Tuesday, January 17, 2006

The Pool Is Drained

There is no surer sign that summer is over than the pool is drained and starting to fill with leaves. I remember a trip to Chicago a while back and it was summer on our way through - with 90 degree heat and humidity and people sweltering along Lake Michigan. Two weeks later, when we returned, the air was crisp, people were starting to stay indoors, and the pool was completely drained. The hotel was empty as well, but that may have been because of the neighborhood we were in.

My brain is fried. I just finished editing the second act of my Novel. Its my favorite act. It begins with the main characters in real dire straits - peripherally - and it ends with them in real dire straits internally. At times it just seems to meander along, but I'm hoping you can hear the white water just ahead and the plunge that's about to occur.

The problem with the novel has always been the third act. The ending. Not since the glory days of "Old Spies Never Die," have I really had a great ending. The problem with this story is that the focus on the main characters changes in the third act, as needs be, and they slowly become peripheral characters to the main story. It'd be like getting to Return of the Jedi and discovering that R2D2 and C3PO were the main characters all along (and every one else dies in a climactic battle with the Empire... now that's a Star Wars movie I'd pay to see!) I'm reminded of a comment that a Tolkein scholar said about him in the hours of bonus interview footage for the Extended DVD's - "It was like he had no idea how you write a story." His story worked, though, and worked well perhaps as a result of him not following the tried and true formula for story telling. I'm hoping for the same result.

Since I really have nothing else to say, I'm going to add here the brief summary of the Novel from my website - so that if I ever run out of things to blog about again, you'll know what I'm talking about next time I mention the Novel.

The Thin Line is a cautionary tale of two men, Colonel Thomas O'Malley and Rob Winter, on different ends of life's spectrum who meet only hours before the assassination of a political leader, that binds them together on a journey through the pages of a future history that finally answers the question, can it happen here?

Rob Winter is a normal young man looking for his place in the world until the day he meets Colonel Tom O'Malley and finds himself in the middle of a historical event - the assassination of a key political leader. Their bond only grows when a reassigned O'Malley hires Rob Winter to be a lab assistant at a top secret government lab. When the theft of a biological agent occurs at the lab, both men begin to suspect that there may be something sinister going on behind the scenes. After the biological agent is used to deadly effect, Colonel O'Malley goes off in pursuit of the truth while Rob Winter mulls his role in events. When O'Malley discovers the truth, he goes into hiding, while Rob tries to get free of his fate by cooperating with the government.

As Colonel O'Malley and his family remain in hiding, Rob Winter finds himself increasingly in a world of fear and greed, moral ambiguity and danger. Forced to accept money from a stranger in order to get a job, Rob is drawn into a shadowy revolutionary underground movement whose intent is to open the eyes of the common man of the increasing danger to the United States. With the backdrop of an unpopular and deadly war overseas, Rob begins to relish his role as a revolutionary and eventually takes over the intellectual control of the underground movement - trying to steer it clear of any morally dangerous shoals, but becoming increasingly aware that forces beneath him are trying to take the revolution to the next step - all out civil war. It is only a matter of time before the two men are reunited and each one must meet his destiny and embrace his fate.

The Thin Line has been almost twenty years in the making. Started as an adventure novel based on a game created by Nick Kibre, Will Robison's tale first evolved when Nick Kibre challenged him with the notion that a dictatorship could exist in the United States without a post-apocalyptic future. After two weeks of deep thinking, Will Robison realized that his friend was right and began to craft a tale that would explain how America could become a dictatorship underneath everyone's noses. With three years of experience as a Naval Intelligence Specialist and countless hours spent doing research, Will Robison has finally started to craft the tale that began to percolate in his mind in 1985.

The Thin Line is a story of betrayal - of country, of friends, of family, and of one's self. It is a complex novel exploring the way people can blind themselves into believing that evil is never done in one's backyard - that it could never happen here. It is a tale straight out of today's headlines, written over the course of twenty years, that is as timeless as the fall of governments throughout history. If you want to know what happens next, read The Thin Line.


(Hey, you know... that's pretty good. I should write book jackets for a living! ;)

21 comments:

Andy said...

Hmmm...book tour should begin right around March of 2007. I'm also thinking about an appearance on Leno or Letterman as the tour kicks off. Although, I would think Regis and Kelly oughta be an interesting choice for an appearance.

Film rights? Let's talk to Grazer and Howard over at Imagine Entertainment. We should also talk to Christopher Nolan. I'd stay away from Spielberg - my confidence in him is a bit shaken after the "Worlds" debacle.

I'm looking forward to the comments from Sue and Dan on this...

...done to the theme from The Jeffersons.

Will Robison said...

Oh no... we're not going to get silly here! Not on my blog! Not now! Not ever! This is a place for quiet, serious contemplation and reflection - just like me.

Besides which, I was hoping for something more like The Greatest American Hero, or, The Dukes of Hazzard... ;)

Andy said...

Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself.
Suddenly I'm following the Lord’s Word,
I’ll share it with somebody else.

Believe it or not,
I worship the Lord.
I never thought I could feel so free eee eee.
Flying away on His wing and my prayers.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.

It's like a light of a new day,
God’s Word is so very true.
Breaking me out of the sin I was in,
Hosanna I no longer feel blue ue ue.

Believe it or not,
I worship the Lord.
I never thought I could feel so free eee eee.
Flying away on His wing and my prayers.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.

Will Robison said...

There's something freeing about converting old TV theme songs to praise songs, don't you think? Martin Luther's great hymns started their lives as old beer hall songs, so there is a precedent here.

Andy said...

Did not know that piece of trivia about Luther.

Hmmm...so what's next? Petticoat Junction? Misfits of Science? Three's Company?

Dan said...

Here are my suggestions:

Family Ties
Gimme a Break
Facts of Life
Mr. Belvedere
Wonder Woman
Cheers

Andy said...

"Cheers" - that would be a good one. So would "The Facts of Life". Perhaps "Different Strokes", too.

Anonymous said...

"well the world never seems
To be living up to God's dreams
Just take a moment,look about
and you will find out

The Praise of Life is about you...
You-oo-oo-oo-ooo. You're learning to Praise About Life."

I don't know - it was the only one of the shows whose song I could remember!

Peter Burch said...

andy - you just placed yourself in the Blog Comment Hall of Hame with the Greatest American Hero praise song. the only way i am keeping myself from laughing to death right by typing this comment. when i return from my sabbatical i am going to hire some theater stage hands to hook up one of those peter pan flying through the air thingies so you can don the red tights, yellow cape, and fake afro and soar back and forth above the chancel while singing--"Believe it or not it's just meeeeeeeeeeeee".

will -- thanks for the summary of your novel. by the way, how are you going to work jar jar binks into the plot?

Will Robison said...

ROTFLMHO!

I'd pay cash money to see Andy flying over the congregation singing in the costume! We could start a new TV Praise-a-thon! Get Rob Schneider involved!

I think Pastor Peter's comments should qualify him for a Phrasee... what do you think, brother Andy?

Andy said...

Oh it's so wrong, so very very wrong.

Yet so right, isn't it?

Peter, be careful what you wish for...

Will, indeed a Phrassee award is justified here.

Dan said...

In all seriousness, we have been talking about using our gifts and abilities to bring glory to the Lord. As a brother in Christ, I would be remiss in not calling Andy out, as he has been hiding some of his giftings from his friends.

When I was at Andy's house last weekend, I noticed hanging on the wall - just past the Star Wars poster - a shadow box containing a blue ribbon for the 1987 Interpretive Dance State Championship w/emphasis in tambourine and dance as well as an honorary mention for his work in twirling flags and streamers. I can only imagine the pressure to remain humble when ones is blessed with these strengths. I just want to encourage your church to do what you can to give Andy an outlet to share these gifts with the The Body. I for one am just devastated that I will not be able to see Andy "walk on air" and "flay away on a wing and a prayer..." [give me a minute]

It is sure to speak deeply... to all who will attend.

Peter Burch said...

did dan say "interpretive dance".

andy, i am demanding an explanation of this immediately.

Andy said...

Didn't you know I once participated in Rhythmic Gymnastics before it became an Olympic sport? Ahhh, back in the day, long before powerlifting took a hold of my life.

I fail to mention my time as a world class figure skater back then. Would have made the US team but for a scoring error by a judge, who as it turned out, was also Brian Boitano's coach.

Go figure.

Dan said...

LOL

Will Robison said...

I still don't want to think about what became of our Olympic caliber Synchronized Swimming routine. The way you used to Jete Oblique while I performed the Brazilian Fountain still brings goosebumps to my arm just to think of its beauty. But you left me for that saucy vixen which is ice dancing - and look at me now... I'm practically wasting away to nothing. Oh, the pain... the pain...

Andy said...

Remember though, that the ice dancing came about as a result of my failure to make the Men's Olympic Skating team in 1988. Well, that and the twisted knee cap forced me into a sport that required little jumping.

Ah yes, those days with Irina...

Dan said...

Jete Oblique?? Brazilian Fountain?? You're killing me. I can't tell you how many times today I have busted up laughing in front of my monitor.

Andy said...

Will, remember that synchronized swimming competition at Stanford? When we lost to the duo led by Kristin Babb (who eventually married former Stanford Cardinal and Toronto Blue Jay Ed Sprague)?

The tears we shed that night. All because we didn't have a perfect 180 degree split on the Jete Oblique.

Dan said...

"JETE: Leap from one leg to the other in which one leg is thrown to the side, front, or back."

Do tell: How do you incorporate your obliques into this move?

Peter Burch said...

okay, enough already, it all of us need to return immediately to pastorpeterburch.blogspot.com for reality check-up.