Author: buckjones1951 Page 2 of 4

In my last blog post, (My Manuscript is finished. Time to prepare for publishing.), getting my finished manuscript excited me. Since then, I have formatted the document for both e-book and paperback versions. Miblart, MIBLART | Book cover design services, has submitted an initial cover design and is working on some modifications. If everything works out, I can upload the cover and manuscript this month and set a release date.

If you have signed up for notifications, an email newsletter should appear in your inbox in the next few days. The monthly newsletter will keep you updated on the book’s release, offer a free chapter of the book, and provide a cover reveal and information on where to purchase the book.

I am also changing my website while I wait for the cover design. You should notice them when you visit. Use the Contact Me button below to comment on the changes.

Here is the title and description of the book:

Salvation and Doom: The Cathardi Prophecy

Six years after the Cathardi invaded Earth, claiming to be friends, Josh fulfilled his childhood dream of going into space. Now his friends were dead, and the Urlak had invaded Earth. The Cathardi refused to help Earth. He couldn’t trust them. They betrayed his people, treating them like an early warning system against a known threat. Now he and fellow earthling, Kim, had fled from the Cathardi to the frontier to start a new life.

Liria believed the Creator led her to the out-of-the-way planet, Earth, where she would find the one prophesied to save Cathardi. Had the Creator spoken to her? Was she really a prophet? Liria had been so certain the Earth pilot Josh would fulfill the ancient prophecy. Now he blamed her and her people for the Urlak attack on his world. Did her attraction to him cloud her judgment? Now her dreams warn of doom for her world. Would it survive if the Urlak discovered its location? Would the true chosen one come? She has no choice but to heed the warnings.

Is Josh the chosen one? Is there any hope for either world?

Introduction

In my previous posts, I have given some updates on the progress of my writing. (Unsettled Science and Imagination for Writers) Today I am stepping out a little further. I know there are those who think Science Fiction writing is anti-Christian, and they are entitled to their opinion, though I disagree. The first book I wrote and am editing deals with the interactions of three different alien species and the protagonist who is a young man from modern-day Earth. As a Christian, I believe God created the heavens and the earth, therefore all the alien races have humanoid appearances. After all, God created man in His image regardless of their specific place of origin.

Alien Societies

Cathardi

The events of the novel begin when an alien race, the Cathardi, comes to Earth seeking the one described in an ancient prophecy and revealed in dreams and visions to a member of their Sisterhood. They are a homogeneous society with a strict religious culture. They developed faster than light travel using a ‘gravity’ drive to create singularities, allowing them to move almost instantaneously from one point to another in the universe. Their appearance at the start of the novel seems to be an invasion despite their assurances of friendship. They are very human in appearance and resemble the Ocampa, (Tess), from Star Trek Voyager.

The Cathardi have only one race and one religion, though sects with different interpretations of their tenets exist. A council of nine members heads their government. Three members, chosen by the senior officers, represent the military. Three members, chosen by the elders of the Sisterhood, represent religious interests, and the last three, democratically elected, members represent civilian interests. Many in the sisterhood have advanced psychic abilities, enabling them to sense the emotional state of individuals, which can cause issues with the other factions. Because of issues with this and other unique traits that arise during intense worship, the Cathardi males and females worship separately.

Melal

Later in the novel, the protagonist travels to an orbital station jointly run by the Cathardi and the Melal, the second race. The Melal are also human in appearance, though different from the Cathardi. The world, that the station orbits, is slightly larger than Earth, so the inhabitants are shorter and more stoutly built than men or Cathardi. In their secular society, some follow the religious beliefs of the Cathardi, but most, though they may believe in the creator, do not. They use their association with the Cathardi to build trade and other commercial operations. Their society is perhaps the closest to modern America.

Their government is a democratically elected republic. The focus on financial prosperity includes businesses, especially on the space station, which has led to businesses that cater to the alien crews of the various freighters that come to the stations. These include drinking, gambling, and prostitution. The moral differences can cause problems between the Cathardi and Melal, but a separate but equal policy allows for cooperation between the races for running the station.

