Suddenly, a bit away,
Kyle hears something moving in the brush. A beast the size of a Shetland pony but
resembling a palpitating, white grub worm on six crab legs and sporting a nasty
scorpion-like stinger drops onto the branch stalking Kyle. Behind the thing,
two more of the same beasts creep into view. They emit a piercing shriek as
they lurk forward to attack. Without any weapons, Kyle turns to run when the
first thing springs through the air and lands onto his back. He can feel the
hot saliva from the thing dripping on the nape of his neck as he is pinned down
by powerful claws. Suddenly, he senses intense heat and then smells burning
flesh as the thing falls off him. Glancing back, he witnesses the second
monster leaping at him, but in mid-air, an almost invisible ray of
white light fires from out of the fog and kills the beasts. The last monster
screams and charges only to be torched by a second burst of the mysterious heat
ray.
A group of ten men
appear in bizarre body suits and using herbs found in the jungle, revive Thark.
They leave before Thark awakens from his venomous coma. Thark explains that the mysterious men were Kzinti and live
scattered out in the Great Wasteland. The suits they wear protect them from the
harsh climate and residual radiation from fallout. He explains he sent an
ambassador, his best Commander named Aris Eddor to speak with them seven years
ago. Aris never returned. The Kzinti, also known as tek-hunters, scour the
wastes scavenging for tech and machines to barter for food at settlements. They
are generally mistrusted and despised by the citizens of the settlements and
mostly keep to themselves.
- Excerpt from the 19
page draft summary of novel in process, Across the Galactic Lens
Inspiration reveals itself in a myriad of forms and will lead to a great many good things. It being from life trauma,
reading a book, or simply laying in the grass and staring up into a vast, blue
cloudless sky. The stories I have penned which eventually wound up in novels,
magazines, online writer markets – they are all well and good, I suppose, but
for the longest time I have wanted to author a science fiction story. One of
epic scale. Inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs A Princess of Mars and Buck Rogers,
I jotted down a decade ago a one page story outline about a United States
Marine fighting in the Gulf War of the mid-90’s suddenly transported to a
distant and savage planet. The planet, blasted and cratered from decades of
atomic war had it all: spired palaces, exotic beasts, silver and sleek rocket
ships, swords and laser guns. I first mentioned this early idea in Tweeker
about blond space fairing heroes battling sentient black octopi from Orion or
some other silly idea.
Eventually, this one
page idea morphed into nineteen pages of a world rich in irradiated and mutated
life, religion, customs, factions, all revolving around political deceit and
conquest. I have completed three chapters. I say completed but they are far
from done. I am penning the first version of the novel extremely bare bones – some
description and dialog. I will, of course, go back when all is done and re-write each
chapter fleshing out the described locales, actions and what not…I daresay,
when completed, it will be as thick as War and Peace or Lord of the Rings. (I really do dispise the editing process)
I am finding writing
this novel more of a challenge. Previously, my writing was simply dictating what
transpired in my life to simple words for others to read. I write beer bottle
and the reader sees a beer bottle. But with this made up work; I have to
describe in detail, the blaster guns, the smells, the colors, the furniture,
the clothing, the rocks, the trees, the sky. And, I am enjoying it every step.
Literally a ball. John Carter was Edgar Rice Burroughs, Den was Richard Corben,
and Kyle Foster is myself (or who I wish I could be)
I sat and watched the
video below last night. I hadn’t seen the cartoon since I was seven or eight
years old. But, I remember, it inspired me to draw from that came photography
from that to direct movies to that to write…inspiration is seldom linear and
always emanates in various forms and will inevitably lead to a great many
things.
No comments:
Post a Comment