by Mark McNulty
That is the working title of my latest book! I am pleased (and very proud) to report that the story is complete and I have printed copies of the initial manuscript! I will be sharing these copies with select readers as I work my way through the long process of proofreading, editing, and revising. This is book one in a series and it currently rests at 42 chapters and roughly 70,000 words. I did read it to my fourth graders and I was very encouraged by their overwhelming response to Dylan's adventure. They are already begging me to begin book two as soon as possible! My goal is to start pitching it to publishers and agents by October of 2009.
The story is about Dylan Byrnes, a young boy who lives in the fictional town of Oracle, Maine. He has a fascination with the ocean and everything inside it but rarely gets to spend time on the water due to his mother's concerns. His grandfather and father were both lost at sea and, as a result, she has become very protective of him. Being the twelve year old boy that he is, however, Dylan succeeds in visiting the mighty Atlantic Ocean. When he gets a little too close during a violent storm he is swept into the waves and pulled out into the deep water. It appears all hope is lost for Dylan but when he wakes up he finds himself in a mysterious underwater kingdom. It is the kingdom of Saldanha, so deep below the ocean's surface that it has never been discovered by humans. As his real adventure begins, Dylan will learn that there are other kingdoms just like Saldanha... including the evil kingdom of Northwind. His story will take him to all parts of the ocean and reveal a world full of wonder, magic, and awesome power. Dylan eventually realizes that he has a very special role to fill in this undersea kingdom and there is far more to the world's oceans than he ever imagined. In the end, there will be a classic battle between good and evil as Dylan struggles to put all the secrets of Saldanha together and comes to understand his own destiny!
This book was inspired by a student who was asking me if I ever read science fiction or fantasy and then asked if I ever wrote it. The answer was no to both but I began to consider it as a challenge. Before long, the ideas for Dylan and Saldanha popped into my head and the story was born! It is a sci-fi/fantasy novel but it is heavy on the science. I want it to be an entertaining story with great imagination but I also want young readers to learn a lot about the ocean, marine life, and the planet as a whole. It certainly breaks from reality in many ways but every reader will walk away from it with greater knowledge of the ocean than they had when they started it.
MAGAZINES & JOURNALS
I plan to begin writing more articles and short essays for various magazines and journals in the near future. These pieces could cover a range of topics including travel, topics in education, the outdoors, sports, and general op-ed.
VOICES of the NEW ENGLAND SEA CAPTAIN
This is a recent vision I had for a collection of short stories. Various boat captains from along the New England coast would share their greatest story from a career on the sea. One might be tragic, the next one incredibly hysterical, then one might be emotionally moving in a positive way. There are many possibilities with all the voices and tales waiting to be heard. I need to research the details of a project like this but I hope to begin putting into action sometime in the very near future.
PLANNING/RESEARCHING
I have a long range plan to write a historical fiction trilogy based on the Great Famine in Ireland and the resulting emmigration to the United States. This project is in the very early stages and probably a few years away from the writing phase...
POETRY
In between writing projects I plan to compose more pieces of poetry in various styles. If I get enough complete I may consider publishing them all in a book form but for now I will simply focus on one individual poem at a time.
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