Urlak

The third alien society is the Urlak. They are the antagonists of the story. Their culture has developed over the centuries to where all Urlak are clones. They do not recognize God and use the conquest of other worlds to provide resources and occasionally new genetic material to improve their race. They have enhanced genetics for aggression and loyalty to the race. Though human in form, they are nearly hairless with muscular builds and orange skin. Their ability to conquer more worlds resulted after their first contact with the Cathardi. They deceived the Cathardi into thinking they were friendly, before turning on them and stealing their drive and weapons technology. Now they focus on finding and destroying the Cathardi home world.  

Interactions and Dynamics

The Cathardi arrival presents many problems for the people of Earth. The existence of an alien race poses questions for both religious and scientific beliefs. Their profession of friendship considering their superior technology, seems disingenuous with their superior military presence over the planet. Many on Earth fear and distrust the Cathardi. Though they helped in building an orbiting station bringing interstellar trade. They also brought their advanced medical technology which they shared, and they trained pilots to operate interstellar spacecraft. To some, the negotiations that led to this cooperation seemed like a shotgun wedding. Did Earth have a choice?

During the initial contact with the Melal, the Earth travelers found a culture they could relate to more easily. The separate but equal policy highlighted the Cathardi superiority complex. Like Earth, the Melal had some lingering resentment against the Cathardi. These resentments showed in their music and arts. Plays and programs presented in eating establishments often ridiculed the strict Cathardi cultural and religious beliefs. The open availability to adult entertainment establishments acted as an outward sign of the Melal resistance to Cathardi control.

For their part, the Cathardi used a policy of isolationism to preserve their unique identity. They did not allow ships or crews from other planets to travel to or know the location of the Cathardi home world. This became more important to them after their contact and ensuing forty-year conflict with the aggressive and violent Urlak.

Conclusions

As the story unfolds it becomes necessary for the protagonist to put aside his prejudice to help the Cathardi. The Cathardi learn that isolation does not mean safety. It is hopefully apparent even with the stereotypical cultures presented in the novel, that men and women are the same everywhere if they have enough freedom to make relevant choices. Of course, there are other races and plot points in the novel currently in the hands of a developmental editor. If any of this sounds interesting to you drop me a note in the comments.

I had initially intended to write about Father’s Day from the point of view of a grandfather. But I started playing with Chatgpt, ChatGPT (openai.com), for ideas on a blog post that pertained more to my writing. This was the result. If you enjoy my posts please sign up using the pop-up form to receive notifications when I have new posts.

Author vs Writer

Sometimes it is difficult for me to determine a topic for this blog. My primary readers are my family and a few friends. This is not a large audience, which means, I am not doing a good job of building my “platform”. Many of the experts I have read and listened to say an author’s success comes from building a social media presence and a large e-mail list. I haven’t done either. But I’m not an author yet. An author is published, so I am just a writer.

When I retired nearly two years ago, I devoted time daily to writing. Initially, I finished the novel I started in 2014. It gave me something to do and kept me out of my wife’s hair. Though my wife says she occasionally resents the time I spend writing, I have completed the first drafts of two novels. I have submitted the first to both beta readers and a developmental editor. The second is being critiqued a chapter at a time by friends in the local writing group.

First Novel Feedback

Feedback on the first novel has been encouraging, with comments like: “You should be very proud of this book. I had such a fun time reading it”; “This was a fantastic read! It ticks all the boxes of a good sci-fi novel; there is definitely an audience of readers out there who would gobble up a book like this.”

However, when it gets down to the details, there is still a lot of work to do. I am a bargain reader. I buy e-books but rarely spend more than $2.99 on a book. Often, I can get books for free through my Amazon Prime account. Before e-books became so popular, I bought used books. Neither of these is conducive to enriching the author.

What I am finding out is how expensive it is to move from being a writer to being an author, whether you publish traditionally or self-publish. I thought I could supplement my retirement income slightly by publishing and selling books.

