The time has come, the time is now… to announce the novel. TA DA!
I began this novel in 2004. Originally, the opening scenes included a fight between two men witnessed by a child and a mine collapse. These two events are not in the present novel. Sometimes an author must delete the best scenes in order for the story to move forward in a timely manner.
Don’t worry, the novel is full of things that will keep the reader turning pages.
The story is much like a Wizard of Oz story with a little boy as protagonist. He is sent on a quest (as Dorothy had to retrieve the witch’s broom), one that he does not want to go on. He does. All the plot elements are there. There are no flying monkeys. I don’t want you to be disappointed so there are giant insects. “For good or evil who is to say?”
Here is what the back cover says to explain in less than 200 words what the book is about:
West Virginia, 1895.
A deadly dry spell has left the earth parched and souls desperate. Crops are failing. Cities are starving. A missing newspaper man doesn’t account for much in times so terrible, except to the twelve-year-old son he left behind. When Elliot Sweeney discovers the search for his father has been called off, he boards a train alone to find him.
His quest leads Elliot into the depths of an abandoned mine, with a peculiar pocket watch, a blind burro, and a gutsy girl at his side. He discovers a world he never dreamed of, even in his worst nightmares, and lands smack in the middle of a war between two kingdoms. Monstrous insects, smiling villains, and dark riddles are everywhere. Deciding who to trust may prove to be his greatest challenge, while the fate of the world above hangs on Elliot’s choice.
Here is the link to Amazon where you can buy a book for yourself or a loved one for the New Year. May it be a happy one full of good reading!
Related articles
- Jay Scarfone: 10 Things You Never Noticed About The Wizard of Oz (huffingtonpost.com)
- “Story as psychological journey” (gointothestory.blcklst.com)
- No Place Like Home (earth-rider.com)
Rebecca Nolen 