Ethan Parke Author Blog

  One of the things that gave me the idea to write books for a living was how I always played with my action figures as a kid. A lot of the plots in my books are based around those times my brother and our friends played with them. There were a few times when we were playing with them, and we disagreed about things, and I worked them into the stories.  I have been a dinosaur fan as long as I can remember, and I was determined to include them in my books, but the hard part was thinking up a creative way to do so. I therefore, expanded on an idea that was likely already used, and that was to have them be found in a parallel dimension, where every animal that existed on Earth thrives, as do mythical creatures such as Elves, Dwarves, hobbits, dragons, orcs, and trolls, but first you have to read it. All that said, one of the ideas happened when I was in kindergarten. It was just after Christmas, and I was playing with a G.I. Joe command center I got while my brother and a girl fro...

  Most people have a favorite character in a book, movie, or show, but I don't know many who have a favorite fictional character overall, and I will write about mine. I have said many times J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is my favorite story ever written, but I have to say my favorite character in it, and anywhere else is Aragorn, son of Arathorn.  When I was fourteen and first read the book, I was enraptured by Aragorn, the first time he appeared at the Prancing Pony, intrigued by the way Tolkien described him, and the way he proved to the hobbits he was on their side, even if Frodo had to be stabbed before they all trusted him. After he reforged Narsil and renamed it Anduriel, they knew there was no better battle companion. As his quest moved on, the more he overcame his fear of being crowned king, and saw he earned that title, but even after his coronation, he acknowledged the hobbits as the heroes they were, stating they bowed to no one. The worst thing he did was make...

 This is going to be short blog, but I will do my first video blog tomorrow. I will now tell you what I thought of Missing.  It was cool and jarring the way it is filmed like you were watching it on a laptop or smartphone, which I guess was commentary on modern culture. There were many twists and turns, you might or might not see coming, and the twist that I will not spoil was unexpected, but I won't ruin it, thought what I just said might make you see it coming. Even so, I am working to do something like that in my books, but first you have to read it, and I will tell you how to download it tomorrow. 

I was a high school freshmen when the GoldenEye video game was released on Nintendo 64 and was instantly hooked on it. That same year, the follow up in the series Tomorrow Never Dies was released, and though I consider GoldenEye the best of the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies, its sequel, was not far behind it.  At the time, I was picked on in school for being a hard rock fan, and what made the situation worse, MTV stopped playing rock videos. I have mentioned many times in my blogs that a lot of the Covert Militia's enemies despise that music genre, and after they are detained, they are gagged and bound, during Spectres concerts. If you are wondering what that has to do with Tomorrow Never Dies, it is because in that movie Bond is pitted against a sadistic news network chairman, trying to start World War III. In a book I have planned the Militia will fight the chairman of MTV who is allied with the Scorpions and the Order of Neo-Nazis and is indoctrinating degenerate teenagers to...

  One of my efforts to become a better author, was reading biographies of my favorite authors. Some of the things I saw in them, were actually things I was already doing, such as naming and modelling characters after their friends and acquaintances, writing about what they value most in the world, and having protagonists that like and care about the same things they do. I often mention my favorite bands and movies in my writing, and a lot of characters enjoy riding bicycles, and you will also notice they have a penchant for headgear, but that will be in another blog.  I have already mentioned that the reason behind Jack Stamper being singer/guitarist in an alternative metal band was to incorporate my love of rock music into the books, but as it progressed I saw it would make him a likable, relatable character. The members of his band are based on some of the best friends I ever had, even if a lot of them did things that agitated me at times, and some of them are combined with ...

  There is an ongoing debate as to whether or not video games are art, and I say it is a matter of perspective. When you think about it, anything that requires the use of your right brain, or you put effort into making can be art. There are some people, such as Roger Ebert, probably the most famous of all movie critics, alongside Gene Siskel, think they will never be art. While I like a lot of movies Ebert liked, I can't say I agree with him. After all, when movies were first invented, they were not seen as art. That said, last night I finished the main storyline of Red Dead Redemption 2, and every time I play it with high honor, it almost brings me to tears when Arthur Morgan goes on his last ride. Depending on if I finished the last money lending side missions, the things people say about Arthur always touch me, like when Jimmy Brooks says, "You saved my life, you're a good man," or when Mary Linton says, "There's a good man inside you, but he is wrestling ...

