YAPC would like to welcome Michael J. Bowler to the blog. He will be interviewing with us and sharing some information about his newest book Children of the Knight. If this looks like something you would like to read go grab a few copies!
YAPC: Try to describe your book in one sentence.
Michael: History’s most famous king appears in one of the world’s most infamous cities to recruit an army of discarded children nobody else wants, and the City of Angels will never be the same.
YAPC: State a random fact about yourself that would surprise your readers.
Michael: I have been hearing impaired my entire life, and there were not even any hearing aids suitable for my kind of loss until I was in college. What was interesting, and very isolating as a child growing up, was the fact that I was completely alone in my hearing-loss world until my mid-twenties. In other words, aside from a few elderly people I knew who lost their hearing normally, I did not know a single young person even close to my age that had a hearing loss until my mid-twenties. So when kids tell me there’s something about themselves that makes them feel isolated and alone, boy can I relate!
YAPC: Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Michael: I’ve always loved reading stories and making up stories and telling stories. As a child growing up I didn’t have a huge number of friends, so I somewhat lived within books. They gave me somewhere to go, with characters I could love and become attached to in stories I hated to see come to an end. I even learned valuable life lessons from books. As a result of these experiences, I knew even before junior high school that I wanted to try my hand at moving others emotionally through storytelling the way I had so often been moved.
YAPC: Do you have any advice for unpublished authors?
Michael: Even if you land a publishing contract and don’t have to self-publish, it’s best to presume you will be the only one promoting your book, so don’t get caught unawares. From the moment your publisher gives you an approximate release date, line up blog tours, send galleys or your best unpublished version to reviewers alerting them to the release date, use Facebook and Twitter. Basically, do everything you can think of to make sure your book doesn’t just get dumped into a crowded marketplace with no fanfare whatsoever. At that point it will be dead on arrival, the publisher will have already moved on to the next book, and all your hard work and creativity will be for naught. It’s your story and if you’re passionate about it, promote, promote, and then promote some more.
YAPC: Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
Michael: There are parts of me in most of the main characters––Arthur, Jack, Lance, even Jenny, but mostly Lance. I was much like him as a kid, without the horrible childhood, thankfully. But I always felt on the outside looking in, always unworthy of being loved and wanted, always something of a loner, never quite fitting in with any group. That’s probably why I always gravitated to other kids like that as a teen and why, as an adult, I tended to work with the lost and disenfranchised and marginalized kids, kids with learning disabilities or those who were gay or emo or something else not quite “mainstream.” I got made fun of and picked on by other kids as a child because of my hearing loss, and was often told by my parents that, “You can hear when you want to.” So, for example, when kids tell me their parents say they could choose not to be gay if they wanted to, I can relate to that kind of ignorant foolishness. In a sense, my so-called disability made me feel isolated, yes, but also made me more empathetic to others who society isolates for other reasons. I try to bring these feelings and emotions to life in my characters, even the gang members who often feel the same way, but are too “hard” to openly admit it.
YAPC: Why did you choose the genre you write in?
Michael: This book is intended for high school kids on up to adult, and I chose this genre purposely. In our society today, young people are inundated with “self-centered” media messages, and even witness in their daily lives far too many examples of adults who celebrate the “If it feels good, do it” and “It’s all about me” philosophies. In my trilogy, of which Children of the Knight is the first, the message is that the way to make this world and this society better is to do what’s right, rather than what’s easy. There are a lot of other themes, as well, about the dangers of adultifying kids and how we need to spend more time really communicating with each other as human beings, rather than as computers or text messages, but that is the main one. Thus, the characters in my books, both teen and adult, face difficult moral challenges and have to decide if they’ll take the easy way out or make the harder, but right, choice. Sadly, there’s a dearth of such messages in modern media today, and I want to be a positive voice, with stories that show kids how to access the better parts of their human nature, rather than simply giving in to the more base ones.
YAPC: How did you come up with your premise for your books?
Michael: My Children of the Knight trilogy was inspired by my real-life experiences working with kids and watching our society become more and more punitive toward kids, rather than supportive and nurturing. I’ve been a volunteer within the juvenile justice system of Los Angeles for almost thirty years and a high school teacher for twenty-five. The idea for this book goes back fifteen or twenty years when I got to know and understand gang members better, as well as other disenfranchised youth I met within the system or at my high school. Seeing the success of Homeboy Industries here in LA, I began to wonder what might happen if an adult came along and united a lot of these marginalized kids and turned all their collected might toward positive endeavors. That was the genesis. I want to shine a light on how our self-centered adult society is hurting kids and thereby jeopardizing the next generation and the future of the country. I hope to show that these cast-off kids, the ones we want to pretend don’t exist – the gang members, the gay kids, and all those who don’t quite “fit in” – can be inspiring and noble, and catalysts for real change in this society.
