¦ dialling in from workstation ¦
08:33 GMT, Tuesday 30th June. Last night I finished the first draft of my latest novel, Dog Eat Dog. It’s the 5th one to come out of the Lab so to speak, but is the first book to take place within the Yellow Dawn universe. It’s the same world as the previous books, but this occurs ten years after an apocalyptic event has left the Earth devastated.
ONE LINER:
Dog Eat Dog – “Everybody has lost somebody they love. Sometimes you get to choose who dies.”
OR
Dog Eat Dog – “Power comes from being able to choose who dies.”
BACK JACKET BLURB
In the near future, the Earth is devastated by a viral pathogen that is unleashed by a corporate cargo hauler crashing into the atmosphere; breaking up as it fireballs across the sky, it showers Southern Europe and North Africa with a deadly rain of infected debris.
Ten years later, over seventy percent of the human population is dead and only a handful of cities survive intact. So called “Living Cities”. The vast majority of human habitation is abandoned to the undying creatures left mutated through a brutal twist in the infection. The animal and plant kingdom is unaffected, and with the absence of so much humanity, a New Wilderness forms, roamed by the brave and criminal minded. Above this, the orbital colonies spin within artificial gravity wells, impartial observers, unaffected by the horrors below.
Within Dog Eat Dog, we glimpse the desperation, greed and corruption of the political and corporate elements left hovering over this bleak and brutalised domain and the pervasive creep of a cosmic horror that is now free to infiltrate the remote abandoned corners of the Earth.
The UDP marches out of the chaos to hammer conformity and fairness onto new settlements, whilst the remnants of E-FIB, UTOC and MOCID conspire and plot to grab power and influence.
There’s a fortune to be made if you have the right connections, the right skills and the right moral make-up.
Within this mix the lives of two survivors collide: a renegade intelligence agent and a cold-blooded master of violence, shaping events with their virulent hunger for money and a meaning to their existence.
David J Rodger’s trademark unforgiving rendering of harsh reality, and relentless narrative pace, are here in palm-sweating abundance, delivered in a novel that opens up a new universe of conflict, shocking truths and monstrous threats to sanity and life.
END # # #
Hmm, well, I’m glad I started writing this blog entry today as I’ve slipped into an inspired mode and have come up with the hardest part of any book; the back-jacket blurb.
Feedback welcome.
Right, so, now its lunchtime and I’ve just started the review process. Read chapter one. Some corrections to make. Then a sit down tonight with my editor and do the same again. 49 chapters. Hopefully I can nail this in a month?
I’ve just picked up the notes for a novel I started writing back in 1997. Living in Flames. I think I might try to keep this mental momentum going and start working on it rather than stepping back from everything.
Watch this space. I’ll either get stuck into writing another novel or my brain will simply short-circuit.
Djr
More David J Rodger? God Seed ¦ Dante’s Fool ¦ Iron Man Project ¦ Edge ¦ Yellow Dawn RPG
Gratz Dave on finishing first draft :-)
@ NGT, thanks compadre.
Looking forward to reading it. From start to finish in one go just like Edge – quite a ride my friend. Congratulations.
F.
liking the jacket blurb- spot on! Looking forward to the completed book :)
@ Floyd, am really looking forward to you getting this into your head. I can remember discussing this story about 3 years ago; the whole blogger concept threading through some of the chapters. Oh, yeah, and some totally spooky shit for you to daydream about in your neck of the woods around the Catskills. Mwhahaah *dark smile*
Well, an actual bear walked past me last weekend – gave me a taste of what pure adrenaline based fear is like!
Hope to see a mention of Po8 too!
Bring it!
F.
Bears scare the SHIT out of me.
I had dinner with people in a log cabin on the shores of Lake Edith, Rockies, Canada, back in 2003, and there was a frigging bear outside. Leaving that night we had to run for the car, taking the small risk of being eaten after dinner.
Considerate of you eating your dinner first. More dinner for the bear.
Had an aweful dream once about being lost in the Norwegian mountains, when noticing that on the hill close to mine, a bear was walking towards me. Trying to be cool about it (and not run, as I’ve picked up somewhere), I quickly start walking downhill. But the bear was closing in, and was suddenly in front of me. Thats when I notice that it’s a man in a bear suit. I woke up laughing at that. From something sinister to something funny. Probably why I remember it so well :)
@ Hagen, I like that.
REVISED BACK JACKET BLURB
ONE LINER:
Dog Eat Dog – “Power comes from being able to choose who dies.”
BACK JACKET BLURB
In the near future, the Earth is devastated by a viral pathogen that is unleashed by a corporate cargo hauler crashing into the atmosphere; breaking up as it fireballs across the sky, it showers Southern Europe and North Africa with a deadly rain of infected debris.
Ten years later, over seventy percent of the human population is dead and only a handful of cities survive intact. So called “Living Cities”. The vast majority of human habitation is abandoned to the undying creatures left mutated through a brutal twist in the infection. The animal and plant kingdom is unaffected, and with the absence of so much humanity, a New Wilderness forms, roamed by the brave and criminal minded. Above this, the orbital colonies spin within artificial gravity wells, impartial observers, unaffected by the horrors below.
Greed and corruption are left hovering over this bleak and brutalised domain and a cosmic horror is now free to infiltrate the remote abandoned corners of the Earth.
There’s a fortune to be made if you have the right connections, the right skills and the right moral make-up.
Within this mix the lives of two survivors collide: a renegade intelligence agent and a cold-blooded master of violence, shaping events with their virulent hunger for money and a meaning to their existence.
David J Rodger’s trademark unforgiving rendering of harsh reality, and relentless narrative pace, are here in palm-sweating abundance, delivered in a novel that opens up a new universe of conflict, shocking truths and monstrous threats to sanity and life.
END # # #
….>>>> Let me know what y’all think of the new version. Djr
How about :
Eat or be eaten
Mmmmm *wiggles hand from side to side* I can see where you’re going but it clashes a bit with Dog Eat Dog. But I like the concept…