The
Quest to Publish
|
My
novel's,
Island Adrift and Sea Trauma,
are extensions of my life-long commitment to conservation
and environmentalism. |
An Island Adrift
An Island Adrift is a book with
broad appeal, containing elements of interest to just about
any reader. There’s a wealth of adventure, humor, history,
sailing, diving, social commentary, quirky characters and
exotic settings, plus an important and extremely timely conservation
message.
Early in 1962, hurricane-whipped with only 63 cents and my
ship’s papers in my pocket, I sought refuge on the small
island of Bonaire, an old Dutch Colony rooted deep in the
southern Caribbean. It was a very special era when every day
brought new and exciting developments. My expectancy on island:
the early days of spear fishing. then my entry into the resort
business and diving tourism are described in stories where
truth is stranger than fiction; the death of my
ship, the Valerie Queen, in 1963 and the birth of environmentalism
and reef conservation
An Island Adrift is a medley of 45 adventures,
vignettes FROM my life, not ABOUT it. Written over the years,
spanning a time frame of half a century, the novel describes
the stepping stone path that led me from post WWII Hollywood
to the far southern Caribbean. My ultimate reward was the
prize of being in the right place at the right time for the
first time in my life, when in 1962, my wandering ended on
this sleepy little Dutch island which I thought of as ‘an
island adrift’, meaning without direction or purpose.
Goats, charcoal, and salt were her commerce, her virgin reefs
an untapped treasure, tourism non-existent. There was a magic
here where everything yet unborn was on the verge of reality.
I loved it and knew that I had to be involved. As the island
and I moved forward to accept her new destiny, which was underwater
tourism, our karmas became hopelessly intertwined.
Sea Trauma
On the other hand is fictional and is in the
final stages of copy-editing, and should be available for
publication soon. Once I gain a wider public recognition through
the distribution of An Island Adrift, it is expected that
there will be much interest in the rights to Sea Trauma.
Sea Trauma is an undersea adventure set in
the near future, with a strong environmental message. Due
to its highly plausible account of the destruction of most
sea life on earth due to man’s folly, the plot paints
a realistic portrait of the world’s bleak potential
future. With its fast-paced action, innovative underwater
habitat and modes of transportation, remote tropical setting,
crusading scientists, family interaction, evil adversaries,
and societal turmoil, Sea Trauma has great potential to become
a best selling book, as well as the basis for a major motion
picture.
Sea Trauma is the story of a family caught
up in an undersea adventure during a time when the world's
oceans have succumbed to suffocation due to man’s flagrant
disregard for the laws of nature--A fictional story today,
yet most likely a factual account of the not-too-distant future.
Sea Trauma chronicles the faith, conviction, and sacrifice
of an American family and their allies who have the raw courage
to fight strong opposition from numerous camps, even nature
itself, for what they believe can rejuvenate the dying seas.
An inspiring yet earthy story, Sea Trauma combines the mystical
with empirical research, the personal with scientific discovery.
Sea Trauma delivers a fast, action-packed, smooth-reading
undersea yarn, while at the same time delivering a strong
environmental message. Although the author himself is an underwater
pioneer internationally known for his work in marine ecology,
he has kept the technical jargon to a minimum and the message
straightforward without preaching. An effective mix of fact
and fantasy, Sea Trauma paints a simulataneous picture of
the future that is plausible yet unimaginable.
It began as far back as 1999 when James. R.
Buckley, Ph.D., B.S., of Harvard University published a monograph
on the sudden and accelerated growth of schizotrixpollutansi
Buckley, a mutant algae commonly called Schizotrix, in streams
in the Hudson Canyon, an area notorious for its concentration
of heavy metals.
Scientists observed, measured, and recorded.
Federal and local governments either ignored the problem or
bowed to the interests of industry and politics. Then the
Schizotrix flowed into the Atlantic Ocean where it metastasized
and caused a simple form of marine flora called Blue Green
to grow out of control. Sun could not penetrate the cover
of Blue Green taking hold of the reefs. And without the sun,
photosynthesis could not occur and the seas could not produce
oxygen. The marine life of the 20th century became an old
sailor’s tale in the 21st as scientists helplessly watched
the most rapid catastrophic change in Earth’s history.
The delicate food chain broken, all but a few remote pockets
of the normally resilient seas were either dead or dying.
This is a no fool around pussy-cat story and
is guaranteed to keep readers turning pages and on the edge
of their chair.
Environmentalists
Today’s news is full of alarming reports
of global warming, over-fishing, and the impending destruction
of the world’s coral reefs. Captain Don is an ardent
and vocal proponent of coral reef conservation practices.
Just as ex-addicts often make the most effective substance
abuse counselors, Captain Don is a convert to conservation.
He began as an uncaring spear fisherman and coral reef rapist,
only gradually realizing the folly of his destructive habits.
While An Island Adrift is an entertaining book, it also carries
an important conservation message. Environmental organizations
should be pleased to provide a review in their many publications.
My agent for both of these works.
| Architeuthis Literary Agency Inc |
| Richard A. Pretl |
| Fax: +(410) 433-6353 |
| Email: pretl@pretl.com |
| Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
My Published Works
Note Regarding my Unpublished
Novels
In addition to An Island Adrift, and Sea Trauma,
I have completed 4 more lesser novels as well as hundreds
of short stories.
Toy Swashbuckler (98,000 words)
Rated R. The confession of a Caribbean gun runner. A central
American sea story set in the mid-1930s with Captain Flynn,
a sea-going Indiana Jones type. Girls, Banana republic revolutions,
and German submarines.
Whore’s Horror (52,000
words) Fantasy and gore, circa 1948. Written for a New York
Film studio requesting an inexpensive horror script.
Balsa Shillelagh (76,000 words)
Factual comedy, 1945. The US Navy Medical Corps and Philadelphia
and the Naval Hospital. It is about nurses, waves, and the
craziness of a naval hospital and an Irish lad named Timmy
O'Keefe. No! This is not a war story.
Strictly Poker (72,000 words)
Fantasy and comedy on a Pacific island. A navy payroll and
a hundred hands of poker. Only two contestants, one rusty
gun and a single bullet. Written in the 50's and worthy of
consideration.
New in the Works
The
Admiral’s Son (expecting to close at 100,000
words) Setting in the late 1850’s. A story of the slave
runners, a defecting British officer, Lt. Angus Brec Stuart--an
officer of color--whose father, the Admiral, married his slave,
Angus’, mother when one day dead. With a stolen prize,
intended for the Queen and a Black Skull flag on its mast
head, Angus Brec Stuart pursued with vengeance the Portuguese
slavers who had abducted his mother.
My pen name simply is,
the ®Wicked mind's eye of Capt'n don
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