 We all heard the axiom about how heroes are nothing without interesting and intimidating villains to fight against, and I worked hard to create the fiercest and conniving ones I could think of. The series most prominent and occurring villain will be the Dark Warlord Janus. Named for the Roman God of beginnings and endings, but more importantly having two-faces, making the destitute warriors he recruits see him as a savior, but it is really a facade. He only uses them to bring the world to chaos and anarchy. Nobody knows Janus's true identity, but it is believed he was a Middle Eastern warlord during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, who had half his face burned and charred in a convoy explosion and was resurrected by Satan as his warlord. He soon recruited terrorists from the Middle East and North Africa, then extended to the warring countries in the southern part of the continent. Next, he confided in the disbanding U.S.S.R. with oligarchs disillusioned about their country being West...

 I am taking a break from posting about my books and the characters in them, to talk a little about how much I love going to movies. Ever since the Lord of the Rings trilogy was being released in the early 2000s, I started going to movies, mainly to see the trailer for it, but would stay to see the feature it accompanied. I often see DVDs and Blue-Rays for movies released during that time, and it makes me reflect on doing that, which is what I had to say before I start my blog.  The last movie I saw, was Plane, where Gerard Butler plays a commercial pilot, whose plane crashes in a jungle island near Indonesia, and has to rescue his passengers from terrorists, assisted by a suspected terrorist being escorted to prison by the FBI. The action in that movie was awesome, like a scene in one of my books. That said, I hope you enjoy it. 

 I already established that making Jack Stamper a hard rock musician aside from being a top-secret militia leader would make him a likable, relatable character, and I wrote about the members of his band, The Spectres, that assist him on his adventures, and a lot of interactions with new people he meets. When I was in the adult high school training to pass the gateway algebra test, I told that idea to a girl I met and when I mentioned Jack was a top-secret militia leader that was singer/guitarist in an alternative metal band, she said, "Well, what does he do when he is playing with his band, and they get attacked?' I told her they fight back, and she said, "With what, their guitars and their drumsticks?" That would not happen, but they do carry assault rifles in their guitar cases.  That said, nearly every friend I had, wanted me to base a character in my books on them, but unfortunately, I do not have room in a book for everyone I meet, therefore, some of the charact...

 If you want your readers to root for your action heroes, you have to make them likable and relatable. When I first conceived the idea for Jack Stamper, I felt like I had to include my love of hard rock and alternative music in his stories, by having him be singer/guitarist in an alternative metal band, but as it progressed, I realized that will also give the character an attribute to like about him, and one people can relate to.  One of the things I was ridiculed in school for was my taste in music. People would sing songs I despised and say members of my favorite bands were dead, especially after MTV started saying rock music was dead and stopped playing videos. Because I spent the majority of the days in the remedial class where they would turn the TV on and watch pop, hip-hop, and country videos, and change the channel if a rock video came on, saying it was trash, making me feel out of place. More importantly, they should not have been watching TV anyway, because they were...

 For those of you who do not know me, my name is Ethan Parke. I am a novelist and merchandise runner for Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee and an avid bicyclist and am looking to find people interested in reading my books and enjoying them. My latest book is called The Penitent Warrior, and it tells the story of how Jack Stamper, a thirteen-year-old aspiring hard rock musician struggling with Asperger syndrome whose life of being belittled despite having friends changes after his girlfriend is murdered by The Dark Warlord Janus. Assisted by the members of his band, The Spectres, Jack becomes the commanding general of the Fourth Covert Militia, established by the Pentagon combat Lord Janus and his nexus of allies that are creating anarchy across the globe.  Counter parts for the Militias are soon established in other countries, and Juliana Lovasky, another musically talented teenager living in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and struggling with dyslexia has her life turned around ...