Book Review: THE COMET'S CURSE by Dom Testa

When a comet streaks past Earth and leaves behind a deadly disease that affects anyone over the age of 18, a group of young teens must board a ship and head to a new planet to save the human race from extinction.

I like the premise by Dom Testa's YA sci-fi novel. His storytelling is pretty straightforward, and the novel builds nicely to a climax.

I first became aware of this book while at the IRA (International Reading Association) Convention last month. Testa was speaking at the convention about sci-fi novels; unfortunately, I missed his presentation since I was attending only on Monday, and his talk was on Wednesday. Now that I've read his book, I'm really sorry I missed his talk.

When I first started writing Alex Jones, I had to do a market analysis for my writing teacher. This means checking out other similar books that are already published to make sure my book idea isn't too similar to other books already out there. At the time I started my novel, I could find only two books that really took place on the moon: M.T. Anderson's Feed and Paula Danziger's This Place Has No Atmosphere. Neither of them are very similar to my story.

Testa's novel, however, does possess some similarities to mine, which is why I really would have liked attending his session at the IRA Convention. Both of our stories involve teens (although his are slightly older than mine), and both of them involve new civilizations outside planet Earth (his on a ship headed for another planet and mine on the moon). Interestingly, his ship and my moon colony have similarities. Both have recreations facilities, dining halls, and computers that control just about everything.

One thing I really liked about Testa's book is that the chapters alternate between what's happening on the ship and what happened back on Earth that led up to sending off a ship with 251 teenagers on it to start a new civilization on a planet five years away. By the end of the book, what was happening on the ship dovetailed nicely with what was happening back on Earth.

The book is part of a series (called the Galahad series), so I'll be interested in seeing what happens next. I'd recommend this book to any student who likes sci-fi stories with strong teenage protagonists.

Screenwriting Competition Finalist!

My post today is a departure from my typical post since most of that has to do with my novel.

Today I'm thrilled to say that I was just named a finalist in the Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open contest!

I'm in total shock. I entered the contest on a lark. It was only $13 to enter, and every entrant would receive feedback on the screenplay. Thirteen bucks is pretty cheap to have a professional give you feedback!

So I entered Round 1 of the contest, which worked like this: on a Friday night (I think it was April 16), every contestant was sent a scene premise. Here's the premise we were given:

"Your protagonist is crushed. His or her plans have been dashed; his objective now appears impossible. And yet if he throws in the towel, bad things will happen. Write a scene in which a mentor, friend, love interest or enemy rallies or provokes your protagonist in an unexpected way. Be sure to give us your best dialogue here as your protagonist comes around and rises – or falls — to the occasion."

We then had until 9:00 a.m. Monday morning to write a 3-5 page scene based on the premise.

Click here if you want to read my scene.

The finalists were posted online here if you want to check out my competition. I think one of my former middle school students (from way back) is actually one of my fellow finalists! How weird is that--student and teacher ending up in the same competition!

(Note to Mike Tyburski--If you stumble upon my blog and you are the Mike Tyburski that I taught in Waukegan 10-12 years ago, please contact me. I'd love to hear from ya!)

For the final round, we will be given a different premise this Saturday at noon, and then have only 24 hours to write a new 3-5 page scene!

You can bet I'll be talking about this when I teach my annual summer school screenwriting class to middle school students. :)

Please vote on which summary you like best!

Once an author has written a book, the easy part is over. That's right--the writing of the novel is the easy part. The hard part is getting it published.

In order to get a book published, authors often send what are called "query letters" to literary agents and/or editors to see if they are interested in reading their manuscripts. These query letters must include a short summary of the book, one that doesn't give away the ending. Ideally, it gives away just enough of the story to whet the reader's appetite and make 'em beg for more!

Literary agent (and fellow blogger) Nathan Bransford suggests writing three different summaries: a one-sentence pitch, a one-paragraph summary, and a two-paragraph summary. Have you ever tried to boil a whole book down to one sentence?

Here's my one-sentence pitch for Alex Jones: When a thirteen-year-old girl seeks refuge from an evil emperor by fleeing to a moon colony, she hopes to make some new friends; instead, she makes trouble.

Now here's where I could use your help. I've written two two-paragraph summaries for the book. Let me know which one you think is better.

Summary A:
When the Alex Jones is chased off planet Earth for having a superpower, she and her grandfather must head to the moon to escape the clutches of the evil Emperor Devlesh. For the first time in her life, Alex hopes to finally make some friends her own age. However, the moon colonists haven’t had a new resident in eleven years, and they’re not so sure they want a girl who lies, cheats, and sneaks around the colony at night.

But Alex doesn’t have much choice. Her grandmother is still back on Earth, and her grandfather’s ship is busted. An old feud keeps Grandpa from asking for help from the colonists, so it’s up to Alex and her superpowers to save the day. Too bad it’s her superpowers that might just get her a return ticket back to the Emperor’s clutches.


Summary B:
In the year 2216, thirteen-year-old Alex Jones just wants to make friends; instead, she makes trouble. The evil Emperor Devlesh wants Alex for her power. All her life she’s had the ability to snatch up any object she wants with just a flick of her wrist. To escape the Emperor’s clutches, she and her grandfather head to the International Moon Colony, where Alex hopes she can finally make some friends. However, nobody new has entered the colony for eleven years, and the colonists are immediately suspicious of their latest resident.

Alex knows she must keep her power a secret, but that's not easy. Grandma's still back on Earth, and Grandpa's ship is broken. Alex could steal the supplies Grandpa needs, but that means using her power--a risk that could expose her to the Emperor's spies and scare away the only friends she's ever known.

You can tell me which one you like better in the comments section, by emailing me, or (if you're one of my students) by telling me at school. :)

Article Published!

I just had an article published in an online newsletter. If you want to find out how I use fantasy books in my classroom, check out the article HERE.

My article is the second one in the newsletter. The main topic of the article, Joseph Campbell's theory of the monomyth, was actually a huge inspiration for Alex's story. Can you already guess what Alex's "call to adventure" was? How about her "supernatural aid"?