WRITE TO PITCH—SEVEN ASSIGNMENTS
THE BOOK IS AESOPIA BY MICHAEL J. COOPER
mcooper@michaeljcooper.com
1. STORY STATEMENT: Babrius struggles to convince the Church leaders they must modernize their dogma or risk becoming marginalized in the computer-oriented world. Theron fights to win the girl he loves from her current partner.
2. ANTAGONIST: Roos is an older priest from South Africa. In his youth he was a well-respected firebrand, fighting for racial equality and increasing the dominance of the Church. In his age, he’s become dogmatic, humorless, difficult and has lost his authority. At the conclave of Church elders he personifies the conservative element that refuses to modernize the Church. He gathers around him acolytes who agree with his position and becomes vehement in his opposition to Babrius. Feeling that he’s regained that force and strength that once made him a power to be reckoned with he pushes an agenda that disdains compromise.
Agapanthus is a priest from New York City. He is one of those who is drawn to Roos and shares his convictions. He came to the conclave with his beautiful girlfriend, Livy, but now ignores her. Theron, Babrius’ assistant, falls in love with Livy. As the conservatives start losing the battle for supremacy, Agapanthus turns to violence to save his girl. As a dedicated priest who seeks advancement, he equates the loss of his girl to the rejection of his philosophical principles.
3. TITLE: The current title is Aesopia. Alternatives might be Acropolis Revolution. Or Chronicles of a Church Revived.
4. GENRE AND COMPARABLES: Historical fiction is a common genre. The standard plot sets imagined characters into a more or less real historical events. (Current books of this ilk are Churchills Secret Messenger by Alan Hlad or Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict.) A sub-genre of historical fiction is when imagined characters are set into an imagined, alternative history or virtual history. Michael Chabons’ The Yiddish Policeman’s Union posits that Isreal collapsed in 1948 and the Jews found sanctuary in Alaska. The Alteration by Kingsley Amis is based on a world that is stuck in medieval times. Aesopia imagines a world where the predominant Western religion is not based on the Bible but on Aesop’s Fables. History is the underlying attraction. Inventiveness in revising that history is what makes the stories unique.
5. CORE WOUND AND PRIMARY CONFLICT: An older priest, modestly successful within his own diocese, is now faced with pursuing his enlightened agenda on a world stage where forces of conservative and dogmatic adherence to an ancient script oppose him with organized and vehement energy. He struggles to rise above his limitations to define the Church in the modern world.
6. MATTERS OF CONFLICT: A Sinedria is called by the Kirios, the leader of the Church of Aesop. A world conclave of church elders. The issue is addressing the role of the church in a computer driven society and the possible expansion of doctrine to include disparate, formally marginalized segments of the population. Babrius is invited. He is in favor of modernization but finds the sympathetic members disorganized. He must step beyond his parochial background to lead the charge. He determines who is in favor of growth and progress, who has influence and calls a meeting. Recognizing he void of anyone who will lead the charge, he must step in and rise above his self-doubts.
Meanwhile his assistant, Theron, has fallen in love with Livinia, a fashion model
who is the girlfriend of a staunch Literalist advocate. Livy is torn between loyalty to the man with whom she’s lived for four years and her growing feelings for Theron. Theron is a small-town boy, inexperienced in romance. He’s in over his head and must deal with the displeasure of his boss. Babrius discovers this incipient romance and bristles at the complications it causes in the middle of such an important event as the Sinedria.
7. SETTING: Aesopia begins in the town of Peekskill, New York, the home of Babrius’ diocese but quickly transfers to Athens where the center of the Church of Aesop is located. The Acropolis is the home of Aesopia, the offices of the Kyrios. The action takes place in the Parthenon, in outlying buildings, in Athens proper and its environs. Real hotels, restaurants, streets, structures are incorporated into the plot development. The details of location are a crucial element in the story. The juxtaposition of the small town of Peekskill and the cosmopolitan Athens is part of the underlying tension that drives Babrius and confuses Theron.
