New Book Project: The Black Sky

I got inspired, that’s usually how these things begin. Years ago, before releasing Power Ballad, I sat at home evenings and plotted out screenplays. After the bands I was in went kaput, I needed something to do, something creative. Over a summer, I wrote my first screenplay. I even held a table read with friends to see what is sounded like when other people read it. Bad, it sounded bad. And a number said, you have no third act, it just ends.

So, I wrote some more, getting out my own world (being single, at the time, bands, music, etc.) and starting exploring other worlds. One of the last I worked on was an hour-long tv pilot called The Black Sky, which I described as “Escape from New York meets The Road.” So, you know, lighthearted, obviously.

I sent some screenplays out to managers and agents, submitted to contests, but nothing came of it. Then Power Ballad came along, and then Dig Me Out, and I got sidetracked from the screenwriting. Somewhere along the way, I decided a novelization might be better than screenplay, so I started turning The Black Sky into a novel. That probably started in 2012, which was the year my daughter was born. Lots of things got shelved between 2012 and 2015 thanks to new jobs for me and my wife, buying a house and the typical newborn/toddler responsibilities.

And then I read The Martian, and learned how Andy Weir wrote the book, chapter by chapter, writing himself into a corner, with feedback from readers each time. And this inspired me to start carving out time to continue creative pursuits that had been abandoned. I went back the novelization I started on The Black Sky, started rewriting, and finished the first chapter.

What’s posted for download here is the prologue and first chapter of the book, and it needs feedback. My wife, who will not b.s. or protect me, said yes, it does indeed not suck, so I feel confident I’m off to a decent start. I would appreciate feedback, thoughts, criticisms, suggestions. I have a loose skeleton of a plot for the remainder of the book, but I am open to revision.

As new chapters go up, old versions will come down, as to not muddy the proverbial water. And at the end, hopefully, there will be book.

See you on the other side.