Paradox

After my recovery, I will continue working on my current manuscript, while I seek representation for my sci-fi thiller Paradox.

It is the two year anniversary of his wife’s disappearance. Standing on a rooftop, beneath the night sky, Detective Jake Cross preferred to die than to live without Lisa.

Here is the opening paragraph.

Paradox

Tonight, the moon arrived without her.
No other phenomenon on Earth or in the heavens could provoke a fusion of so many emotions; passion, remorse, uncertainty, all boiling in a primordial soup of sentiments that scorched his soul. This unwelcomed nightly event consumed detective Jake Cross like a voracious black hole gnawing at his heart, cell by helpless cell, devouring every reason he had for living.

Paradox – Mankind’s last hope is a man who lost his faith.

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Jake Cross Can’t Live Another Day Without Her

Seven billion people dead; yet his selfish heart only mourned for one.

The distraught figure dragged his body to the ledge of the mountaintop, as if he alone towed the burdens of a dying planet. He looked down on the futuristic metropolis constructed over the ashes of mankind. The alien city with its pale glass structures resembled a crystal cemetery of broken dreams.

Clutching the last remaining evidence that humans once inhabited the Earth, he groaned.

Through misty eyes, Jake Cross admired a photograph of his wife Lisa. His heart pounded against his ribs like a relentless bill collector at the door. Intolerable emptiness grew inside him like a cancerous black hole, eating away at his brittle psyche, devouring his aching soul.

He pressed the photo against his heaving chest as if her image could wipe away his pain.

Who better to console him? Lisa always neutralized his sorrows with a smile or warm embrace. Wiping the moisture from his eyes, a warm breeze caressed his skin reminding him of her gentle touch. He trembled like a virgin relishing her first kiss. Would he eventually forget the sound of her soft voice?

Jake couldn’t live like this. Earth without Lisa would be as cold and desolate as Pluto. He vowed to search for her. He needed to know if she survived. A horrifying thought crept into his mind like a swarm of stampeding centipedes. What if she suffered the same fate as the seven billion others?

He rubbed the photo against his chest with violent motions like an irritated student hoping to erase an error from a page. He preferred to cling to diminishing hope because the alternative…..

Jake shut his moist brown eyes.

It would be easier to stop breathing than to live another day without her.

  • – Jake Cross is the main character of my manuscript/screenplay Paradox.

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Do Fiction Writers Live Vicariously Through Their Characters?

Yes, I do.

Remember the last time someone acted a bit snarky with you at the supermarket or on line at the local bank. Have you replayed a moment like that in your mind wishing you had said something clever? Well, one of my secondary characters in my manuscript Paradox, his name is Razor, always has a wry remark ready. Yes, and I grit my teeth and shake my fist every time he says the clever line that’s never discharged from my mouth.

Do I Live vicariously through my characters?

YES, yes, yes. I admit it. With no shame or guilt. My characters accomplish all the things that I never could. They lead exciting lives traveling the world, sipping on the finest champagne, making love to the most beautiful women, and most importantly; overcoming every obstacle. And trust me, I make it hard for them!

Andrew Duran the mysterious fugitive with the secretive past; skilled in combat and in bed. Veyda the unselfish warrior determined to save mankind, ready to sacrifice her own happiness to save the world. These guys are filled with such passion. Theirs lives are extraordinary.

So, I admit my characters bring excitement to my life. And why not? They are the most interesting people I know.

Do you live through vicariously through your characters?

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Introducing Veyda

Her resolute aqua eyes spied the barren subway tunnel. Grateful no one occupied the dark passage, she clenched her trembling fists. Tiny glints of light reflected off of subway rails reminding her of the unseen orbs twinkling in the evening sky. A thousand years have passed since the last man witnessed the unholy heavens. Perhaps, she could succeed where hundreds of others had failed before her.

Veyda possessed no fear of death. With mankind on the brink of annihilation, she refused to wait for the inevitable. Unlike her apprehensive comrades, who rejected the idea of an aggressive campaign against the powerful aliens; she relished the opportunity. Let us decide the time and place of our final destiny.

Extinction. The ungodly thought coursed through her angry five foot eight inch frame like a rabid roller coaster on steroids. Detesting the toxic way it reverberated inside her ears, she expunged the word from her vocabulary. How could fate be so cruel? Did life on Earth really have to end here and now? Not if she had anything to say about it.

Veyda refused to join the dinosaurs and Neanderthals in extinction.

Veyda is the lead female character of my novel/screenplay trilogy Paradox