Christians couldn't do this or that,"  Mr. Hancock was delighted with the arrival of contemporary Christian music because it provided the sound that young people wanted, and the message they needed, he said.

     In 1983, "God opened the door for me to host a contemporary Christian radio program on a secular radion station, giving me the opportunity to incorporate the salvation message of Jesus into every show," he said.

     His broadcasting experience enabled him to introduce Christian contemporary music at the local roller rink during "Christian Skate Night."

     This gave Christian young people something new they could do with their friends, and it gave me new insights about young people," he said.

     Currently, Mr. Hancock is a senior drafter for a local architectural company in Merritt Island.

     He's lived in Rockledge for the past ten years with his wife Dianne and their two small children Allan and Nikki.

     In the future, he plans to open a Christian advertising firm, a modeling and acting school, and he plans to create interactive CD's and video games.

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     A newly published author says he drew from the people he met and experiences he shared as a high school student in Webster when crafting his most recent work.

     "Much of the story, and the skills to write this book, have been shaped by my days at Webster Schroeder High School," said Winton Hancock, 45, speaking from his home in Rockledge, Fla.

     His debut book, entitled "Princess of Power," is a Christian teen novel set in upstate New York.

     Hancock graduated from Webster Schroeder High School in 1977.  As a student, he was involved in the band and ran on track teams.  Although the book is fiction, Hancock said he pulled from his teen years in Webster, using his memories of social cliques, sports practices, friendships, and the heartache of unrequitted love to build the plot and develop the characters.

     Also prominent in those memories for Hancock, who became a born-again Christian in 1973, were many hours spent in youth group activities at the Webster Assembly of God Church on Hard Road.

     "There, many other youths and I learned the basics of being a true Christian, to help us in our everyday struggles with a challenging world," said Hancock.

     In fact, he built much of the story around two girls who were involved in that youth group.  The pair, both Webster Thomas students, were the worst of enemies.  But prayer and the Grace of God eventually brought their conflict to a happy resolution, and they became the best of friends.

     Hancock said that he got a yearning to write a novel almost two decades ago.  He put his ideas on hold as he pursued a career in architecture, married and had two children.  In 1998, he at last found the time he needed to sit down and begin writing "Princess of Power", which he finished last year.  He said he hopes his debut work will become the first in a series of Christian novels geared toward teens in the "Heirs of the King" series.

     That Hancock is now an author is remarkable because he struggled with reading as a youngster.  He said he read very slowly when he was a pupil at Plank Road Elementary, and his troubles plagued him into high school.

     He gives credit to several outstanding Webster educators who opened doors for him.  Among them, his sixth grade teacher Sherwood Quick, as well as Ann Maloney, Norton Banks, Julie Griesinger, and Art Ploscowe.

     Hancock said he wrote the book because he wanted his own kids, now ages 8 and 6, to have access to good entertainment.  To that end, the story has no profanity, or obscenity.  The characters are clean cut and the good guys don't lie, cheat or cause trouble.

     The main characters in his book are Nikki Newton, a teenage party girl who realizes that an unseen enemy (Satan) is set to destroy her life.  She is helped by a good-looking football player named Scott McComb who introduces her to religion.  Once Nikki chooses to follow the teachings of Jesus, the newfound "princess" takes her message of love and power to the world around her.

     Hancock said he was inspired to write the work after seeing the success of the Harry Potter novels.

     "But instead of using wizardry as power, (the characters) in my book use God as power," he said.

     To that end, Hancock said he uses true miracles experienced in his life and the lives of people he's known to add interest and excitement to the story.

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