The Garden Gnome by Jeff McIntyre

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The Garden Gnome by Jeff McIntyre is a Crime and Mystery Science Fiction book, and we had the pleasure of speaking with the author for our blog. Check out this fantastic author and follow them for more amazing stories.

Jeff McIntyre was introduced to science fiction and fantasy with a three-book collection of A Wrinkle In Time, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe when he was eight, but his love of the genres took off in high school when he was introduced to The Foundation and The Hobbit.

He has been an avid gamer his entire life. Video games, role-playing games, and tabletop wargaming. The list of games he’s played is very, very long. His day job is Telecommunications, and The Garden Gnome is his first novel. He resides in Omaha, Nebraska, with his lovely wife Deb and 185 lbs of a furry dork named Magni and Zeus. They’re Hovawarts… Look it up.

When did you start writing?

January 2020. I had ideas for stories for several years, but it wasn’t until the height of covid that I decided to put up or shut up. I wrote ten chapters and decided they didn’t entirely suck, so maybe I should give this a shot.

What was it like growing up?

I grew up on a farm in rural Nebraska. Went to school in a small local town, and I was a nerd. It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t easy being a sci-fi/fantasy gamer nerd.

How was your early life?

I worked several dead-end jobs in my late teens and early twenties. A couple of them allowed me to read… a lot. I discovered sci-fi and fantasy before I was a teenager, and loved them all through high school.

What has been the biggest influence in your career?

Definitely my wife. I had no idea if I would be any good at writing, so I kept it secret from her until I had written ten chapters. I handed them to her, and she gave me the wifely ‘what have you been up to’ look and then started to read. When she finished reading, all she said was “when do I get to read more.” That was all the encouragement I needed.

Tell us about your newest release.

The Garden Gnome is a contemporary fantasy with a streak of sci-fi, a side of mythology, and a pinch of Arthurian legend. It tells the story of magic returning to our familiar modern world and a family caught between an ancient conspiracy and a powerful and mysterious influence.

Which book of yours would you call your favorite child?

The Garden Gnome is my first novel, so it will always have a special place in my heart, but right now, I’m pretty excited about a short story I’m writing for people who sign up for my newsletter. I’m writing about the titular gnome’s origins, which didn’t fit well into the book.

What inspired you to write this book?

It started with the simple question: What if magic came to the modern world, and what would its ramifications be?

What are you usually found doing when you’re not writing?

Working a full-time job. Taking care of my wife and our two fur babies, Zeus and Magni. Gaming, video games, board games, role-playing games, and war games. And, of course, reading. I just finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and I’m currently reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson.

What does your writing space look like?

I work from home and am in IT, so I have a three-monitor setup. My office is filled with all kinds of nerdy stuff. Books, knick-knacks, art. I also have a toy miniature screaming goat on my desk. It’s the best.

If you wrote your autobiography, what would you name it?

Nerd, Dork, Geek, Gamer, Engineer, Author

How long did it take to write your novel, and what was your process?

From first words to self-publication was about eighteen months. I’m a plotter. I gave a lot of attention to my outline, and it really helped me get through the slog of writing the middle. I also kept myself disciplined. I used writing the ending to reward myself for completing the middle. In fifteen months, it took me to write the first draft and about three months to write the first third. It took about eleven months to write the middle third and about three weeks to write the last third. The middle marathon is real.

Favorite reads?

Dune and The Wheel of Time. I’ve read Dune at least a dozen times, and while I have a long, complicated history with the Wheel of Time, I’ve read the entire series approximately two and a half times.

Do you have any book recommendations?

I read the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee not too long ago, and I would highly highly recommend it.

What’s your next big project?

I’m working on book two of the Theory of Magic series. Tentatively called The M Word. It will continue to explore magic, inserting itself into the modern world and the complications that it brings. I also have ideas for three books after that. We’ll see where we go from there.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

You have a choice. You can write for yourself and maybe your friends and family. In which case, don’t worry about whether or not you’ll ever make any money. If however, you want to find success as an author be prepared to turn into a marketing machine. It is far harder to find an audience to find and read your book than it ever will be to write it. It doesn’t matter if you get a traditional publishing deal or if you self-publish. Marketing will be your biggest challenge. So be prepared.