Author #Interview: Let’s Chat with #IndieAuthor Michael Parkes!

Welcome back, my fellow creatives! I’m thrilled to continue sharing some lovely indie authors I’ve met in our community–it’s so great to connect with folks again. This month, please welcome multi-genre author Michael Parkes!

Let’s begin with some reading, shall we? What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

I was a big fan of The Aching Plane by Cody Lakin. It was a great eldritch/weird horror novel.

I’m also a big fan of The Help, but that’s not really a niche or under-appreciated book since it has its own movie.

Hmmm. No, I think The Help gets a lot of appreciation, lol, but that Lakin novel sounds interesting. I’ll have to hunt it down! Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

Nothing comes to mind in terms of something I read, but something I heard does.

Last week (as of writing this) I went to a lecture on Shakespeare and one of the things mentioned by the speaker is that “satire uses lies to tell the truth”. I thought that was an interesting take on satire and, in a broader sense, fiction as a whole.

Fiction is stories that are made-up, but still, they often reflect aspects of the human experience, or historical events, or raw emotion. Maybe not every piece of fiction necessarily, but a good amount of it can be said to be using lies to tell the truth.

I couldn’t agree more. Storytelling is such a beautiful way to engage with the minds of others and show them things they would not otherwise understand. But then, that’s why I enjoy talking to fellow authors–to learn! 😊 Speaking of, I see you’re a fan of interviewing other authors for your blog, too. What first inspired you to chat with other writers, and what do you hope to learn (and share with your readers) as you engage with fellow authors in those interviews?

I first started interviewing authors around September 2024. It began because I had a Buy Me a Coffee page I needed to do more with, but wasn’t quite sure what. Keeping up with a blog is quite a bit of work, but I noticed many authors had extreme difficulty networking, getting interviews, and otherwise getting free exposure, so I thought hosting author interviews would help them out and give me plenty of content.

I also noticed there just plain weren’t many opportunities for author interviews. I thought it would be a good thing to offer, that way I could fill that gap myself.

In terms of what I learn, some of the authors interviewed have extremely unique circumstances that led to them writing their books, or novel life experiences, or very niche subject matter, or tips on writing that are different from the typical advice given. It’s fun to read what inspired them, or their culture, or what drives them, and especially what they think is key to a good story or prose, because I have definitely acted on some of the advice I read and it worked great!

You also work to ignite fellow authors in your area through serving on the board and committee of the St. Lawrence Writers’ Festival. Do you have any suggestions for other indie authors who may wish to collaborate and begin a writing festival in their area?

I got invited to be on the committee of the St. Lawrence Writers’ Festival after meeting other local authors through networking events and writing groups. If you want to get more involved in your community and become part of planning large events within it, it helps to start with similar places. You can never go wrong consulting your local library as a starting point.

For me, I went to a networking event a coworker hosted, where I met a local author who put me in touch with two local writing groups, and another woman who put me in touch with the city councilor who was planning the first writers’ festival in 2025. From there, I met with two people who are current board members of the St. Lawrence Writers’ Festival and was invited to do a reading of my kids’ book at a library fundraiser event.

Since I was a published author, I was asked to attend an invite-only writers’ group that was more directly tied to the then-fledgling festival. From my attendance at that group combined with my showing up for St. Lawrence Writers’ Festival events (including all three days of the 2025 festival) I was eventually invited to be part of the committee around November 2025.

How I ended up a board member is less interesting; we just needed some people on the committee to volunteer for it when the festival incorporated as a non-profit.

What I advise for other people who are interested in a literary festival would be:

-Pick a writers’ group you like and try to attend most meetings. I had three to choose from in-town, and ended up picking the one that had the most published authors in it.

-Frequent your local library and ask around about writing groups. Libraries are a community hub and are surprisingly handy. You never know what information they’ll have for you.

-Don’t be afraid to talk to people and go to networking events. An absurd number of things came from me going to a local speed networking event: I learned of the St. Lawrence Writers’ Festival, ended up on the board of it, made books sales, I even ended up published in an anthology as a direct consequence of the chain of events that started when I went to something a coworker invited me to.

-It helps to say yes to things even if they’re outside your comfort zone. Try everything once. If you hate it, you don’t have to do it again, but nothing happens by avoiding new opportunities.

And lastly, I see some authors try to do everything themselves. Something to the effect of “other authors are competition.” Isolationist thinking won’t work if you want to set up a literary festival; the sheer amount of collaboration and networking required to bring in big names and to set up and execute multi-step plans is by nature a group activity. It would be borderline impossible to do one alone. Our committee is only around a dozen people; so you don’t need a huge number of people, but certainly more than one.

Oh my heavens, I cannot process trying to do something by myself, and I love how you bring up the importance of community. We cannot grow as writers without the help of readers–who may very well be other writers! If we don’t connect in person, we can at least share helpful things with each other. 🙂 What are the most important magazines or websites for writers to subscribe to?

Indiosyncrasy by Saffron Asteria is a wonderful website for authors. It also has a podcast called “BOOKED” that interviews authors, including me and a couple other St. Lawrence Writers’ Festival committee members. I highly recommend checking it out or even reaching out to Saffron to be part of the interview series.

The Adventures of Matt and Matt’s Indie Book Club are also great channels run by Matt Gabrielson that interview authors – again, me included.

