Teen promoting his book at county fair

Jacob Parker will embark on a tour to promote his young adult fantasy novel, “Kestrel’s Midnight Song.”

The book is set to be released in a matter of days.

 The 19-year-old lifetime resident of Bonners Ferry  is the son of Dave and Kim Parker of Bonners Ferry.

He will make his first appearance at the Boundary County Fairgrounds where he will have a booth set up at the fair.

He will be selling and signing books from a booth at the fair and as handing out free bookmarks and posters.

 Parker began to write most of Kestrel’s Midnight Song at 15. Flaming Pen Press accepted the manuscript for publication two years later.

But his journey didn’t stop there in fact, as he packs up his belongings and tests his GPS, it’s just begun.

In September, Parker will bring 1,500 copies of his book and  begin his promotional tour that will take him to libraries, schools and bookstores as far east as Connecticut and as far south as Texas.

The book is about a marauder locked away in a dungeon tower awaiting his hanging, his fellow marauders’ plot to free him, and the fateful journey of a shepherd boy across a fantastical land.

Imaginative creatures, mysterious secrets, and epic sword fights fill the pages.

“It’s in the vein of the “Chronicles of Narnia,” “Eragon,” that sort of thing,” said Parker. “I’ve always had an overactive imagination and I’ve always loved the written word, so writing fiction is kind of a natural combination of those two things.”

Parker said he learned a lot about perseverance while writing his novel. It took a four-year span and he said he felt like giving up many times and would sometimes get writer’s block for a month at a time.

“Ultimately you just have to sit down and write no matter how bad you think is may be,” Parker said.

“You go back later to fix it and better ideas come to mind.  The story went through many stages of editing and changed al lot through the process.”

One of four children, Parker credits the local young authors’ contest for first showing him that writing fiction can be even more fun than reading it. In fourth grade he graduated from avid reader to avid writer. 

His siblings brothers John, 10, Jordan, 17, and sister Jade, 14, read the book and enjoyed the story. Parker said his sister has taken an interest in writing too and loves to write for fun.

The 256-page book will be sold for $10 a copy and can be picked up at Parker’s fair booth.

More inforomation about Jacob and his book can be found at TeenFantasyAuthor.com.