Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 81

Back to the push, too...

Worked on another 2 chapters of APoS Book Three... which I'm calling Return but really want something more meaningful. The image is of Gatwick Airport in 1981. Brendan flies through there en route back to Derry, where he finds his sister, Maeve, is overwhelmed and his mother really is wasting away from cancer. He feels relieved...to his shame. She still hates him, from how she talks to him, but now he's not so sure he cares about knowing why. He's not even sure she'll be honest with him.

I also got back to sending out queries to agents for APoS. I really want this to be offered through a publishing house that has the reach to get it publicized and into book stores. Self-publishing is not great unless you know how to self-promote and do it for hours each day. Which I don't.

Anyway, here's my latest letter, and I emailed queries to 2 agents in NYC:

------------------------------

My three volume novel, A Place of Safety, is the story of Brendan Kinsella, a lad who just wants to live his life. But he was born and raised in Derry (aka: Londonderry), Northern Ireland, and history interferes with his plans.

The first volume, Derry, begins in 1966, when Brendan's father is murdered. He is but ten years of age. Thought of as simple but with an innate ability to repair things, he navigates his way through a society in thrall to history and the Catholic church as he tires to forge his own path. He forms a relationship with a Protestant girl...a relationship that must be kept secret from all family and friends, for fear of reprisals.

The story is told through Brendan’s eyes and sweeps through:

·      the 1968 Civil Rights demonstrations in Derry 

·      the attack on peaceful marchers at Burntollet Bridge in early 1969 

·      the lead-up to The Battle of Bogside in August of that year 

·      the arrival of British troops to separate the two warring sides

·      the re-introduction of internment in 1971

·      Bloody Sunday in 1972

·      witnessing a horrific bombing in October, that year

This section is currently 132,845 words and 583 pps long, double-spaced and in Courier 12 point font. I have short synopses of each chapter, as well.

Volume 2, New World for Old, is set between 1973 and 1981. Thanks to the bombing he witnessed, Brendan is in a catatonic state so is stashed away at his aunt's home in Houston, Texas until he recovers. Eventually, he tries to rebuild his life, there, but finds the hates and prejudices in Houston are not much different from Derry. This is in third draft, 122,427 words and 542 pps.

In volume 3, Return, he is called home during the hunger strikes, where he learns his father’s true history, is betrayed to the British army, is brutally interrogated, and finally accepts his destiny. I am currently working on a third draft of this part.

This story is modern historical fiction. I have been working on it off and on for several years. While I have self-published 14 books in both print and ebook, I would like to situate A Place of Safety with a mainstream publisher to avoid the limitations that come with self-publishing. I am hoping you can assist me with this.

Below is the first 5 pages of the story.

Thank you for considering A Place of Safety. I believe it will align perfectly with your interests.

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Kyle Michel Sullivan

Slop day...

I have a kitchen sink filled with dishes, pots, pans and glasses that I have not washed and may not do it till tomorrow. I had one of my headaches and just didn't feel up for it. I did make myself do a bit of contemplating about a job in the UK that I won't get to be part of because it's not all that valuable or difficult to do. We have a guy there who can handle it. So I worked up a possible scenario for it then got back onto APoS - Return.
I could say I polished up 2 chapters, but reality is I expanded the first chapter by enough to break it in half and make two. They're about Brendan's preparations for traveling back to Derry, not as himself or even the fake name his uncle forced on him but as Jeremy Landau, his Jewish buddy. He and Jeremy look enough alike to be brothers, so he cuts his hair and has Everett add some russet highlights, and borrows Jeremy's passport. A document filled with travels all over the world, since he's in the oil business.
This will make him different enough from his old self to give him cover, at least for a while. In Derry, secrets cannot be kept for long. But he's been in Texas long enough to be able to talk in a lousy twang, and since Dallas is playing in the UK and the accents on that show were rather over the top, he should be fine.
There's a direct flight on British Caledonian from Houston's Intercontinental (as it was called before it was renamed Bush Intercontinental) into Gatwick, then Glasgow, then a puddle-jumper over to Derry. Not cheap, but Brendan's been saving for years and has plenty to handle it.
He finally acknowledges this was a subconscious part of his plan to escape his uncle's control. By this point, his brother, Rhuari, is living in Derry and working at a college to teach Gaelic, so he's much better protected. And Brendan now knows Da was not born a Kinsella but took the name when he married Ma. Why? That will be revealed...maybe. Or maybe it won't. No telling.
It's up to Brendan to decide.

