New York Pitch Conference Seven Assignments
1. Survivor’s Guilt Story Statement: In an America where every child is provided a firearm, disgraced hunter Frank Accardi wants to kill the nation’s shadowy dictator, Guild Master Krast, for harming his younger sister, Cassidy.
2. The United Guilds of America serve as the primary antagonistic force in “Survivor’s Guilt.” Both Krast and Zarx are spawns of a manipulative system abusing its citizens with a combination of biological and loyalty tests, the latter of which are enforced via strict firearms laws. Angelica Krast is a hidden antagonist for much of the book, disguising herself as leader of the rebel organization, the Actualists. She was once married to Rudolph Krast, founder of the miracle drug, Kronos. The UGA government conspired to kill Rudolph Krast, steal his research, and use it for the acceleration of their own power. Vengeance is introduced as a motif, as Krast seeks vengeance against other members of the UGA much like Frank seeks vengeance against her. Alternatively, the antagonist of Zarx is a mentally damaged, psychotic foe who begins the story as Frank’s confidant and ally. His father mentally and physically abuses him over the course of his life, molding Zarx’s thinking of what strength and loyalty mean in this dystopian world. Frank relies on Zarx for protection from the UGA and for weaponry he can use against Krast. When Frank is captured by rebels, Zarx abandons his worship of Frank’s past successes and see’s him as an embodiment of treachery and a vehicle for perpetuating weakness. He is wild, erratic, foul, selfish, and burdened, his mind a chthonic lair of unpredictability and horror.
3. Breakout Title: Survivor’s Guilt, The Golden Serpent, Legend of The Grand Seeker, The Grand Seeker, Seeker’s Wrath
4. Survivor’s Guilt similar to “One Man’s War” by Steven Savile and “Tribe” by Jeremy Robinson. The latter blends elements of science with mythology, yet grounded in known place like Boston. It also pairs two main characters, a male and female, who start the novel unaware of their heroic roots. The intense, fast-paced action Robinson weaves throughout the work is similar in many sections to the gun warfare the dystopian world of “Survivor’s Guilt” demands. “One Man’s War” contains a similar world-build to “Survivor’s Guilt”, including a dystopian world controlled by powerful corporate conglomerates and “kill” teams set on missions for power. “Survivor’s Guilt” is slightly different in its utilizing of sci-fi concepts (nation-destroying diseases and an ever-mutating cure that solidifies the government’s control over its citizens). However, both works feature a strong protagonist searching for answers in a dark, unforgiving world. Both works are blends of dystopian, sci-fi, and thriller, while providing ample action and character intrigue to justify the genre and ultimately entertain the reader.
5. A gunslinging government contractor seeks vengeance against the tyrant who killed his sister by joining a rebellion to expose the totalitarian government and its wicked experimentations that ultimately led to his sister’s demise.
6. Prior to the events of “Survivor’s Guilt”, Frank Accardi spends years supporting the UGA (United Guilds of America) and its propaganda, believing he is honoring those who saved the nation from certain biological doom with their miracle cure, Kronos. Ignorant to the wicked experimentations and discrimination, Frank hunts down Intangibles with his firearms, using his family as further justification for his actions. As Frank’s title as the Grand Seeker grows, his younger sister Cassidy begins to question the government’s intentions. Frank tries to quell his sister’s uproar, but is unsuccessful. As the UGA pursues Cassidy, Frank begins seeing this corrupt nation for what it is. Cassidy’s demise is the catalyst to Frank’s slow transformation into a rebel and believer in how the UGA’s harsh gun laws and discrimination have caused true psychological damage in the minds of its citizens, including his best friend and future antagonist, Ben. To complicate matters, Frank suffers from a form of PNES called KIA’s (Kronos Induced Attacks). Complications from his time as Grand Seeker absorbing Kronos from his victims forces him at inopportune moments to relive moments of his hunts, and unfortunately, the fate of his sister. Another subplot comes in the form of a love interest. The Dark Archer, or as we soon learn her name, Veronica begins as Frank’s enemy, holding contempt for his past deeds to the UGA. As pieces of Frank’s past manifest themselves, both within and around Frank, Veronica grows sympathetic toward him, finding similarity in her own isolating situation to Frank’s seemingly endless pain and guilt. Overall, within Frank is a desire to kill Guild Master Krast and avenge his fallen sister. At first, he doesn’t consider the bigger implications of the government’s wrongdoings, selfishly focusing on only his situation. What Frank truly needs and is exposed to throughout the novel is a purpose to serve those wounded by the UGA and undo the corrupt system he once supported, finally realizing why he was wrong to ever support it from the inception.