I’m also a big fan of Writer Beware, which is a website that tracks and calls out current scams targeting authors. It’s a very helpful resource and worth checking out every so often.

I better check that Writer Beware site; there are so many scams creeping into my email that it drives me nuts! Yet how else would we know without the experience? Sadly, too many of us are stuck learning the hard way on this writing journey. If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

I would have written more. I did write here and there, but I didn’t pick it up as a serious thing until my late teens/early adulthood. I did read a lot as a child though, and that was helpful. An avid reader makes a better writer.

You enjoy writing in multiple genres like mystery and fantasy. Since you enjoy writing both short fiction and novels, how do you know which medium is the best fit for your WIP?

It tends to vary depending on my vision for the story and if I can actually maintain tension and a coherent storyline throughout. If it’s clear the story would function best as a short piece, then that’s what I make it. If there’s a more complicated or intricate storyline (like the 50k novel I shelved) then I’ll make it a longer story. Sometimes a short piece becomes a long one or what I intended to be a long piece ends up being a short story. It all depends on how many words are needed to flesh out and satisfactorily complete the storyline.

The protagonist of your novel Cheryl is Cheryl, a grieving mother set to unravel the mystery surrounding her daughter’s death. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Gender-specific communication and problems were somewhat difficult to convey. Things like Beverly conveying a thought to Cheryl using her eyes and/or body language instead of outright saying it or Cheryl feeling alienated from her husband.

I wanted it to be realistic without coming off as clunky or clearly being written from a male point of view, so I found having editors and beta readers who were women focus on those aspects helped mitigate issues.

I’ve always been a bit stumped when it comes to writing outside my typical genre. How would you describe your process from shifting from one genre to another?

Each genre has its own distinct mindset required and uses a different “toolbox”. The feel of the story, the words used, and the plotlines will differ across genres, so I find it helps to identify which themes you like and are good at by trying out different genres before committing to writing a whole book.

For example, I find I like fantasy and it comes relatively easily to me. Eldritch horror sounded like it could be fun, but ended up not being something I was that good at writing, so I shelved that manuscript. It helps to do a little trial and error, which also helps make writing fun and less rigid. You don’t have to publish every sentence you write or use every story or poem you come up with. Sometimes it’s good to shelve a story that isn’t working and revisit it, or cut it altogether. Sometimes how you feel in the moment helps or hinders the story you’re trying to write too; writing is a creative outlet, so it’s also an emotional outlet, and heavily influenced by how you feel. Sometimes it’s not quite clear what emotion makes you good or bad at certain genres either, so writing a little every day can help you figure out which emotions at what intensities help or hinder your writing.

Reading many genres helps a lot too, but mostly you just have to give it a try and see if you can. I find for me I’ll write one story at a time, so it’s easier to get in the headspace to write multi-genre stories because I focus on one at a time, with the exception of writing short stories sometimes as a “break” if I’m writing something very long.

It’s neat to see how you shifted your world-building into a little yard of whimsy with your collection Gnomes and Knights. Was there any folklore or mythology that inspired you to write about gnomes, or did something else catch your eye and spark your imagination?

In terms of specific mythology or folklore, no, I think I just liked gnomes, though it was fun researching about various types of gnome-like creatures during and after writing Gnomes and Knights. Part of it was also me having just published Cheryl and wanting to write a kids’ book next. I’d always wanted to, and figured it would a fun way to get another book out that was lighter and more family-friendly than Cheryl was.

In terms of something catching my eye though, it was a really good tree. Specifically, a droopy teal pine with an old log fence on two sides of it. I’m not sure why that tree specifically inspired me to write Gnomes and Knights, especially since the tree on the cover is based on a photo of an oak tree and Fred also lives under one. It might have something to do with the nice garden a little further down from the tree. Either way, that tree and that garden at least partially inspired Gnomes and Knights, even if the stories themselves don’t include droopy pines or a garden quite like the one behind it.

Thanks so much for chatting with me! Let’s end on a look to the future. What does literary success look like to you?

For me, literary success is having readers enjoy your books and using the opportunities afforded to you by being an author to further market yourself. I don’t ever want to be famous, so I’m satisfied with the moderate success I have in terms of sales and going to several in-person events a couple times a year. I like having a book launch to go to or a literary festival to help put together, but ultimately, I don’t want to be recognized by strangers or have being an author consume my life. It’s a part of who I am, and I’d prefer it stay as a part of who I am, rather than becoming all that I am.

Although it is cool when a librarian recognizes me because she catalogued my books or a local author knows of me from social media. As I said before though, that’s cool because it’s infrequent, but if it was everyday I think it would be a bit much.

I would totally feel the same if a librarian reacted to me like that. Say, you still need to tell us about your latest release and where to find you in this online universe. Please share!

My latest release is my short horror story, “Lookalikes,” which is anthologized in the Exhumed Ottawa: What Lies Beneath anthology, was released on March 4^th, 2026.

Lookalikes is a story of a disturbed man whose guilt, paranoia, and bloodlust is made manifest in the lookalikes he sees in reflections. They’re aspects of himself he is seeing, and though he can cover a mirror or look away from windows, he can’t escape the parts of himself that are reflected back at him. Nor can similar individuals run from themselves and their own eyeless, grinning lookalikes…

Lookalikes can also be purchased as an eBook on my blog under the “shop” tab.