Today, I am uncertain if I will ever be able to do that. It appears I will spend more to get the first book published than I can expect to earn back in sales. By the time I pay for editors, a cover design, and different software to help in the writing, editing, and formatting process, I will spend upwards of $5,000.00. If I price my e-book at $2.99 on amazon, I need to sell over 2500 books to break even. The competition is fierce, with a minimum of 1,670 new Kindle e-books published every day. (There Are Over 12 Million Kindle Ebooks On Amazon (justpublishingadvice.com))

Last Friday I had a call with the Developmental Editor, (https://www.savannahgilbo.com/), to go through a plan to rewrite my first novel. Her thoughts, though just suggestions, are based on years of experience and technical knowledge. Now, I must get into the hard work of rewriting and editing the draft with a greater focus on the reader. Wish me luck!

Coming Soon

As I go through my rewrite of the first novel, I plan on offering background information on the characters and the story to people who sign up for my email list. Look for these this summer. Until then, if you enjoy reading this blog, please sign up to receive notifications when new posts are added using the pop-up box.

As of February 21st, Going into the Unknown, I have been writing this blog for two years. I honestly didn’t think I could make it this long.

Holiday Wishes

As 2023 begins, I thought it appropriate to offer my hopes that everyone who reads this has had a Merry Christmas and is looking forward to a prosperous and enjoyable year. We missed seeing most of our family this year. Our holiday gathering was on Christmas Eve and only two of our three children and only two of our ten grandchildren attended. We missed those that could not be there. It seems as they all get older and have their own lives, it becomes harder for everyone to schedule the time for family gatherings.

My Writing Journey

My writing journey so far has been full of “who’d-a-thunk-it” moments. I started my first novel in April 2014. At the time I wrote strictly by the seat of my pants. The words flowed easily onto the page as I hand-wrote in a notebook during my lunch break at work. The words flowed easily until I had approximately half of the book written. Then they just stopped. I had writer’s block. I thought the beginning was good, and I knew how the story would end. But somewhere in the middle, I got lost.

The book remained in that state until my retirement nearly two years ago. Not that I was idle during that time. I purchased a book, Writing Fiction for Dummies, Amazon.com: Writing Fiction For Dummies: 9780470530702: Ingermanson, Randy, Economy, Peter: Books by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy. It helped me do some of the work I hadn’t thought about. Things like getting to know my characters and creating a character bible so I could understand their motivations. It also helped me understand the story’s need for tension and disaster. I liked Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method (advancedfictionwriting.com). I went through what I had already written trying to determine how it fit the method and where I needed to add more content.

As my retirement approached, I needed to decide how to use my time. Writing became my first choice. It seemed to me I could finish my book in a few months and have it ready for publication. Ha! It turns out, just putting words on the page doesn’t make it ready for other people to read.

I joined a writer group, ACFW, ACFW | American Christian Fiction Writers, and took part in their critique group. Submitting 2500-word sections to other writers for their review and comments. Unfortunately, I didn’t write as well as I thought I did. The grammatical errors were so many it made it difficult to get comments on the actual content. I purchased ProWritingAid editing software, ProWritingAid: AI Writing Assistant Software, to help me learn and correct those errors before submitting anything to someone else. I blogged about it around that time.

With the help of those resources, I finished writing the first draft of the novel in November of 2021, approximately 6 months after I retired. I began rewriting based on the suggestions and comments from the critique group. The following draft was completed and formatted into a manuscript, which I sent to Beta readers in September 2022. I had a book I was comfortable sending to strangers to read. Now I am going through another rewrite based on the Beta reader comments.

As an optimist, I believe I can finish it sooner rather than later. But it never occurred to me that two years after my retirement, I would still not have a book ready to publish. Currently, it appears the rewrite will not be complete until mid-2023. Then it goes to a developmental editor, followed by more rewriting before copy editing and line editing. I’m not sure the book will be ready to publish until 2024. Who’d-a-thunk-it?

Since writing is more fun than editing or rewriting, I started a second book and finished the first draft earlier in December. The critique group has commented on approximately half of it. So, in the past two years, I have finished the first draft of one book and written the first draft of a second. Hopefully, the second book will be ready for readers faster than the first.

Family Tradition

Earlier this month, I worked on removing the leaves from our front yard. This has been a significant chore since we moved into the house in the early 1970s. From then until earlier this year, we had two large trees in our front yard. One, a sycamore with leaves larger than my hand, dropped its leaves in early October. So many leaves, I had to rake them up at least twice during the month. The other, an elm tree, dropped its leaves later in November. Meaning I typically raked leaves three times during the fall.

