Imagine my surprise when I found my title on a ‘Featured’ list.
Exposed!
Screenplayed
I just finished a screen adaptation of my novel Silken Thread. 20,561 words, 118 pages.
Logline – In 1967 Manila, a Chinese-speaking Dutch-American teenager courts a CIA officer ten years his senior.
Here’s another sample.
The morning after.
23. INT. AARENS RESIDENCE FORBES PARK
The next morning. David sets a two-suit travel bag by the front door; he’s apprehended by Mrs. Li.
MRS. LI
Hushed voice; speaks <Mandarin>.
<Where you going so early?>
DAVID
<I’m meeting someone before work. Are my parents up?>
MRS. LI
She pinches him on the ear.
<There’s a girl, and don’t tell me there isn’t.>
DAVID
Clasps her hand in both of his.
<Maybe she lost interest already. I have to find out.>
MRS. LI
<Da Wei; she will break your heart, and so will the people who give you this job. Just like in China; this is how you have a refugee living in your house.>
DAVID
<Ma Li; their broken promises gave me you.>
MRS. LI
<Oh, you going that way, are you? You better not forget who raise you when I get too old to take care of myself.>
Kisses David on the cheek.
<Make sure she love you, then bring around to meet me.>
Post-Vellum Euphoria
My novel Elbert was at 96,000 words, final chapters unsettled, manuscript no longer consistent with the outline. So, I went back to the beginning — in the expectation that a better understanding of where I started would suggest how the story should end.
After four laborious rewrites of the book’s opening act, the text was hitting 100,000 words, a surprise since I thought I was streamlining it. The good news — I know what I’m dealing with. Yesterday, I wrote:
“Elbert is a story about relationships, self-discovery, and the necessity of facing the future with courage and compassion.”Continue reading “Post-Vellum Euphoria”
Elbert is LIVE on Kindle Vella
The first 3 chapters are free! Act 1 is complete and edited. I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for readers, so jump on out there!
In 1928 South Dakota, a retired country physician is made privy to Earth’s secret history and much, much more. There’s life on other planets, a family he didn’t know about, he’s getting younger, not older. Eighty-three years old, made stoic in attendance to the suffering of others, Doctor Elbert Holland Harrison thought he was waiting to die.
Now he’s waiting to live.
Elbert is a story about relationships, self-discovery, and the necessity of facing the future with courage and compassion.
Captain Hook, or not?
I’m still considering the option of advance publishing Elbert on Kindle Vella. Now, after four editing passes over part one, the master arc is firmly defined, so it’s not much of a risk delivery-wise … but, the question arises as to whether it’s good enough that I won’t be embarrassed for having done it. Also, I can’t tell if I have a hook in the opening act.
What say ye – would you spend another 8 cents to read the second chapter?
Part 1 – Chapter 1
August 16, 1928 — The Lazy L Ranch, South Dakota
“Well, ain’t you a furry bunch of critters.” The trail guide, a human citizen of Jivada, shook hands all around, the picture-perfect American cowboy in chaps and Colt Peacemaker — expert at rounding up Anye tourists or whatever. “Now, in these parts, the natives might call you Sasquatch, Bigfoot or Wendigo — ‘cause they’ve seen you plenty, but don’t know what you are.”
Watching from the front porch of the lodge, nursing her first cup of coffee, Francine anticipated the punchline. And they’re not going to find out today, are they?
Continue reading “Captain Hook, or not?”Shameless expeditionism
So, some of you might have read the previous post, in which the author was indiscreet. No worries; I came to my senses and …
Wait! No, I didn’t, because I promised to reveal what I did about my writing dilemma. I brought the inciting event forward to the first chapter, along with essential preliminaries, and I think that’s going to work. See if you agree.
Continue reading “Shameless expeditionism”What comes before ‘beta reader’? That’s what I need.
