Willie Handler's Blog, page 24

Why Mars?

People have been asking me, are you really writing a novel about Mars? Yes, I am. Followed by, why Mars?

I’ve had an interested in travel to Mars going back to my teens. I went through a period where I read quite a number of science fiction novels. The ones that stood out for me were The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury and Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. More recently, I’ve been attracted to the escapist or fantasy novels by Jonas Jonasson such as The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Over the past year, I decided that a humour book about Mars would be my next writing project. It started with a short story written for a writing course that I took last year at the University of Toronto and just grew from there.

Afterall, Mars is the next frontier for exploration. It’s been 47 years since man first stepped on the Moon. The last Moon landing was 1972. Since that time, attention has slowly been shifting to Mars and the other planets. Most people don’t even realize that there have been 47 missions to Mars over the past 50 years. Roughly two-thirds of all missions destined for Mars have failed.  Mars has developed a reputation as a difficult space exploration target. Just this week, a lander launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) crashed while attempting to land on Mars. Only NASA has been successful in getting robotic landers onto the planet’s surface.

The ultimate goal is human missions to Mars, leading to a permanent colony. The race is on. Not only are NASA, ESA, China and Russia involved but also a number of ambitious private sector initiatives. In 2012, a Dutch entrepreneur group began raising funds for a human Mars base to be established in 2023, called Mars One. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla has also joined the race. His project, SpaceX, recently revealed plans to build a powerful reusable rocket that would be able to carry up to 100 people to Mars per flight. He hopes to get the price of a ticket to below $200,000 (should be an interesting crew made up of the rich and famous). His goal is to establish a self-sustaining colony.

Which brings me back to my story. It’s about a slacker chef (one of his creations is Trailer Park Hash), Dixon Jenner, who is selected to be a member of the first permanent colony on Mars. A disaster befalls the colony and Dixon is the sole survivor. Fortunately, he is provided shelter by two Martians (yes, there’s life on Mars), Bleeker and Seepa. The light-hearted story is about the first human to live among Martians on the Red Planet.

Weekly Update

Chapter 10 of LOVED MARS, HATED THE FOOD has now been completed. I hope to begin picking my writing output if I can get avoid some of life’s other distractions. Speaking of Mars, some interesting news about Mars out this week. First we heard that the Viking Lander mission in 1976 had found microbial life on Mars. But that was just on the surface. What about below the surface? You know, I have my theories. The second story involved the European Space Agency, which lost a Mars lander yesterday. The Europeans were testing the ability to get equipment onto the surface of Mars in preparation for landing a rover on the planet in 2020. Their objective? To find life on Mars. Stay tuned.

As I reported earlier in the  week, I will be appearing at the Bookapalooza on Saturday, November 19 sponsored by the Writers Circle of Durham Region. I’m working on a Rick Tompkins theme for the day and, of course, I’ll be signing copies of THE ROAD AHEAD.

I’m Quoted In The Lawyers Weekly

I’m quoted in Recovery magazine, which is published The Lawyers Weekly. The article is entitled High Road Forsaken and deals with the most recent Ontario auto insurance reforms.  Rick Tompkins, where are you when we need you?

I Will Be Signing Books on November 19th

 

 

Signs That Donald Trump Might Not Win The Election

Sure the polls show that Hillary Clinton has a large lead over Donald Trump just weeks before election day. But you can’t really trust the polls. More often than not they have proven to be inaccurate. But I have some convincing evidence that Trump is probably not going to be the 45th president of the United States.

1. Trump is considering dumping Mike Pence from the ticket and replacing him with Billy Bush.

2. Trump has been negotiating with NBC for a new season of The Apprentice for 2017.

3. His Secret Service detail has been replaced by two bouncers from the Avenue night club in New York.

4. His campaign events draw more women that he has molested than supporters.

5. Trump promises if elected, voters won’t have to pay taxes either.

6. Trump prepares for the third debate by appearing on Family Feud.

7. Trump arranges for Russian President Vladmir Putin to make campaign appearances for him.

Weekly Update

I have quickly learned that you never know when someone will approach you and ask where they can purchase a copy of THE ROAD AHEAD. Word is slowly getting around by word of mouth, so I now carry some copies in the car.

Today I attended a retirement event for a former work colleague. She mentioned in her address that I had recently written a book and would be selling copies at the party. She was joking. But people came up to me and asked where they could pick up a copy. I told them I’d be right back with some copies. I went down to the parking lot and got out the books I had. Quickly, sold all the copies in my trunk. Lesson learned – carry more copies.

Who I Would Like To See Appear In The Movie Version Of THE ROAD AHEAD

For fun I thought I would choose actors who I think would be a good fit for the characters in THE ROAD AHEAD. Below are my picks. If, you’ve read the book, tell me who you would like to see play the different roles.

Rick Tompkins – Bryan Cranston

Jerry Switzer – Seth Rogen

Geneva Horvath – Emily Blunt

Ameena 3 – Mindy Kaling

Lawrence Tucker – Robert Pattinson

Peter Lysiak – Frank Whalley

Kitty Norman – Scarlett Johansson

Lois Tompkins – Anna Gunn

Christie Lefebre – Winona Ryder

Margaret Bouton – Toni Collette

Ginny – Margot Robbie

Brittney – Kat Dennings

Don Brand – Mike McKean

 

Weekly Update

I’ve returned to writing this week. Chapter 9 of LOVED MARS, HATED THE FOOD is now done and I’ve begun Chapter 10.

I’ve been discussing with a book club in Toronto about appearing at a future meeting to lead a discussion of THE ROAD AHEAD. Anyone associated with a local book club, I would be happy to make a similar appearance.

If you would like to read THE ROAD AHEAD, it’s available as a paperback and eBook.

Why I Chose To Self-Publish

I would like to make a career from writing. I believe that I can produce entertaining and fun books for a broad audience. The only thing that stands in my way is the publishing industry. When I completed THE ROAD AHEAD, my plan was to go the traditional publishing route. I had no interest in self-publishing. But I quickly became frustrated and ran into a dead end after several months.

For a publisher to consider your manuscript, you must first acquire a literary agent. The process involves emailing an agent with some information about the book, your bio and a synopsis or small sample of the manuscript. And then you wait. Weeks and months later, you might get a response. Usually, a form rejection  email. After four months, I had already approached every Canadian literary agency and had gotten nowhere. Since THE ROAD AHEAD is a novel set in Canada, there was no point in approaching American agents. Though I did reach out to some American agencies. Below are some of the rejections received.

Unfortunately, it is not a fit for my list at the current time.  I do hope another agent feels differently.

Thank you for allowing John to consider your query. He has reviewed it and, unfortunately, is unable to offer you representation. While there is much to admire in your work, it just didn’t resonate in the right way, and we aren’t confident that we are the right agency to help your book stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to consider your work! Unfortunately, this project just doesn’t feel quite right for me. This business is so subjective, and undoubtedly another agent will feel differently! I wish you the best of luck in your writing endeavors and in finding representation.

None of the responses were the least bit helpful, if my intentions were to rework my manuscript based on feedback from the agents. In the end, I had no other option but to self-publish. I have to rely on my own resources and resourcefulness to market my novel. But it’s next to impossible to reach a national audience this way. As I progress through my second novel, I wonder if it will play out the same way.

Photos From THE ROAD AHEAD Book Launch

Photos from THE ROAD AHEAD book launch are by Ben Kingstone, a terrific young photographer.