During a severe windstorm, just before Christmas last year, a large limb from the elm tree blew down onto our roof. After we had the limb removed and examined the tree, we had it removed earlier this year. This summer we missed the shade from that tree since the afternoon sun warmed the house more than it did with the tree’s shade.

While I mowed and cleared the leaves, I remembered how much our children and then our grandchildren liked to play in the piles of sycamore leaves. We would rake the huge leaves into piles almost as tall as them, especially when they were young. They would run through them. Bury themselves in the pile, and even jump into the pile. Though there were enough sticks included, that was not a great idea.

Occasionally, one of my children would ask when I would rake because the grandchildren wanted to play in the leaves. I even got help with the raking when they came over. It was fun for me and made a chore enjoyable. It developed into a family tradition. My grandchildren are all high school age or older, so it has been a while since any played in the leaves. I miss it.

One of my favorite pictures is of my son’s children in a pile of leaves. So many wonderful memories came back as I looked through the pictures to include in this post. Family and family traditions can bring a lot of joy into our lives.

Book Update

I have come to realize the idea of getting a book published is a long, difficult, and frustrating process. As I have noted in previous blogs, I have completed the first draft of my first novel. It was sent to beta readers and I have received feedback from three of the four and should receive feedback from the fourth soon.

Once I receive that feedback, I will edit and rewrite the draft. Then, it will be sent to a Developmental Editor, who will provide an overall structural edit and provide suggestions for improving the novel. Unfortunately, the cost of developmental editing can be high, $2000.00 or more. That is assuming I will self-publish the book. Which seems like the best route at this time.

If I want to traditionally publish the book, I will need to find an agent that thinks they can sell the book to a publisher. It can take months to find an agent. They will try to sell the book to a publisher, which can take even longer. Then I will need to work with the publisher’s editor to refine the book. After completing all of that, it may take two years before the book is actually published. That seems too long for me at my age.

Once the changes from the developmental edit are complete, the book must go through a copy edit and proofread. Both of which can be expensive. I paid for two beta readers using Fiverr, Fiverr – Freelance Services Marketplace, which I thought worked well. I received excellent feedback from both of them.

In looking for a developmental editor I thought I would try both Fiverr and Reedsy, Marketplace (reedsy.com). The initial quotes I received from Reedsy were $1800.00 and $2400.00, both seem too high for me. I think I can get it for less on Fiverr.

Anyway, the total cost could be over $5000.00. I will need to sell a lot of books to cover that cost.

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I live in the city of Colorado Springs. But, I like to think that I am a bit of a country boy. My first memories were of living in the country outside of town. The place we lived in was near an apple orchard and had an irrigation ditch running along the front. Located North of Colorado Springs and South of Monument, the place provided plenty of room for very young kids to play. (Though, since we were preschool age, it probably wasn’t as roomy as I remember.)

When they began construction on the U.S. Air Force Academy, we had an increase in the number of rattlesnakes on the grounds. I remember my mom killing one, maybe two, near the area we regularly played. Our dog, Princess, was bitten by one once and would bark and raise a ruckus when she saw one. Not long after that, we moved into town so I and my brother could start school.

The next year we moved to the Westside of town. Behind where we lived was a big open field, where one of my brother’s friends kept horses and a donkey. They allowed us to ride them, and we spent some fun days riding the horses and trying to ride the donkey. My best friend at the time lived across the street. His family had chickens and rabbits, with the occasional goat. They taught us to milk the goat, and we drank the raw milk.

Those things and many others made it feel like we lived in the country until we moved again when I started Junior High. From that time on, we lived in town. So, I might think I am a country boy. I am a city slicker. But I still enjoy the outdoors, animals, and seeing nature. This year has brought many of these opportunities. Nancy Lewis Park,Nancy Lewis Park | Colorado Springs, near our house has a pond. Yearly ducks and Canadian Geese spend the late spring and summer there.