Those who’ve been reading these posts possibly know I have a SciFi novel in progress, about a country doctor in 1928 South Dakota who, among other things, meets a furry lady from another planet. You may also know that Amazon’s entry into the episodic fiction delivery business, Kindle Vella, is about to debut. Think ‘Radish’, with mega market penetration, or at least that’s what we’re given to believe.
Elbert, at 94,000 words, the ending yet to be written, might be good candidate to throw into the melee IF I can edit the first few chapters into ‘That’s right, folks … don’t touch that dial’ territory. I’m not worried about the rest of the book … there’s plenty of stuff going on after the first 30 pages, but I’m now on the 4th rewrite of the opening sonata and it’s getting hard for me to tell how I’m doing with it.
So, I show my wife version #3, and she says, “You need pirates swinging cutlasses” and I say, “It’s not that kind of story”, but I agree the book deserves something better than what I’ve written so far.
Yesterday, my brother said I need to smack the reader in the face with the core concept, right out of the gate, and I said, “That calls for a data dump, a cardinal sin that will get my tail roasted in author circles.”
But I’m going to try it anyway, on you. Call to action here – after reading Chapter 1, will you spend the tokens to get a look at Chapter 2? I would be grateful if, having taken the time to read these words, you’ll invest a little more to leave a comment. Here we go …
Continue reading “What comes before ‘beta reader’? That’s what I need.”My homework assignment
I attended a Bryan Cohen webinar last night, on the topic of how to write book descriptions, wherein I was told that the blurb should consist of three parts, to paraphrase …
- A telling of the protagonist’s emotional journey before the inciting event.
- A description of bad things that could happen.
- A closing sentence that lures prospective customers into pushing the ‘buy’ button.
In less than 150 words.
It was worth the hour-and-a-half, and not to steal from good ‘ol Bryan, but he also said one should make sure that cover, title and description are consistent with genre, so the audience can tell at a glance if the book fits with their reading habits.
Continue reading “My homework assignment”Blurbed … again
Elbert is currently in first edit at 94,000 words. How's the blurb looking?
In 1928 South Dakota, a furry citizen of another planet enlists the aid of a human physician to ensure her soon-to-be-born son will someday be able to claim American citizenship. For Doctor Elbert Holland Harrison, the event sheds light on the real story behind legendary Gods, a family he didn’t know he had, a cure for old age, an opportunity for a new life.
But the Great Depression looms on the horizon, with the Dust Bowl catastrophe close on its heels — a one-two punch threatening an alien commerce empire that feeds two-thirds of Jivada’s population, its collapse potentially leading to an invasion of Earth.
And Elbert is about to find himself in the middle of it.
Synopsitized for your protection
A notice at Cathy’s Comps and Calls motivated me to apply at the Speculative Literature Foundation (Motto: “We’re as surprised as you are.”) for the 2021 SLF Older Writers Grant – which, being substantially over 50 and arguably a writer, I was pleased to hear about. It was a good reason to revisit my biography spiel and hone the blurb for Elbert, appended below as evidence of willingness to self-promote. Today’s featured image is the source for Paul Trif’s portrayal of Elbert Harrison on the book cover. Yes, I was a little younger then, and my hair was not black.
John G. Dyer
Born February 16, 1950 in Chickamauga, Georgia, I moved to the Philippines in 1956 when my stepfather took an engineering assignment with a power utility. I attended grades 1-12 at an international school and, in 1968, returned to the United States for college. A computer scientist, I’m a founder of an IBM-affiliated software company.
An avid reader of science fiction since age eleven, I’ve brought a lifelong interest in engineering and technology to three SF novels and an adventure/love story — The Illusion of Gravity, Quantum Soul, Resilient and Silken Thread, on Amazon, bearing common themes that, a) success flows from constructive choices, b) nobility is demonstrated through courage, compassion and sacrifice, and c) whatever one wants, he must show up to get it — to wit, life’s lessons, self-evident but worth reciting.
Continue reading “Synopsitized for your protection”
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