It’s Feature Friday again! And this time we’re talking gnomes with Author Michael Parkes. Check out Gnomes and Knights, a collection of short fantasy stories for kids, on Amazon!
First off, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about you and your books!
My name’s Michael Parkes, and I’m a Canadian university student and author. A bit about me is that I love writing, but also like painting and hiking, which comes in handy since my current manuscript involves a lot of scenes in forests. I’m also a college graduate (university and college are different institutions in Canada) and enjoy the works of Adam Nevill, Stephen King and Franz Kafka.
As for my books, my first book is the novel Cheryl, best described as a tragic yet sometimes comedic story of the fallout following the sudden death of the titular protagonist’s daughter. It follows Cheryl through navigating rehab, the politics of suburbia, and various other challenges as she struggles with addictions and blackmail in a rollercoaster of events that culminate in a dramatic climax. It’s a great book if you relate to addiction issues, want a different type of story, and are cool with some harsh language. Great for a Kindle read, a reviewer described it as “Desperate Housewives meets 28 Days”, though sometimes people mistake that for 28 Days Later. Rather funny; but no, Cheryl does not have zombies in it haha.
My second book, Gnomes and Knights, is pretty different from my first book and was published only 3 months after Cheryl was. It’s a whimsical collection of short stories as well as a fairy tale. The first 10 stories are quite short, though great bedtime story length, and follow Fredrick Jerome Kopillus Gnome as he navigates through various adventures with the denizens of his suburban garden. He wields gnomish magic that he uses to help his friends and the stories are very lighthearted in addition to them rhyming. The longer story, the Knights half of Gnomes and Knights, does not rhyme and it is much longer than the other 10 stories. It follows Nathan the Knight, a squire of the Knight’s Order who is setting out on his quest to become a full-fledged member of said order. Rather that using violence, he prefers to use charisma and his wits to solve problems, though he’s no pushover in combat either. Nathan the Knight is a tale of overcoming adversity through using one’s wits and collaborating with others, even if they’re bandits, orcs or even dragons. Great for kids and most often enjoyed paperback, it is also appropriate for adults who want a light and fun read.
My current work-in-progress manuscript is a horror novel, originally based on Sherman Ranch, though it has been revised many times since then. Currently, it takes place on a secluded farm and follows the very isolated family that lives there, particularly the son, Elijah. It’s not particularly far along yet, but it’ll be great for fans of existential horror once it’s finished.
What inspired you to write Gnomes and Knights?
As silly as it may sound, I was inspired to write Gnomes and Knights after seeing a really good tree on a walk around the neighborhood one day. It was a tall teal pine tree and it had a nice little decorative fence made of semi-porous wood and metal wire on two sides of it. I had just published Cheryl and was thinking of my next book idea, and somehow this tree made me think it would be a good idea to write short stories about gnomes. I had always wanted to write a kids book and thought rhyming would be interesting as well, so that tree gave the inspiration needed to put all those ideas together into a book. The Knights part of Gnomes and Knights came when I got tired of writing rhyming stories but felt the book wasn’t complete yet, and conveniently I had always wanted to write a fantasy-type kids’ story, so that’s what I did.
What’s something unique about your book and why should readers check it out?
Gnomes and Knights is unique in that very few books have rhyming in them, and Fredrick Jerome Kopillus Gnome and the mole, squirrel, ant queen, and gremlin he has as friends are a unique group that all manage to work together and cooperate despite their vast differences. Fred the Gnome and Gary the Gremlin both wield magic as well; Fred’s is more druidic while Gary’s is more like that of a wizard.
Nathan the Knight is unique in that he uses charisma and wit to collect an unlikely band of followers to stop the evil threatening a neighboring kingdom. Rather than his sword, he uses his wits and charm, and the ending is both happy and humorous because those are the same tools he uses when he encounters the “big bad”, who ends up not being so bad after all.
Something I can also think of is that a South African woman named Nikki Lyndt Burchell helped edit/beta-read the first two stories of Gnomes and Knights. This is not something that can be said for many books and she is credited in the dedication.
Tell us about your favorite character you’ve written about and why?
My favorite character I’ve ever written is from Cheryl, one of the main characters of the book as well as a reader favorite, named Matilda. Matilda is a very tragic character, but she was so much fun to write simply because of how over-the-top chaotic she is. She’s a great character, though quite up-and-down and not at all a role model, but still, a reader favorite and my favorite too. She’s also very heavily based on a man and a woman I used to know, so of all my characters, Matilda is the least fictional.
Without giving us any spoilers, what’s your favorite quote or scene from your book and tell us a bit about it?
My favorite quote is probably what Fredrick Jerome Kopillus Gnome says when he does magic because I find it really funny.
“Nibbity, Nobitty, Sorcerous Gnome!”
Where can readers find you?
I can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube as well as on my website. Here are the links:
- Website: https://michaelparkesauthor.com/
- Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B097672PY7?ingress=0&visitId=f3f9ebbd-dc11-472d-92ad-7ca6c2703994&store_ref=ap_rdr&ref_=ap_rdr
- Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Michael%20Parkes%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21616982.Michael_Parkes
- BookTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaelparkesauthor?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PichaelMarkes
- BookTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCglc-suz6ZY1zoTJd9xe1fA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554207819856
