SHERBURNE – This summer the contestants for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest will be announced, and Sherburne-Earlville graduate Douglas Parks is in the running.

Parks, a sophomore at SUNY Geneseo, entered the Fantasy/Horror/Science Fiction category and is now ranked in the top 100 for his genre.

His novel entitled “Painted Red” is for sale on Amazon and is a young adult novel. The Amazon website provides a description of Parks’ novel.

“Addison Hollow lives in an incredible world where art is brought to life through a powerful skill called Forming, but he soon learns that in the hands of twisted, dark imaginations, art can become an instrument of death,” states the website.

The novel is full of adventure, magic and deception. There is also an interesting use of the dark versus light motif.

When asked what inspired him to write the novel, Parks said, “I wrote the book I would have loved to read as a kid.”

Some of his favorite and most influential reads included the “Harry Potter” and “Artemis Fowl” series. Parks explained his main definition of success would be impacting a child like these books impacted him.

By this definition, Parks has more than exceeded success.

“I’ve had two parents say their kids hate to read. (When reading ‘Painted’), they said their kid stayed up late and got up early to keep reading,” said Parks. “That was the goal I set out for.”