Post job blues return...

Had a lot to do, today -- a phone call about shipping artwork from the UK to the US; pick up my taxes (I owe $1500!!!); stock up on groceries; send a FedEx to my brother in San Antonio because the PO refuses to deliver my mail to his PO Box...and all in the non-stop rain. Also a fair amount of How can I not help you mixed in with it. By the time I got done, it was nearly 6pm so I turned on some Amethystium and made dinner and chatted online with Dan Skinner, a cover artist I know...and feel a bit better.
Dan worked up this image that would be perfect for the 1871 section of Blood Angel, where Léonidès finds another Blood Angel and turns him into a vampire to be his companion...then realizes he probably should not have. But what's done cannot be undone, so he suggests a swap with the less than satisfactory BA associate of his BA sister, Gabrielle, only she reneges on the deal and things get nasty.
I have a lot of it written, already, but put it aside for APoS and will not return until I have Brendan's story set as tight as I can. Besides, it's not as if the first book of Blood Angel is selling like crazy. I haven't even hit 100 copies bought, yet.
But I am inspired by that image. I paid him for its use. I just don't know if it'll represent Franz, Leonides' mistake, or Dmitryi, who is Gabrielle's error. Time will tell.
As for Amesthystium, that soothing music reminds me of Dair's Window. I used it to set the mood for a couple of important moments in the initial screenplay, and want to return to the novel of it, as well. It's a MM romance and story of rebuilding after tragedy. I thought I'd have it done years ago and intended to take it to a conference in the UK to introduce it to the world, but Covid hit and life got derailed.
Typical, for me.

Regrouping day...

Much as I hated to do it, I got up early and took the car back to Avis before nine. On a Sunday! Then I tried to have pancakes at McDonald's but the one I went to was closed for some reason so came home and made myself french toast. Grumbling.
I like McDonald's pancakes and sausage and had myself all geared up for that, but the other outlet close to me makes me wary of its cleanliness and I didn't feel like driving miles in another direction to find one. I should've just gone; it would have set the day up much better. Maybe tomorrow...
Did 4 loads of laundry, thanks to working around a very dirty, wildly shedding German Shepherd, last week. Nice old pup named Hawk who's just had his tenth birthday and really does need a bath. He liked how I scratched his ears, though. And I liked how I was able to get some Claritin to handle the allergies.
Tomorrow is catching up on paperwork and calling a client about a potential job in the UK (I really, really, really want to go but don't think it'll happen...dammit). Groceries are needed, and I have to pick up my taxes and send off a FedEx package to my brother in San Antonio since his PO Box keeps refusing to deliver my letter to him. I've had it returned to me, twice, and it's a legal document he needs.
Then Tuesday it's onto APoS-Return, AKA: Book Three. I thought I'd work out a synopsis, first, but Brendan and I don't connect over that as easily, so I'm doing another draft and then doing the outline. Work in everything I've planned for it. Makes more sense, really...I keep telling myself.
Be prepared for more grumbling...

Fun trip...

Wow, driving home was fun. Lots of snow and rain and sleet and wind, and I was in a Chrysler Pacifica so was cutting a bit of a profile. I'm sure people behind me on the 90 thought I was drunk, the way the car weaved all over the place. I swear, I'm a good driver.

Better to put this up to show how I can drive a car and record at the same time.
Click on the link above and it takes you to my Facebook page, showing what was my morning (and evening) commute every day this week. Lovely country but damn, the roads are narrow...built for a horse and buggy, not cars. I tried to upload the video direct but it doesn't seem to be working,
Made some detail notes for APoS Derry en route home, despite the nerve-wracking conditions. Who knows? I may actually get this book finished enough to publish, sometime...

Another job done...

