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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Not by Dark Alone


To the left is the cover of my first long format work. Science Fiction, for I love the genre and always have.

I recall my younger sister saying, "Science Fiction? No. That gene skipped me."

And it's true. I and my other two siblings inherited our father's love of the genre. But the third in the family, no.

This story — more about it at this link — began life as a National Novel Writing Month exercise. My first. As such, it suffered from early KjM writing, to say nothing of the tricks NaNoWriMo writers get up to to make their word count.

It needed to marinate for a couple of years before an actual story could be made of it.

When I was younger, traveling to school on city busses, I had the experience of sitting off to the side of a group of people my own age — all of them signing. Utter silence. But much hilarity, excitement, animated conversation going on five feet from me. And I was as one deaf. I knew nothing of what was going on. The image, the feeling, have stayed me to this day.

What would it be like for a non-telepath in a race of telepaths? What could such an individual bring to society? What would one like that see that others might miss?

And so, Alphard, the protagonist of this story.

If you get to read the story, I'd love to know what you think. Honest!

9 comments:

  1. I like what I read, Kevin, and congrats on doing this! You are very brave, my friend! :)

    PS: love the cover <3

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    1. Hi Estrella, glad you like what you read. As to brave...there was a certain amount of trepidation involved (and still is!)

      But, what's a storyteller to do if he doesn't tell stories?

      I'm fond of the cover too. I was very happy when I came upon the image. It fit what I saw in my mind very well.

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  2. I can hardly wait to read it, Kevin. You're such a fine writer, I'm sure it will be great. And the topic? Nothing short of inspiring. Best of luck with it!

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    1. I hope you enjoy it, Cathy.

      Thanks for the kind words about my writing. You're no slouch in that department yourself, Ma'am.

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  3. What a unique experience you had when younger. I can see why it stuck with you - turning the tables, so to speak. *did I just say speak? no pun intended* :)
    I am off to get my very own copy and congratulations!

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    1. Many thanks, Laura. And many thanks for going off to get your own copy. Much appreciated.

      I understand the "...so to speak...". I had great...fun...that must be the word, in this story avoiding all words that suggest speech. They're telepaths, so "speech?" :-|

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    2. Yes! In "Wish" I couldn't believe how many times I had to avoid the word "wish" in the MC's sentences. I think avoiding "speech" words would be even more difficult, since there are more of them.

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    3. I can well imagine. It's like that trick: "Don't think of an elephant" — and suddenly the only thing you can think of is "Elephant!"

      As to speech "words" — well, "words" for a start. And then conversation, and anything to do with sound and...and...

      Drove me nutz!

      By the way, I really enjoyed "Wish" — a great concept and very well realized. ANd, *sheepish*, I owe you a review. I'll get there.

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    4. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

      Elephant! *snicker*

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