It has been a busy week. I have been working on the book and the script for the Spring Campaign for the Clown Brigade.
Starting off with the sci fi book that now has a name. I have decided to call it The Salvation Navy. I have also finished enough of it that I have a clear idea of what it is going to be and the plot is set. And being that I am such a patient person I am going to stick the first chunk of it on the internet when I have it finished. My editing being what it is that will probably be sometime the beginning of next month.
For those that don't know I have a rather antiquated writing style. I write everything down in composition book before I put on the computer. That is everything except for this blog. If I did it might more coherent, but I digress. Anyway the first several chapters of the book are in a collection of red composition books. They only need typed in. Which is the major part of my editing process. By typing the stuff I have already written I find nearly two thirds of the mistakes. The rest of them have to be hunted down by my long suffering wife.
There is some sort of way to publish thing thing on the internet. After i get this stuff shaped up I will figure that out and put the old thing out there.
Anyway I feel comfortable enough about the book that I can talk about it on the old blog thing. This book was the original short story where John Jefferson met Katherine Mason in an effort to save an enslaved planet from their overlords. Jefferson was the husband of an ex Salvation Army Officer and Mason was a Salvation Army officer from the future. They saved the day and everyone's souls was saved.
I wrote it for a high school writing assignment and got a B on it. As I recall it was a b because of my terrible spelling and grammar. That is why I have the convoluted way of doing things now. If I make any money off it I might higher someone to type the next one. And I would like to apologies to that poor soul in advanced. Perhapses, I should just dictate it.
Anyway that story was foolish rah rah rah stuff. There were good guys and bad guys and the United States Navy carried the day. It was less complex than a war flic written by the Pentagon. Still, I like the basic idea of the time line. Mason was a Salvation Army officer from the future trying to protect the time line. The original story was mainly from her point of view.
She came back in time to a point where the United States Navy happened upon a bleeding planet for the evil Followers of Vral {Vral is an alien God of War if you are keeping score at home}. The Navy does battle with these naredowells and save the oppressed alien slave. In later stories this planet and the aliens join the United States.
The story is set a hundred and fifty or so years in the future. The Christian Church and general is on it's keister. The Human planet have be the victims of unspecified religious wars that have turned people away from God. The idea of long drawn out wars against religious ideologies sounded silly at the time. The Salvation Army in Jefferson's time also seamed improbable. Jefferson's Salvation Army was slowly turning away from God. The whole idea sounded a bit out at the time. Oddly the events of the last seven year make me think that kind of future might be possible.
Anyway I gave up on this for a good long while. I liked the character of Mason so i wrote about her time. What happened in Jefferson's time became the historic foot notes of Mason's time. I did finish off a couple books on Mason. I like them but none of them are ready to be published. Last year a started on a book that would have been the back story for how the time that Mason lived in what created. It was going to straiten out the story from Jefferson's time and reconcile it with the present day. Oddly current events played in the fictitious time line that I have set out. After three chapters of an uninspired tome that narrated how thing came about I gave up.
So at Christmas time i just decided to write the series of stories that revolved around the Five Planet. I kept the main plot line but threw out many of the details and gave people the depth that Mason's stories have.
In the current version we get into why the church is messed up and why there are slaves. We also give the Crel {they are the enslaved people} some background in interaction with Humanity before this fateful event. There are a hand full of Crel Freedom Fights that have been fighting the good fight for centuries. The Crel in bondage have an idea that some of them are free and all they know of Humanity are some smuggled movies and Bibles.
When the initial planet is freed the Crel expect to join their Christian Brothers ans sisters in freedom. They are horrified to find out that the fleet that liberated them is indifferent to God for the most part. The notable exceptions are Commodore John Jefferson his wife Lt. Evangeline Jefferson {she is one of the Last Chaplain in the U.S. Navy} and his father in law James Booth.
Mason is no longer the center of the story and she is mostly a mystery. She shows just in time defend Jefferson's fleet from a group of Polytheistic time travelers. For the first book she is his defense against these unnamed evil doers.
For those army folks out there you will note that Booth is the name of the founder of The Salvation Army. James Booth is intentionally given that name. He is descendant of the founder through Ballington Booth. He is part of a branch of the family that rejoins the Army some time in the future.
In this book The Salvation Army going through unspecified bad times that are distracting it from it ordained purpose. At the beginning of the story Senator Stone approaches the General of The Salvation Army. He asks his to send missionaries to the slave planet that he knows will soon be liberated. The General refuses to get involved.
Senator Stone has been fighting the Followers of Vral for hundred of years. He himself is over eight hundred years og age. He has lived through the reformation and the entire history of The United States. He is some impressed with Humanity that he takes a Human name and later bases his nation on the United States. For centuries he maintained his fleet on a secret base on Oahu near under the modern Naval Station Pearl Harbor. In his time on Earth he chooses to know some of the most influential Humans in history.
The rest of the Universe is dominated by polytheistic Empires. Free thinkers and being that beleive in equal rights for all are outcast or hunted. Stone uses his time on Earth to learn what a nation should be an teaches his follower the best of everything Humanity has to offer. In government he comes to believe this is the United States. In religion he comes to believe The Salvation Army is closest thing to a church that Christ would have wanted.
Senator stone has formed a government in exile that is based on the United States government. He also command a powerful fleet the Navy needs to help hold these planets. He is outraged that Army wants nothing to do with his people in need. He also knows that his people need a proper missionary. He tells the Navy that he will only join the fight if they send a proper missionary team to help his people.
The United States desperately needs to capture The Five Crel slave breeding worlds. So they dispatch Jefferson and his wife and the Blue Squadron of the Second Exploratory Fleet. They stumble on the Vral advanced guard and presto The United States has a war of liberation.
With the main fleet the Navy sends James Booth who is a retired Salvation Army. James Booth knows that is he takes up this mission he will be thrown out his church like his daugher and son and law were six years before. As a younger man he was a Lt. Commander who served as a Marine Corps Chaplain for a couple decade of the unpopular religious war. For political reason they make his a Marine Corps General and the defecto Ambassador to the worlds they wish to acquire. He object but takes the posting.
And that is the first ten pages of the story. I also blow up some stuff, it is science fiction after all.
On other fronts was have chosen the scripture for the Spring campaign. It is Mathew 20:17, the faith of a mustard seed one. Actually Walt picked it out. Last Thursday he and I sketched out most of the stage show. At least the broad strokes. I have them types up and ready for out meeting later today. Good grief it is 4:30 in the morning. I really need to think about sleeping sometime this week. Well I will sleep good tonight.
Anyway what we have so far is a good solid stage show. It should stand up nicely. I would like to thank Walt for his time on Thursday. A great deal was accomplished.
Bellow are some random videos. Yahoo has fixed up their video site nicely. I even through in Bubley for you Walt. Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice.
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