It was not an easy packing job, the one I just finished. 64 boxes containing 650-700 volumes on birds, most of them coffee table books...so heavy, and with no room to really stage the boxes. Total weight was 2850lbs, including the weight of the containers. This is just one of the 4 containers I put the boxes into for shipping.
I was also dealing with a man who's older than me and who isn't a book person checking the books off against his own list...to which he added a couple hundred volumes and dropped some others. But the shipment is now in 64 cartons and bulk containers for transport to the UK. And I'm beat to hell.
The one good thing about this trip, so far, is I now know I am at the stage where I do not need to think about APoS, anymore. I feel as if I have the entire story now sorted out in my head and all I'm going to be doing as I re-write Book Three-Return is pull the moments I need from my head, to make the story happen.
I know I kept thinking I was at that stage, but I haven't come up with a single new thought about APoS on my long, looonnnng drives -- more than 8 hours to Amesbury, then two hours to Windsor Locks to pack the containers, then two hours to Albany...by which time if I hadn't had a room already reserved I'd have booked one. Hard to drive when you are nearly falling asleep.

What's next on my agenda is to do an outline of Return, even though I've only got it in second draft form. There is a whole sequence I will be adding where Brendan goes to the University in nearby Coleraine and hears actual audiotapes of his father telling a story. The effect on him is confusing, to say the least, but it gets him to risk visiting his brother in The Maze prison to ask him about it. He's still seen as Jeremy Landau, at this point, but it draws attention to himself that isn't wise and may be why he's found out by the RUC. Maybe.
We'll see what happens when I write it.

Chapters 29 and 30...the end of New World For Old

The Devil's Haze 

The next couple of years are a blur, for Brendan, thanks to drugs and drinking. Picking up girls and even the occasional guy. A snort of coke and he just doesn't give a shit about social norms. On a whim, he, Jeremy and Everett drive to Austin to hear a punk band called The Next, and Brendan buys their cassette for one song -- Monotony. He moshes with other punks and has a quickie behind the bar with a punkette who loves his scars. Since the band is from San Antonio, he  suggests a trip there, but Everett refuses to go. 

Jeremy and Everett grow apart, mainly because Jeremy realizes he's a substitute for Brendan. He could tell from how much love Everett poured into his paintings of Brendan as opposed to himself. The next Friday night dinner, Jeremy learns Myron has never tried sauerkraut so promises to bring him a Reuben...but before he can, Myron dies. Mrs. Glendon calls Brendan over to help handle it. Fortunately, the coroner and cops don't care about him, just filing the paperwork for a death by natural causes. Myron's parents throw all his things away, infuriating the rest of the group.

Brendan keeps abreast of Ma's cancer treatments through letters from Mai and Maeve as well as what Rhuari mentions in his letters to Eldon. He feels nothing until he happens onto an old Peugeot 541 rusting away behind a motorcycle shop in the Heights, one night. The owner lets him restore it, paying only for parts, and over the next year it re-centers Brendan. He quits the drugs and drinking and lets his hair grow out, and then Uncle Sean brings him his new passport. An Irish one for Brennan McGabhinn, but without some of the needed details. Like an entry and exit stamp for when he was first brought to the US. He gets the corrected one before Hallowe'en and has 90 days to decide what to do.

The Call Comes

It's now 1981 and Brendan comes home after a Friday dinner on a cold night to find a note to call Mairead. Urgent. He does and learns his mother is terminal. Maybe 3-4 months left. Mai is pregnant so can't go over for the funeral and wake, but Aunt Mari is going, straightaway. Brendan promises to go in a couple months. He doesn't want to spend too much time in Derry, since he's fairly certain the British Army is still looking for him in regards to the bombing and he's not confident his new documents will protect him for very long. Mai asks him if he hates Ma and he puts off an answer by claiming he's drunk and can't think straight.

He climbs up on the pool-house roof, despited the cold, and remembers how his mother had always picked at him and derided him, and he cannot understand why. What she told him after Bloody Sunday...that he was different from Eamonn and Mairead and she distrusted him...no longer makes sense and actually strikes him as a weak excuse. He wonders if she would tell him, now.

The B-Girls see him and tell him Aunt Mari is going over in a couple days. They seem to sense he will not be returning to Houston. They ask if Evangelyne was still his girlfriend would he even leave, and he won't reply. They know he was hurt because of her, and they know their father had something to do with it. Then they ask if he's been with Everette and he tells them no. Aunt Mari is in the kitchen having her usual beer and a cigarette, so she calls for the girls to go to bed. Brendan is left alone, wishing he could just lie atop the pool house roof forever.

