Happy December!
I wanted to let you all know about a new middle grade novel that's just hit the shelves: Paladin: Pawn by Michael D. Young.
One of my favorite things to ask authors is what inspired them to write their books. What about the story reached out and grabbed them. Author Michael Young is here to answer what inspired him to write Paladin: Pawn.
Believe it or not, in the days before the advent of the smartphone, we had to make our own fun. On long, Summer days growing up, it was up to me, the oldest, to entertain my younger brothers and sisters. Luckily, I had an active imagination, and loved telling stories. My siblings and I would make up elaborate stories, of dragons, knights, hideous monsters, and plots within plots. Often, we’d act out our exploits on the trampoline in the backyard, or on our bikes as we rode around the neighborhood. Bikes double pretty well for a noble steed when you are ten.
I especially loved making up stories about knights. I’d even draw illustrations of their elaborate armor, labeling them with lavish, heroic names. I believe that this story was an outgrowth of the stories of my youth. It is a story that I wrote years ago, wondering what it would be like if a kid the age I was when I used to make up those stories really were a knight. The central point of a good knight to me was always their noble aspect, the fact that they did the right things for the right reasons, which is why I wrote the knights in this story like I did. They gain strength as they do the right thing, and lose power when they make selfish decisions.
As for the chess connection, I grew up playing that as well, though often it was a version called “Nightmare Chess” where you each had different cards that allowed you to all sorts of crazy things. That’s more the kind of chess this is.
In any case, I hope that readers will enjoy Rich’s trip from normal boy to knight just as much as my siblings did on those long Summer days making up stories.
A little bit about Paladin: Pawn to whet your appetite: :D
When nerdy Rich Witz unwittingly becomes a Paladin, a white knight, in training, he is thrust into a world where flunking a test can change the course of history and a mysterious bully is playing for keeps with his life.
Rich’s grandmother leaves him with one thing before disappearing for good: a white chess pawn with his initials engraved on it. The pawn marks him as the next in an ancient line of white knights. He must prove himself in a life or death contest against his Nemesis, a dark knight in training, all while dealing with math homework and English projects. With the ghost of an ancestor for his guide, he has seven days to complete four tasks of valor before his Nemesis does, or join his guide in the realm of the dead.
As Rich rushes to complete the tasks, he realizes the chilling truth: his Nemesis is masquerading as someone at school and will stop at nothing to make him fail. As the tasks grow ever harder, the other knights reveal to him that his failure will break a centuries-old chain and bring the Paladin order to ruin. If he fails, the dark knights win the right to control the fate of the world, a world without hope or the possibility of a new dawn. So this is one exam Rich has to ace, with no curve and no extra credit.
Rich’s grandmother leaves him with one thing before disappearing for good: a white chess pawn with his initials engraved on it. The pawn marks him as the next in an ancient line of white knights. He must prove himself in a life or death contest against his Nemesis, a dark knight in training, all while dealing with math homework and English projects. With the ghost of an ancestor for his guide, he has seven days to complete four tasks of valor before his Nemesis does, or join his guide in the realm of the dead.
As Rich rushes to complete the tasks, he realizes the chilling truth: his Nemesis is masquerading as someone at school and will stop at nothing to make him fail. As the tasks grow ever harder, the other knights reveal to him that his failure will break a centuries-old chain and bring the Paladin order to ruin. If he fails, the dark knights win the right to control the fate of the world, a world without hope or the possibility of a new dawn. So this is one exam Rich has to ace, with no curve and no extra credit.
Michael D. Young is the author of the novels THE CANTICLE KINGDOM, THE CANTICLE PRELUDE and THE
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