Update on Forsaken
I submitted the "Forsaken: Searching for God's Fingerprints," manuscript last Friday, April 15. Not sure how fast things will move now. Submission included acknowledgment page, blurb about the author and other copyright information. By the time I got the book formatted the way they wanted, it was about 215 pages. Once they do their formatting I will get a page count and a cost of the finished 5 X 8 paperback.I will keep everyone informed on the progress.
So, I've been working on the sequel. The basic outline is that the hero of Forsaken is called on again to help discover the truth behind a new signal received from the direction of Alpha Centauri, the same area the signal originated from in Forsaken. He will again run into various conspiracies and mysterious forces that are trying to either stop him or help him.
It will probably have a dual plot line, one line about my hero and his quest, and one about the aliens that are sending the signal. Building the alien plot line is going to be very interesting, and challenging. Where will they come from? Probably somewhere near Alpha Centauri. What interest do they have in Earth? Why do they want to contact the human species on Earth? How will they contact us?
What kind of religion do they have? Will it be the same, or similar to anything on Earth? A combination of all the major religions on Earth? Or will it be something totally different based on the environment in which they evolved?
All of this is going to require tons of research and lots of deep thinking. That's why, over the next few months, I'll probably throw out some ideas about alien worlds and cultures and trying to weave together something that is plausible but very alien to the Earthly experience.
Should be lots of fun. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
No Heaven, No Hell. What the heck is a guy to believe in?
Update on "Forsake: Searching for God's Fingerprints"
Copy editing is done. I now have to get the manuscript formatted to meet submission guidelines, attach the before and after pages, and then send it off. That part of it should be done this week.
Now, back to the question of religion on an alien planet where the sun (or their local star, or star) does not elicit worship. No Sun Gods, no place of eternal life up there in the sky someplace. No myths created that look to the heavens for answers. On this planet, let's call it Planet X, you can't even see the stars. There are two normal stars rotating in an alternate fashion, plus there's a red dwarf, so it never really gets dark.
If intelligent species need religion, on this planet they would have to look someplace else. Perhaps they would look to the water -- there's lots of that. The planet is about two-thirds ocean and one-third land mass.
And there's lots of water coming down from the sky. The planet is warmer than our Earth and it rains a lot. There also have been cycles of global warming, and, although there are no polar ice caps on this planet because of the multiple suns, there are lots of mountains and huge mountain-top glaciers, so there have been regular fluctuations of the sea levels which have most people living a considerable way away from any coast.
The flora and fauna of this planet, given the warm climate and dense vegetation, are extremely prolific and varied. It is not uncommon for new species of plants and animals to be found regularly. The reason for this have cause great speculation, but, even though the science on this planet is much more advanced than our is on Earth at this time, there are no concrete answers for the generation of new species.
Some can be explained by natural selection, of which mutations can play a part, but not all.
So, would people on this planet worship Mother Planet, the way some cultures on Earth do? Or might they find something else on which to attach their faith?
Or, perhaps, there would be no need to have a faith-based culture, as in our religious type of faith. Maybe life is what it is, no explanations needed. Can science explain everything. Maybe on Planet X they once had a faith-based religion but after thousands of years of watching their faith betray them, they finally said, "Hey, life is what it is. Things are born, they live and they die. No reasons other that chance are needed to explain what happens to people, animals or any other living thing."
What would that do to a culture? I believe it would make it much richer in terms of resources. Look at how much blood and treasure the human species on Earth has spilled and wasted because people believed they had to defend their faith.
Maybe the Heaven on Earth some religions talk about is an Earth without religion.
Think about it.
Copy editing is done. I now have to get the manuscript formatted to meet submission guidelines, attach the before and after pages, and then send it off. That part of it should be done this week.
Now, back to the question of religion on an alien planet where the sun (or their local star, or star) does not elicit worship. No Sun Gods, no place of eternal life up there in the sky someplace. No myths created that look to the heavens for answers. On this planet, let's call it Planet X, you can't even see the stars. There are two normal stars rotating in an alternate fashion, plus there's a red dwarf, so it never really gets dark.
If intelligent species need religion, on this planet they would have to look someplace else. Perhaps they would look to the water -- there's lots of that. The planet is about two-thirds ocean and one-third land mass.
And there's lots of water coming down from the sky. The planet is warmer than our Earth and it rains a lot. There also have been cycles of global warming, and, although there are no polar ice caps on this planet because of the multiple suns, there are lots of mountains and huge mountain-top glaciers, so there have been regular fluctuations of the sea levels which have most people living a considerable way away from any coast.
The flora and fauna of this planet, given the warm climate and dense vegetation, are extremely prolific and varied. It is not uncommon for new species of plants and animals to be found regularly. The reason for this have cause great speculation, but, even though the science on this planet is much more advanced than our is on Earth at this time, there are no concrete answers for the generation of new species.
Some can be explained by natural selection, of which mutations can play a part, but not all.
So, would people on this planet worship Mother Planet, the way some cultures on Earth do? Or might they find something else on which to attach their faith?
Or, perhaps, there would be no need to have a faith-based culture, as in our religious type of faith. Maybe life is what it is, no explanations needed. Can science explain everything. Maybe on Planet X they once had a faith-based religion but after thousands of years of watching their faith betray them, they finally said, "Hey, life is what it is. Things are born, they live and they die. No reasons other that chance are needed to explain what happens to people, animals or any other living thing."
What would that do to a culture? I believe it would make it much richer in terms of resources. Look at how much blood and treasure the human species on Earth has spilled and wasted because people believed they had to defend their faith.
Maybe the Heaven on Earth some religions talk about is an Earth without religion.
Think about it.
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