Chapters 26-28

Semi-surrender

Shaken, Brendan quietly joins the family during 4th of July celebrations and gets to know his nephews -- Michael, Jordan, Stephen, Andrew -- and niece -- Aisling. Even goes to the fireworks display in Hermann Park. Manages to hide the scars on his back and wrists. After they've seen everyone off, Brendan quietly tells his uncle he will become Brennan McGabbhin and let his uncle arrange papers for him. But he continues to join the group at Mrs. Glendon's for Friday dinner and even introduces them to Jeremy and Everett, who are accepted into their family.

Uncle Sean wants the whole group kept away from him, but Brendan gets around it in many ways...like all showing up to Jeremy's graduation. Brendan works 4 days a week at The Colonel's, which is now gentrified. Todd is in prison for pot and Lorraine is gone, so he just brings a book to read and makes sure he does his job. Again, he feels as if he's in stasis.

Jeremy is hired by an oil company and will be sent to Hong Kong to help negotiate a contract because he knows Chinese. During his going-away party at Mrs. Glendon's, Eldon casually helps him work out the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese; turns out he's a whiz at languages, and even knows the Irish. Brendan asks if Rhuari can write him, since he's working on Gaelic. Eldon agrees, and the two begin to exchange letters. Brendan now has a better route into learning how his younger brother is doing.

Prisoner

Brendan gets into a rut. Work 4 nights a week. Repair and sell whatever he finds. Friday night dinners are still at Mrs. Glendon's...where they share letters from Jeremy. He spends Saturdays with Everett to minimize his time with the B-girls and lets the man begin to sketch him. Sundays are reserved for the Nolan home. Jeremy's trip is extended to 9 months, and the penpal friendship between Rhuari and Eldon grows solid.

Everett finally shows Brendan a series of nude sketches he did of Jeremy and, surprisingly, Myron. He asks him to model, too. Nude. He has a client seeking a triptych of a nude young man, in oils, and Jeremy made him swear he'd never show anyone the work he did of him. Brendan is wary, and Everett uses his uncertainty to seduce him into allowing a blow job...then hen takes a Polaroid of his face after he ejaculates. Furious, Brendan grabs at Everett but he locks himself in the bathroom and talks Brendan down from his anger...then shows him the photo. It has the expression Everett had been trying to capture when he did the first portrait, and he plans to use it in the main painting. Finally, Brendan agrees.

Jeremy returns as a total success and sets up an apartment, a bit hurt that Everett didn't invite him to move in. Brendan helps him find a Mercedes 450SL to fix up and move his things into the new place. Everett admits he was afraid to ask Jeremy to live with him because he's about to quit his job and sell his condo. He finished the triptych and was well-paid for it and is tired of being treated like shit over being gay.

Meanwhile, Ma has shifted into warrior mode for Ireland, disparaging Mairead's work in the peace movement, goading Kieran to confront the British Army more while proclaiming full pride in Eamonn's radicalization. She's also dismissive of Rhuari and his wife for living in Belfast, despite it being a far more dangerous place. Brendan begins to see when he loved Vangie he had a very rosy view of everything, and wonders if he and Joanna would have lasted, for the same reasons. He seemed to pick women with a plan, so could that mean he wanted to stop them or have them carry him along? No idea.

Status Unbound

During Jeremy's coming-home party at Mrs. Glendon's, Brendan learns Rhuari is about to become a father, and that their mother has cancer. Not a word came from Maeve or Mairead, and without a doubt Aunt Mari must know and stayed quiet. Unsure of how he feels when he's dropped off at his home, after the dinner, he is too agitated to sit still so hops his Montesa and rides up to The Colonel's. The place is busy and the music very middle-of-the-road. He can't convince himself to go in or leave and wanders about...until flashes of his kidnapping hit him. He looks around, shaken, and realizes the kidnappers' car must have been parked across the street, with the men watching him before deciding to take him. Perhaps like thad been done to his father.

Flashing between memories and current-day actions, Brendan hops on his Montesa and rides down to I-10. The car had turned left so he heads east on the Interstate, to pass downtown. He reaches Loop 610 and takes the first exit past the interchange. Now comes a long drive through commercial and residential areas, miles and miles. Brendan was too hyped on adrenaline to feel fear as the kidnapping was actually happening, but now it comes ripping into him. There are more memories, more turns, a run through a tunnel and down to gravel roads. The stars seem to be leading him on and on...until he reaches an open space with a couple of oak trees that feels...right.

