Jan H

         I'm attaching a file instead of a copy/paste.  For some reason, pasting my text removes the single spacing.  Go figure.   The sample is from a novel I started a few years ago.  I chose this to show a sample of my written dialogue.

        My current project by design will have no dialogue for at least the first 20-30 pages.  I'm still working on the opening scenes leading up to the point where the elk hunter is abducted by a Sasquatch.  Following the abduction, the two will establish a means of communicating, at which point I'll introduce dialogue.  

Workshop Assignment 3.docx

Haraczy Pre-Work – Algonkian Writer’s Conference

Story Statement – An elk hunter and another intelligent sentient species collide in the vast unspoiled wilderness of the Siskiyou Mountains.  This other species is a creature of myth with no modern proof of its existence.  Pop culture calls this beast Bigfoot or Sasquatch.  Many First Nation tribes knew of this creature and referred to its kind as The First People.  For millennia this ancient creature has lived in harmony with nature.  Homo sapiens sapiens, a relative newcomer to the planet, has fallen out of harmony with the consequence of destroying Mother Earth.  When loggers invade Sasquatch’s hunting territory, Sasquatch and Human find they can work together to preserve untouched nature. 

Antagonist – Josiah Blackthorne, a venture capitalist for green technology entrepreneurs.  He spent his youth romping the rugged forests surrounding his hometown of Kalama, Washington.  During his formative years, Josiah excelled in his schoolwork; but he believed his best teacher to be nature.  He spent many an hour marveling at the intricate balance of creatures with their habitats.  A horrible accident destroyed his inner peace.  A toxic spill from an upstate paper mill rendered Kalama’s drinking water unsafe.  Josiah decided to turn his outrage into action by focusing his future career path on environmentally-friendly technology.  His pursuit led him to California’s Silicon Valley, a place far removed from the wild wonders of his youth.  He often reminds himself that the sacrifice is worth it.  He views his mission of enabling green technology as his contribution to saving the planet.  A couple of times a year he escapes his grueling business life to recharge in secluded wilderness.  In his latest getaway he travels to a remote section of the Siskiyou Mountains with plans of hunting Roosevelt elk. 

Prospective Titles:

·         Dominus

·         The Mother’s Protector

·         The Ancient Ones

Comparables

The Twilight series:  Stephenie Meyer not only immersed us in a fictitious world of vampires and werewolves, but also made us love them. 

The Meg series:  Steve Alten introduced us to a creature long believed extinct.  He gave us an inside glimpse of the animal’s primal instincts as it navigated the waters of the modern world

Hook Line – The alpha male of a Sasquatch clan forms an uneasy alliance with an elk hunter he abducts as they work to prevent loggers from decimating the clan’s hunting ground.

Protagonist Conflict – Chukka, the alpha male of a Sasquatch clan, despises humans.  While his contact with humans, or pests as he calls them, has been scarce over the years, his first contact left him scarred.  As a juvenile, his clan was forced to flee their hunting territory because of a forest fire started by careless campers.  Chukka and his mother witnessed the incident, a campfire built too close to dry tinder.  Chukka’s older male sibling perished during the clan’s desperate search for safety from the raging inferno.

While returning from a training hunt with three of his clan’s adolescent males, Chukka sniffs the foul scent of a pest.  Later that night he tracks the putrid scent to the intruder’s campground.  The first thing he sees is the campfire, igniting the memory of that long-ago frantic dash to safety.  The sight of the campfire detonates his inner rage.  As much as he wants to squash the pest, his moral code prevents him from killing animals he does not plan to eat.  Instead he decides scare the pest away. 

Later in the story, Foos, one of Chukka’s beta males, discovers a logging operation setting up on the northern boundary of the clan’s territory.  Chukka decides to abduct the pest to help the clan learn how best to drive this threat off their hunting ground.  As much as Chukka dislikes pests, he knows that forming an alliance with the intruder will increase the clan’s chances of successfully securing their territory.   Chukka now faces the challenges of ensuring his abductee’s safety from other clan members and convincing this adversary to work against his own kind to help the clan.

Setting - Fictional and remote Symbol Lake in the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon.  The forest is populated with a variety of pines, spruce, deciduous trees, thick brush and thorny thicket.  To the north of Symbol Lake sits an alpine meadow, a popular grazing spot for deer, elk and bear and a fruitful Sasquatch hunting ground.  The Sasquatch inhabit a cave west of Symbol Lake about halfway between the lake and alpine meadow.  The cave provides easy access for Sasquatch, but very difficult for human navigation.  It is reached by one of three ways on foot:  by ascending a sheer rock wall on the eastern side, ascending a slag field with a 70 degree slope on the south and western sides, or by descending a sheer rock wall on the north side.  The cave has a large flat clearing in front of it, large enough for a human to be dropped by helicopter.

Josiah makes camp in a clearing along the northwestern shore of Symbol Lake.  He intends to hunt the alpine meadow, a place where in the past he has successfully bagged Roosevelt elk.  For his first day’s hunt, he bushwhacks a trail to the alpine meadow, a distance of 2.5 miles.  With the trail cleared, his subsequent treks to the meadow will be easier. 

Elk hunting season in the Siskiyou Mountains runs in early September.  The sun throws intensive rays during the day, but gives way to chilly evenings.  Josiah planned his hunting attire for daytime highs in the 70’s and overnight lows in 40’s.  Were he to be trapped in the mountains during the rainy season, which commences in October, he would suffer from weather exposure and even possibly die from hypothermia.