YAPC: Which genres do you prefer to read?
Michael: I like horror, fantasy, and YA mostly, and books that combine two or more of these I tend to check out. Having said that, I don’t like the endless carbon copies of what has gone before, even authors who crib from themselves and just write follow-up series that are tepid attempts to copy their original success. Especially within YA, I like books that portray teens honestly, and younger children, too. I hate books where the kid characters all talk and act like adults and you can’t even distinguish by speech or action a ten-year-old from a seventeen-year-old. So, while I love the three genres mentioned, I have to be selective because I want to read original premises and get to know interesting characters, both of which seem to be in fewer supply these days.
YAPC: Where can your fans find you?
Michael: Fans can find me and access my books at any of the following links. I love to hear from readers, so comments, questions, even complaints (Ha!) are welcome and encouraged. As Lance is fond of saying, “Bring it on!”
www.michaeljbowler.com
FB: michaeljbowlerauthor
Twitter: BradleyWallaceM
Blog: sirlancesays.wordpress.com
Freado:http://www.freado.com/book/16160/children-of-the-knight
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17939303-children-of-the-knight
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Children-Knight-Michael-J-Bowler/dp/1623806550/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379791743&sr=1-1&keywords=children+of+the+knight
YAPC: If I give you a time machine, what time period and in what place would you travel to?
Michael: I’d likely go back to medieval Britain to experience the world of knights and chivalry, castles and tournaments. It was a brutal time, to be sure, but any less so than today? Not really. We’ve just figured out fancier ways to hate and hurt each other. At least back then they had the Code of Chivalry to balance out the barbarism, so it would be a very interesting time period to experience.
YAPC: How many more books can we expect in this series?
Michael: The whole trilogy is about second chances, acceptance, and redemption, and these overriding themes will be vividly depicted in the two continuations, both of which are finished and being prepped for publication. Some U.S. states put kids as young as eleven into adult court and try them as adults because they did something wrong. If they’re adults when they do something wrong then they should be adults when they do something right. This idea becomes the driving force of Book Two – the campaign by Arthur and his knights to earn kids fourteen and older the right to vote in California, not to mention the right to drive a car, sit on juries, and drop out of lousy schools in order to work.
Book Two, Running Through A Dark Place, begins exactly where Book One ended, and Book Three, And The Children Shall Lead, begins where Running concludes. They really are all parts of a single story spanning approximately four years, so it’s a real coming of age tale as the main characters grow into young adults in their fight for children’s rights. The second book focuses on California and the third one takes the crusade to a nationwide level, bringing Arthur’s kids from the barrios of L.A. to The White House, a joint session of the U.S. Congress, and beyond. And The Children Shall Lead, will feature a lot more action than either of the other two, with two Native American teens joining the crusade and a mysterious villain determined to kill Arthur and destroy New Camelot. It will truly be an epic conclusion.
Running Through A Dark Place will be tricky to market and review. First of all, readers will have to have read Children of the Knight because I don’t plan on including a “What has gone before” synopsis at the beginning. Also, something so monumental happens in the first two chapters that it would be a major spoiler for a reviewer or blogger to give it away. However, that event is what drives the next two books, and all the characters, forward in directions they might not have taken otherwise. This game changing event was set up and hinted at in the last third of the first book and careful readers can look back and find the clues, but it’s still going to be a major balancing act to talk about the book without giving anything away.
Running will also be darker than the first, hence the title. In addition to the continuing fight for children’s rights, it will take some of the main characters to very painful places in their lives, and Arthur will discover that fighting to right the wrongs perpetrated by adults against children can have some devastating consequences. It will also depict more directly the effects of laws that adultify kids, especially when it comes to incarceration. A new teen character named Michael will likely be very controversial, yet he is a major catalyst for much of the action and many of the choices the other characters make. He’s a poster boy, if you will, for the kinds of laws that want to conveniently pretend kids are adults only when they do something wrong.
