(WGHP) — When you’ve written eight books, you get to be pretty well known as an author. But John Hood has never written anything quite like his newest book – and first novel – “Mountain Folk.”

“’Mountain Folk’ is a historical fantasy novel that’s set in colonial America. So, most of the action occurs just before and during the American Revolution,” Hood said. “That means you’ve got George Washington commanding troops at Yorktown and Daniel Boone settling Kentucky and so forth. But you’ve also got elves and dwarves and a giant sea monster.”

Yep, Daniel Boone, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton share pages with elves, dwarves and a giant sea monster. This one is different.

But it’s not just escapist fantasy. Hood has long made philosophical and practical arguments as a political commentator. And he hopes to do more than just entertain in “Mountain Folk.”

“What I’ve come to believe is that telling stories is the most effective way to shape people’s perceptions of their world, about ideas, about human nature,” he said.

If you follow him on Facebook, you’ll see that Hood is a lover of history – on any given day, he might post a seven-paragraph tale about some historical figure, great or obscure, who is some level of great-grandfather to him. And it’s that storytelling that is in his blood. In fact, he believes it’s in all of us.

“Human beings are a story-telling group,” Hood said. “That’s what has powered our success. Human beings sustain themselves and their community by telling each other stories.”

In a Tik-Tok world, it might seem bold to begin writing novels at this point in a successful career, but Hood is confident “Mountain Folk” will do just fine.

“I strongly believe that reading is not only necessary but is still a popular idea for people if they’re just given the right stories to read,” he said.

See the unique way Hood is promoting his book and some of the stories in it in this edition of the Buckley Report.