But the trees shelter a playground. A church is at the end of the open space, and across the street are low-slung houses with dogs barking and lights on. Is this right? It's so benign. Then he sees an old rope hanging down a tree trunk, off a thick branch, and checks it. Finds its pattern matches the light scars on his wrists and knows this is where he was brutalized...in a churchyard, next to homes that were inhabited. He explodes with fury and uses the Montesa to tear up the area, screaming obscenities. Lights flare on, people come out and he curses at them then roars away. Once back in the pool house, he tears the clothes he's wearing into rags, shaves his face clean and cuts his hair into a mohawk, and snarls, "Fuck the world."

Chapters 22-25

Exposure 

Brendan takes a shower to clean away the blood still seeping from his wounds. Is mesmerized by the raw imprints of the rope around his wrists. He finally comes out to find Everett in the pool house. The B-Girls had told him to enter, and he sees the injuries on Brendan's back and legs. Vangie is close behind so Everett goes to send her away. Brendan loses control and starts throwing things around in a rage, until he's exhausted. Everett comes back in and helps him up, then he tells him what happened, in detail, as he tends to his still bleeding injuries. 

Everett agrees Brendan was right not to call the cops. He reveals he was raped, when he was 19. In San Antonio. The cops talked him out of filing a report by saying he would go to jail for being gay. Messed him up, so soon as he could he left San Antonio, forever. That's why he helped Brendan with Scott that night at the drag show. He convinces Brendan to speak with Vangie.

She finally comes to the pool house and is horrified at what happened. She reveals Rene also talked with her and she's irritated he didn't trust her. She never held feelings deep enough for Brendan to consider marriage, and suggests if he'd come to the movie and they're talked, he'd had found that out and none of this would have happened. Rejected, Brendan hints that Lon was behind his beating, just to hurt her. She slaps him, leaves and never returns.

Changes 

Brendan quits Trujillo's, stops taking on projects to repair and finds a room to rent in an old house surrounded by pecan trees just south of downtown. The owner is Mrs. Glendon, is past 70 and lives in one side of the downstairs. The other tenants are Elton, unknown age, on disability and keeps to himself; Myron, 20, who has cerebral palsy yet is very independent; Rick, very kosher and waiting to see if his job will be permanent; Mrs. Kendall, on social security, who cooks; and Miss Savage, of indeterminate age who works in a fabrics shop. In an apartment over the garage is Sonja, Mrs. Glendon's granddaughter, on the surly dumpy side. He moves there in the middle of the night, taking only his clothes, bike and tools, saying good-bye to no one but Angus, the family dog.

He finds part time repair work for a small shop on Fannin and tells no one he knows where he is. No relationships, either; just jacking off when he's in need. Reading a lot. Sliding into drugs. Licking his wounds...but the gentleness of his new environment calms him. Tuesdays and Fridays, everyone supplies a bit of food, and Mrs. Kendall cooks up massive meals. Myron handles his cerebral-palsy without complaint. Sonja plays the piano like a pro. He begins fixing junk in the garage and sells it, splitting the proceeds with Mrs. Glendon. They become like a family, and finally he rebuilds his Montesa, re-centering himself. 

Then the beginning of July, Everett appears and tells him Mairead's in town with her family. He scolds Brendan for disappearing, but admits he's known where Bren was for several months. Brendan returns to Aunt Mari's house with no explanation.

Understanding

Brendan is happily swept back into the family by everyone, save Uncle Sean. It's 4th of July weekend, the Bicentennial. He learns Mai is having twins, Rhuari married his girlfriend and has a job in a Belfast off-licence, to Brenda's horror. He says that makes Rhuari a target for a Protestant group but Mairead says the UVF and IRA have a deal, suggesting the two sides are working together to maintain their protection rackets. Also. Danny was killed when a bomb he was setting went off, prematurely. The B-girls still pepper him with questions, which he refuses to give direct answers to, and Scott is interning at a bank in Dallas. 

