So, anyway, on with my current project. I am in process of writing a book called "Challenge of the Velah". It is a sci-fi book, though I did not know that when I started it. The synopsis I wrote for it is this:
"A man has been unwittingly caught up in a battle of survival between the Heskah race and the evil Sakalel, who are intent on annihilation of the more passive race. The man finds he is destined to be the Velah, or 'The One Who Intervenes' and must face the Sakalel warriors and try to save his new friends from extinction."
Sounds kind of interesting, huh? I began it, as with most things I have written, because the first sentence was roaming around in my head and would not leave me alone until I jotted it down, then it kept expanding. I wrote several paragraphs then quit to pursue another story that hit me titled (at least for now) "A New World To Live In", which is about a new form of Zombie Infection. I was excited about this concept, but it left me and I found myself trying to force the story. When this happens, all is lost. Now, when I do get back to it, I will have to completely revamp it.
When I showed a new acquaintance some of the poetry I was getting ready for the publishing I had engaged, I happened to mention the "...Velah" story, which at that point in time was still just a few paragraphs and showed no signs of being a sci-fi story at all. She requested to see it, and told me she was excited to find out what happened next. My interest was renewed with this favorable criticism, and words began forming again. I now have just under 14,000 words in it, and am not even half way done.
However, I sent it off to a publishing agent, and they said, although they were interested in working with me, I needed to get a professional critique done to it first so we could have a starting point. Let me tell you, it is awfully difficult to find someone who will help out with an unfinished manuscript. The most all only want an excerpt containing the first part of it, but they want it to be a finished product. As for me, I would like to find out before I finish if I have to totally change it, or even rearrange parts of it. The one person I did find who was willing to work with it told me to send part of it and he'd have someone critique it. I wanted it to be as best it could be, so I ran the Word Processor grammar check on it. I will recommend to anyone NOT to do that. I had to change so much of it that it was not a story anymore. In fact, the guy sent me an email that said it looked like "detailed notes in story form." He also told me that they could take it, expand it to about 80- or 90,000 words to make it ready for publication. For $14,000.00. I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of pocket change. Hell, I have trouble sometimes coming up with $14.00! I wanted to send him the same excerpt from before I ran the grammar check, but decided I would try to doctor it myself while still trying to complete it.
That is when I decided to explore the benefits of getting a college degree behind me. I figure, if I major in English, the vocabulary as well as the ability to be grammatically correct will be a lot easier to bring to mind. After all, it has
been about 28 years since I graduated High School, and I also explored in depth the ins and outs of Alcoholism, which needless to say, destroyed most of my usable brain matter.So, that about concludes this episode of my story. Thanks for reading, and check back for more updates. Remember, check out my website, which is linked on my profile page here, and look for my poetry book on Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles website, and a few others. You could Google my name to find other possibilities. Till Next Time; Later!
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