Every character thread set up in Book One will be paid off during the course of the trilogy, and those plot threads that begin in Book Two will be paid off in Book Three. I believe in following through on everything I set into motion because those are the kinds of stories I like. I love the details, and the journey characters take along the way, and I hate it when authors don’t satisfactorily wrap things up or pay off something they began earlier in a series. Having said that, Books Two and Three are much longer than the first one. While I didn’t realize it when I began, changing the entire country is a massive undertaking, at least if that change is going to seem plausible within the context of my fictional tale. Ha! If nothing else, these books will show kids just how much power they really have over adults should they ever decide to band together and use it.
Running Through A Dark Place is due out sometime in May or June, with And The Children Shall Lead coming by the end of the year. Those who are interested should “Like” my FB author page or bookmark my website for updates.
Blurb:
According to legend, King Arthur is supposed to return when Britain needs him most. So why does a man claiming to be the once and future king suddenly appear in modern-day Los Angeles?
This charismatic young Arthur creates a new Camelot within the City of Angels to lead a crusade of unwanted kids against an adult society that discards and ignores them. Under his banner of equality, every needy child is welcome, regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or gang affiliation.
With the help of his amazing First Knight, homeless fourteen-year-old Lance, Arthur transforms this ragtag band of rejected children and teens into a well-trained army—the Children of the Knight. Through his intervention, they win the hearts and minds of the populace at large, and gain a truer understanding of themselves and their worth to society. But seeking more rights for kids pits Arthur and his children squarely against the rich, the influential, and the self-satisfied politicians who want nothing more than to maintain the status quo.
Can right truly overcome might? Arthur’s hopeful young knights are about to find out, and the City of Angels will never be the same.
The Knight Cycle Begins . . .
Praise for Children of the Knight:
“The story becomes better page after page and at a certain stage you can’t put the book down until you arrive at the end. It is a very moving story and makes you wonder about how good our society really is and whether we care enough about the weak links in it.”
-Kim Anisi for Readers’ Favorite
“Growing up, I knew far too many kids just like the ones in this book. I was one of them. These characters are real and heart-rending.”
–Giovanni, former foster child
“Who, but the children, fight FOR the children! If I could make this required reading in all schools, colleges, book clubs, etc.. I would in a heartbeat. My 15 year old son is reading this now and it had raised so many questions from him, questions I am so happy he has asked.”
–JoAnn on Goodreads
“Children of the Knight is one of those stories where you start reading saying to yourself “that’ll never work” and then 6 hours later you put it down sobbing, having read one of the best young adult books currently in publication.”
–Josh at Greedy Bug Book Reviews
Buy Children of the Knight:
B&N * Amazon Paperback * Kindle
Excerpt:
THE knight, with Lance clinging tightly to his back, stopped at the edge of the Los Angeles River, and the two of them gazed down into the dry, concrete riverbed. The river was really more of an aqueduct and, depending on rainfall totals, seldom had much water coursing through it. The horse neighed approvingly.
“You weren’t shittin’ me about a long journey!” Lance exclaimed, sitting up to get a better view.
“Hold on tightly,” the knight intoned as he flicked the reins, and the muscular white mare began her descent to the riverbed below. Lance felt nervous and afraid atop such a large animal, but somehow the presence of this strong, confident man eased his fear.
“Does, uh, does your horse have a name?” he asked, trying to quell the nervousness in his voice. This descent was steep, and he wanted nothing more than to plant his feet firmly on cement. He was a street kid, after all.
“She hath been given the name Llamrei, after my first mount of long ago,” the knight replied, his tone wistful, filled with longing.
Something about his melancholy tone silenced Lance. The mare reached bottom without even the slightest misstep and began trotting along the riverbed, halting at an enormous entrance to the storm drain system, which wound underground throughout the Los Angeles basin. This cavernous maw looked large enough to drive a van through without hitting the top.
A huge metal grill guarded the entrance to the drain, but Lance noted that the aged lock had recently been broken. The knight reached out and grabbed one side of the grill, backing his horse to slowly ease it open. The metal screamed with disuse, and the sound sent chills down Lance’s back. The dark, gaping orifice threatened to envelope him, and his stomach pulled up into his throat.
“We, uh, we’re goin’ in there?” He fought to keep his quivering voice steady.
The knight turned as best he could to the boy behind him. “Have no fear, young Lance.”
Lance instantly bristled, his pride winning out. “I ain’t afraid! It just don’ look like no home ta me.”