Brendan stays the night, on the couch. Not long after midnight, Uncle Sean comes downstairs and quietly berates him for the trouble he's caused. Trujillo's was raided, Hugo and Tomas were deported, Rene has quit and returned to New Orleans, and the FBI have come looking for Bren. Fortunately, no one knew where he was, but the Feds didn't believe that and kept returning. Brendan reveals he knows Uncle Sean was at his beating. 

Uncle Sean gets cold and hard in his responses to Brendan. No cursing, just solid verbal punches. He never wanted to hide him but got talked into it. His business was suffering from Brendan's involvement with Evangelyne. He's spent more on lawyers in the last three years than the previous thirty. He demands Brendan return to live in the pool house, under the name Brennan McGabbhin. If he does, he'll see to it Brendan is made legal, using that name, and if the Feds return that will settle the matter. Then he can go and do whatever he wants. If he doesn't, he'll spread word about Rhuari's job and get him killed. And there is nothing Brendan can do to stop it.

Chapters 19-21

Connection

Brendan and Vangie run around together and he's invited to some of the Boudoin's family meals. He gets along well with Arnie, who has developmental issues. They even go to Galveston, and Brendan takes Vangie by The Colonel's. Brendan is beginning to think of Marrying Vangie and plans to speak with Jeremy's lawyer uncle about making himself legal, again.

Late in May, Brendan invites Vangie into the pool house and she teases him for it being so neat. Like he was planning to bring her home, that night. Then she asks him if he's gay. She's noticed Everett like him, a lot, and only stays with Jeremy due to his resemblance to Brendan. They chat more. She's concerned he's just out for some fun with her.

Vangie puts on some music, pulls out a water pipe and they smoke some pot through it. Then she suggests they have a three-way with Everett, taking Brendan aback. But he agrees, making her feel easier. They wind up having sex against one of the bean bags...and he knows she is the one for him. 

Reality

Brendan is set to meet Vangie, Everett and Jeremy to see Jaws, but Rene talks to him, pointing out Vangie would be giving up a lot to be with him while he has nothing to really offer her. He would actually harm her chosen career in the State Department. Shaken, Brendan blows off the date and stays home to think. He sits in the pool trying to sort things out, but the B-Girls begin questioning him. Reveal his aunt and uncle have been talking about Vangie. So he dresses, figures out his Uncle told Rene about him and Vangie, learns Mairead's visit is put off due to house-hunting in Toronto and a new baby coming, and goes to The Colonel's.

Todd is wary around Brendan. Even calls him stupid for being with Vangie. Reveals he's been busted for selling pot and is taking a deal to minimize the sentence. He calls Uncle Sean a weak man for caring more about position and money than anything else. Brendan considers hopping on his Montesa and driving away from Houston, forever.

He finally leaves the bar, thinks about walking home but can't decide. Suddenly, a pillowcase is slung over his head, he's punched in the gut, bound, and slung into the trunk of a car. They drive away.

Violation

The car heads south, to the I-10 and travels east along it. Brendan works the pillowcase off, sees a tear in the car's fender and notices signs for the westbound side pass. They exit just past Loop 610 and head south over rough roads, railroad tracks and through a tunnel. The stench of the refineries grows stronger as the drive goes on and on.

The car finally stops, Brendan is dragged out and the pillow case put back on, then he's bound facing a thick tree trunk, his shirt torn open and jeans yanked away, and he is viciously whipped as racist comments are made about him loving a black woman. His heart pounds wildly as he curses and threatens...then suddenly he passes out. He sort of wakes to hearing a voice say, "I told you; I warned you," as a nitroglycerin tablet is shoved under his tongue. Then he is carried into the rear of a station wagon and driven to his aunt and uncle's house.

Two men carry him into the pool house, one of whom reminds him of Lon, Vangie's cop brother. He hears Uncle Sean tell the man, "I don't want to see you, again." Aunt Mari sees what has happened and angrily tends to his injuries. Brendan asks her if Uncle Sean was there, watching him be whipped. Her evasive answers only serve to convince him the man was. She tries to explain the pressure he was under but Brendan tells her to leave. She does. Once he's alone, he realizes he's lost Vangie and grows angry from it. After a while, he works on a portable cassette player to try and settle himself but his hands are shaking and the raw marks around his wrists from the ropes get blood on it. This only seems to tell him he's not even good at repairing things, right then.