This year, two sets of geese raised goslings. The geese are excellent parents, keeping the goslings near them until they mature. You can often see the gosling walking, or swimming, single file between the parents. This year, one set of goslings comprised just two. One hurt its leg somehow and could hardly walk, but it seemed to grow and develop, just at a slightly slower pace. My wife was anxious about the ‘poor thing’. We don’t go over there every day; one day we went there, and the geese were all gone. I assume they flew away, but I don’t know.

Ducks parent differently. The drake has little to do with raising the ducklings. The hen watches them closely when they are young, but the ducklings get more and more adventurous as they get older. Swimming all over the surface of the pond. They are fun to watch swimming, walking across the lily pads, or walking in the grass. It is always pleasant to hear the peep-peep sound they make while they swim. This year three sets or ducklings grew up on the pond.

In town, there are a lot of fox squirrels that were imported to the area and have replaced the native gray and Ebert squirrels. Though they are an invasive species, they are fun to watch. Until we had to remove one, we had two mature trees in our front yard. I like to watch the squirrels run around and play when I sit and drink my coffee in the mornings through our front window. Bailey likes to watch them too, and they sometimes tease her by running along the fence in the backyard.

This year, though, I saw something different. Sitting on the sofa, I saw a hummingbird near the trunk of the Sycamore tree. It was dive bombing a squirrel on the tree trunk. It chased the squirrel off the tree, then flew up into the leaves. I thought it was odd and couldn’t figure it out. A couple of days later, I saw the incident repeated. Over the next few weeks, the hummingbird chased a squirrel, and on one occasion, two squirrels off the tree. One morning, it was dive bombing a squirrel in the middle of the yard. I still don’t know why it did this, but my thoughts are the hummingbird had a nest in the tree and chased the squirrels whenever they got too close to it.

If you know why the hummingbird would chase the squirrels, leave a message, and let me know. If you enjoy the blog, sign up using the pop-up box and receive notifications when I post new content. Thank you for your time.

I have had difficulty determining a topic, so this blog is later than usual. I had hoped to ask for beta readers by this time. But editing and rewriting take longer than I expected. However, if you read this and would like to be a beta reader for my novel, please leave a comment, making sure I have your email address so I can contact you when it is time.

I am returning to one of my favorite topics, out dog, Bailey. I have written several blogs about our dog. She is the most affectionate dog we have owned.

When I let her out of her kennel in the mornings, she insists on several minutes of petting and close contact before she leaves the room. She enjoys physical contact and reassurance. She often comes and leans on me while I am sitting at the table or on the sofa. In the evening she wants me to get down on the floor with her so I can pet her, particularly her belly. After a few minutes, she moves away to lie down, content.

She has gotten much better with other dogs once she gets to know them. If they approach her too quickly, she may snarl to set boundaries. But after a few minutes and time to get to know the other dog, she is friendly and wants to see them again whenever we meet.

This happens regularly at the local park where we walk, and we have a regular group of dogs that get together on Saturday mornings. When we get to the parking lot, she whines, knowing her friends are probably there. Though at five years old, she is not as energetic as some of the younger dogs; she is still the fastest dog in the group. Upon meeting, they will run and chase for a few minutes, then Bailey will calm down and stay close to me or beg for treats from the other owners. Several of the other owners have known her since she was a puppy and understand how she has changed from a very fearful pup to a confident, mature dog.

She does not wrestle much with the other dogs, making her feelings known if they get too rough. This was a real benefit when she met one of her newest friends, Sage, a toy Australian Shepherd. Sage is tiny and looks like a puppy, though she is nearly fully grown and likes to play but cannot take the physical play of some of the other dogs.

Unfortunately, the same does not hold for me. If I get down on the floor to exercise or relax my back, Bailey thinks it’s playtime. She wants to wrestle with me. She takes my hand in her mouth or puts her paws on me to hold me. If I react, she gets the zoomies and runs around and toward me, barking and growling. She has excellent bite control, so she never hurts me unless I hit her teeth or move wrong with my hand in her mouth.

If you enjoy reading about Bailey, let me know by leaving a comment. Please sign up to receive notifications of new postings using the pop-up box. I hope to delve more into my book soon, so sign up. Please use the contact tab to leave messages or feedback. Thank you for spending a few minutes with me.