7. Survivor’s Guilt is a dark, gritty nation-spanning journey providing numerous settings of varying intrigue. The first chapter places Frank on the streets of South Boston where he infiltrates an underground educational facility teaching youth expanded firearm training. After the chilling process of wiping is introduced to the reader, we follow Frank through the dark, bone-chilling streets to an abandoned manor, a rickety wooden hole in which our main character lives with his grandmother and those impoverished she’s rescued from the streets. In the next chapter, we come to understand the societal structure of the nation’s youth in a barracks compound known as the Youth Learning Center. This is where the reader witnesses every student holding a firearm and obediently reciting the creed of their tyrannical government. To further paint the grip the United Guilds of America has over its citizens, the setting shifts to Ryol Coliseum, the modern day TD Garden transformed into a battle arena. This is where Frank hopes to kill Krast until he realizes tragically that Krast will not be attending. We then take a dive into the warped mind of our antagonist Ben by visiting his home. He remains allied with Frank at this point in the story, but we peer into the frightening and unstable nature of this character. The basement scene is the pinnacle where we see how Ben treats his Intangibles and the wicked philosophy he has chosen to justify his actions. At Ben’s party, we see his house utilized to its maximum potential, including exotic lights, drinking, and party games utilizing firearms. Once we leave the party, the story shifts into its next big act, in which the rebel Ally sets a trap for Frank and Ben. The abandoned railyard acts as a relic to the Old World but also a high-intensity action sequence when Ben signals Ryol’s Rangers, a private military force loyal to Ryol Guild. The battle between the rebel Actualists creates a new dynamic between Frank, The Dark Archer (Veronica), Ally, and Justin. Separated from the rest, Frank is taken prisoner and moved through the suburban forests surrounding Brookline, Massachusetts. Sequences unfold in which Frank ferries Justin across a busy highway, then a battle at an abandoned motel upon a hill. There are periods of contemplation for Frank and the rest in between the action to give each scene its rest. The next setting transitions us to one of our focal locations in the Colony, the Actualist’s secret base beneath the Cadillac Mountains of Maine. Here, Frank meets various characters, including the rebel leader, Angelic the Wise. Different areas of the Colony are explored, including an old theater where Veronica sneaks away to play her musical instruments, the subbasements where the Wiped are stored and observed, and Angelic’s office where she spins her existential philosophy. A tragic scene occurs in a nearby village a few scenes later where a rescue mission ends with a boy’s shocking suicide. Only when Frank feels welcomed and situated at the Colony does a key character betray him and leave him for dead in the icy tundra north of Novia Scotia. Frank encounters the Mi’kmaq Native American tribe staying true to its ancestral ways despite government control. Unfortunately, Ben returns with a vengeance, wielding a new weapon and bearing a new name in Zarx. Frank pursues Ben to Augusta where he’s situated himself in a military fortress. The Actualists rescue Frank from this horrid place, staging another heightened battle. However, none can compare to the Battle of Colony Hill, an epic chapter-long fight in which Zarx bombards the Colony and kills many rebels, including some main characters. This forces Frank and the rest to retreat west in hopes of evacuating to their allies in the Chinese Federation. They stop briefly at a bunker in the mid-west and finally an the Mausoleum, a massive villa situated on the coast of Malibu, California where Frank must make the ultimate decision to save his newly found family and friends. As shown here, the setting is meant to match the journey, taking the reader to many dark places but sprinkling in bits of hope and promise throughout the chaos to keep them thoroughly engaged.
