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When in Gnowing, do as the Gnomes do. How does one do that? Expanding your mind and enjoying the little things such as learning about a fan favorite scene found within the pages of this anthology. Ulysses and Leaf just so happen to make an appearance in most of the stories. Like gnomes, there are some playfully delightful quotes to enjoy. You know what else is like gnomes? Silly and funny memes! Last but certainly not least, is a long list of Easter Eggs and insightful information found within the book. Gnomes love to learn!
“You have proven to me that in the city of Gnowing, not only is anything possible, but the impossible comes true each day.” – William
Fan Favorite
A scene selected from the book.
To pick just one favorite moment is about as easy as organizing a gnomish choir and getting them to sing in perfect harmony. It can be done, sure, but it will be a difficult journey to reach one's goal. With that said, a fan favorite individual is the gnomish detective who exists within a classic noir movie style world inside his mind. His long, meandering monologues are highly entertaining and a total contradiction to what is happening in reality. What is fun about the gnome known as Herot is that his sister is constantly pointing out that what he's talking about isn't true. However, she's supportive of his yearning to become a sleuth. A favorite among his adventures is when he meets the Scooby-Doo gang.
“It’s Gnowing. The unexpected is normal, chaos is to be expected, and the worst thing that could happen is often the most appreciated.” – Paige
Relevant Images
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“Admitting our ignorance is the first step towards gaining knowledge on our journey towards wisdom.” – Helen
Origin Story:
Failure to Launch
The author was working on a novel inspired by the movie "Dave" involving a civilization of miniature people. The concept didn't work and the idea for the story was shelved. However, he was facing a deadline to get a new book ready in a certain time frame. So, to get caught up, he took an idea that he had been playing around with concerning the sequel to Mystical Alliance, a series of short stories involving the town of Gnowing. It would be his first comedy as well as the first time that he wrote short stories, pushing out of his comfort zone.
He jumped on a radically different concept than his previous project. Many of the stories was written in a day. It flowed out so quickly. He didn't want to take too much time slowly crafting any one story, in that he wanted rapid dialogue, quick playing around with word choices, and to essentially blurt out the first thing that came to mind. What better way to write a story about a city of gnomes then to write like one? The presentation as well as the method of storytelling developed a unique feeling of what it would be like to exist within this wonderous town.
The idea of "are you the guy" came from a running joke involving a chiropractor that the author had with a close friend. Somehow it had developed into the writer going from one specialist to another to find the right person to fix what was wrong with him. That became an idea to link the fifteen stories together.
“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” - David Bowie
Origin Story:
Original Collection
Before writing the novel, the author had a rough draft listing of ideas that he was going to use concerning the anthology. Sometimes it was little more than what would something normal in our day to day society be like in Gnowing. That is how he came up with concepts such as teaching, fast food/resteraunts, leadership, just to name a few. One of the more thought out concepts was the play that was originally the conclusion of the anthology. Everyone from previous stories were in the audience. The author felt that was unfair to that story to try to be filled up with cameos so he changed it to focus on that chaotic event.
Several stories were removed from the original collection. One that was eliminated was a group of musicians trying to put on a concert. Each person had a different taste in music, a unique instrument for that style, leading to a confusing situation. Another story involved a human inventor who ran out of ideas. He had a gnome assistant involved for comedic purposes. A woman who was running a store that sold groceries was in love with him and he rejected her. He was so rude, a kind of redemption arc where he learned his lesson and apologized at the end. It was forced and he was unlikable, so it was eliminated.
What replaced these? The newspaper story did, which the author was delighted with. The other was the new ending that was a combination of all the other fourteen stories to come before it. It felt like an ideal conclusion.
One story ran a little short, the one involving the noir style detective. That's when the scenes of Herot meeting with the head of the 'police' was added, creating a homage to Batman who is a favorite character of the author.
“I don't wish to offend dragons by assuming they don't exist.” – Leaf
Easter Eggs and Inspiration
Throughout the novel, the gnomes are looking for "the guy". When writing the novel, the author didn't know who "the guy" was going to be at the end. Especially after Hunter found "the guy" he was looking for in the opening scene during the story involving the play. So... That left the question of, how to end it? The storyteller.... His physical description just so happens to fit a certain author... The writer of this novel.
"The G in Gnome is silent as is the K in know, is because a moment of silence is necessary for one to learn something new.” - Helen
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