The knight merely nodded. “It doth be mine at present.” He gently spurred Llamrei forward into the dark, forbidding tunnel, pulling shut the grill as they entered, and sealing them within.
Lance watched warily as the knight extended a gloved hand outward, grasping an old, weathered torch from a small alcove. With his other gloved hand, he dug into a leather pouch hanging from the saddle and extracted a pinch of some kind of powder, sprinkling it atop the torch. Flames sprang instantly to life, causing Lance to gasp with surprise as its flickering glow cast weird shadows and reflections off the man’s armor. He gazed in wonder. That looked like something out of a movie! Who was this guy anyway?
The knight noted the boy’s wary look and smiled to put him at ease, forgetting for the moment that his helm obscured his features. “A mere trick, my boy, taught to me long ago by M—by an old friend.”
He turned forward again and spurred his horse into the darkness of the tunnel. The man’s quick change of subject was not lost on Lance. What had he been planning to say? All his street instincts told him to leap down from the horse and hightail it out of there and never look back. None of this made any sense, not here, not in his city, not in his sorry life. And yet he didn’t jump. He didn’t run. There was something about the guy…. Growing up as he had, Lance had a good gut when it came to people. No, this guy wasn’t out to hurt him or kill him or….
No, don’t even go there!
No, he decided as they trotted along the dark, dank underbelly of the city, this guy would not hurt him. But if he didn’t want to hurt him, then what the hell did he want?
The two remained silent as Llamrei trotted fearlessly along the damp and drafty storm drain. There were no sounds save the clop, clop, clopping of her hooves against the lichen-covered concrete. It surprised Lance that the horse seemed so comfortable underground. He always thought most animals, himself included, preferred above ground to below. She must be used to it, he surmised, which meant the guy was telling the truth. He really did live here.
Suddenly, Llamrei stopped. Lance had been so lost in his musings that he hadn’t realized they’d left the tunnel to enter an enormous chamber.
“We doth be here,” the knight announced, drawing Lance back into reality. As the man deftly dismounted, Lance’s eyes bulged wide with wonder at his surroundings.
The immensity of the underground chamber awed him. It appeared to be some sort of central hub from which a multitude of tunnels branched off, disappearing into darkness. Lit solely by the light of numerous torches imbedded within the concrete walls, Lance gazed in amazement at what appeared to be the central hall of an old castle, the kind he’d only ever seen in books. What the hell? There wasn’t such things in LA!
He observed bedrolls lining the walls and disappearing down each branching tunnel, furniture like old tables and chairs, but all wooden and rough-hewn and not like any modern stuff he’d ever seen. There was even a big-ass throne of some kind with huge arms and a really high back set against one wall, like right out of a frickin’ old movie! What the…? And then his eyes fell upon the weapons, and his face lit up with wonder. Spread out before him were racks upon wooden racks of weapons—swords of all shapes and sizes, shields, short-handled dirks, knives, longbows and short bows, and arrows and quivers.
Carefully, eyes pinned to the armory before him, he dropped slowly off the horse, allowing his skateboard and backpack to fall to the ground unnoticed. Heart beating wildly with excitement, he stepped forward into this wonderland, gaping in astonishment at the sight before him. He slipped the hood down, allowing his long brown hair its freedom. He just shook his head in awe.
“Wow!” was all he could think to say, hurrying to the nearest of the weapons racks and gingerly touching some of the swords. He gripped the leather- bound hilt of a large broadsword and struggled vainly to heft it over his head. The blade alone was almost five feet in length.
The knight turned to observe Lance grappling with the weight of the sword and smiled as he recalled his own first attempt ages ago. He couldst almost believe that time so long ago had been merely a dream, or that perhaps this time beith the dream. Yet he knew the truth—he’d known it the moment he’d awakened in this foreign land—both time periods were real, and once again he had a crusade to mount, one greater and more significant than his first. And this small, longhaired boy battling the weight of a sword nearly as large as himself… well, this boy was the key.
******
About the Author: Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of 
three novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time, and Children of the Knight––who grew up in San Rafael, California.
He majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University and earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master’s in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.
He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.
He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.
He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to seven different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.
He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.
He has already completed the two continuations of Children of the Knight that complete the trilogy – Running Through A Dark Place & And The Children Shall Lead. Both will be released in 2014.
Connect with Michael:
Website * Blog * Freado * Goodreads * Twitter * Facebook