Salvage

The science fiction series, Salvage, is a coming-of-age story of a young woman in a perilous interstellar world.  Nightmares plague her and circumstances thwart her ambitions, and she struggles to survive. 

In Episode 1 we meet her the first time at thirteen years of age, traveling on a transport to a colony world. An emotionally immature genius, she lives on logic, yet logic will not fix the nightmares that cause her problems on-board ship.

Will she survive the dangers of space travel?  Her fellow colonists?  The nightmares that haunt her?

Salvage: Emmett’s Function

by Cindy Rae

In the first episode of Salvage we are introduced to Emmett. He’s the helmsman and (possible spoiler) assistant medic onboard the long-haul transport, Brio’s Hope.

In the book his function is to tell the parts of the story Kaylah cannot, and to illustrate not only the “coolness” of space but, more critically to the story, how dangerous space travel is.

This plot thread involving the ship through the eyes of Emmett has been on of the most frustrating to nail down. Too much of Emmett’s story lessens the emphasis of the dangers of space travel. Too little impact, and you won’t care much about Emmett.

I’m trying to work him as a foil, too, if possible, in contrast to Kaylah’s lack of power, lack of control, and fearfulness. There’s also a contrast between Emmett’s warmth and the doctor’s coldness.

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Screenshots of Salvage Project from Scrivener

by Cindy Rae

Scrivener outputs your manuscript, or parts thereof, in many different formats.  Here are screenshots of what the output looks like with comments and synopsis included, for one particular scene in Part 1 of Salvage.  Note I still need to learn to keep internal thought italicized, instead of changing to underlined.

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April Writing Status

by Cindy Rae

The draft of Part 1 of Salvage received more tinkering.  It’s a good way for me to warm up my writing brain.

I don’t want to go overboard tweaking the first part of Salvage endlessly — and I haven’t.  Drafting of Part 2 is coming along.

I’ve also formed some thoughts on an essay on Christian music lyrics as well as an article about Amazon’s Echo.  It’s been a change of pace from my fiction work, rather refreshing mentally.

I’m also building relationships with other writers, swapping critiques, and I’m nailing down alpha readers for polished drafts of Salvage.

Deliberations continue about meeting other writers face-to-face.  Conferences?  I’m not quite ready yet.  However, the bigger city an hour away has writer meetups.  I may check them out in June.

That’s all for this month.

 

by Cindy Rae

Through the surging crowd she glimpsed Master Geary talking with an older man — the grandmaster? — who often led the lessons. The grandmaster nodded, Master Geary bowed, then Master Geary worked his way over to the table where her mother now read.

Her smile faded. Uh-oh. Did… did I do something wrong?

A few minutes later, Master Geary navigated the crowd and approached her with an encouraging smile. “Hi, I’m Master Geary.”
Kaylah nodded. I know. She darted a look at her mother who was once again immersed in her book.

“I talked to your mother.”

At Kaylah’s expression, he quickly added, “You’re not in any trouble. In fact, you did very well on the course.”

“Uh…” She stared at her shoelaces. “Thank you.”

“Would you like to train with us?”

A broad grin returned to spread across her face. She nodded vigorously, her short curly hair bouncing around her face. “Sure! That would be great! Tuesday and Thursdays, right? I’ve never really did sports, but I really liked running the course. I’ll need a uniform, right? Will I—“

Alarms blared.

For a split second, all movement froze.

In the next instant, everyone scrambled for the door. As the crowd surged around Kaylah, crowding her, looming over her, she worked to keep on her feet.

Maybe this drill will go better?

March Writing News

by Cindy Rae

Work continues on the Salvage project.  I’ve leveled up (so to speak) in my writing, and I feel like I’m actually adding layers to Part 1 that add depth and, interestingly enough, streamline the story flow some.  Work on Part 2 continues, sketching scenes in terms of dialogue and some action.

Meanwhile, I’m branching out with ideas about an article for Christian homeschoolers and an essay about Christan contemporary music’s lyrics as a reflection of society.

Raw Writing from Salvage

by Cindy Rae

Okay here’s the writing snippet, but, a disclaimer — it’s raw writing, very little revision:

“Come to order!” The assistant director’s voice blared once again through the ancient megaphone. “Come to order!” The A.D., the diminutive Mrs. Holang-Lee, stood near the back wall, in front of a stack of crates, the black strands of her hair sweeping her face as she shook her head at the crowd.
Milling around, the colonists filled the converted cargo hold, their excited voices adding to the clamor of the kitchen staff working furiously. A few latecomers entered and passed Kaylah’s perch on a storage unit by the hatch. After the tank puncture scare, the animosity of the other passengers, and the complete ineptness of most of them when it came to ship drills, she felt safer near the exit.

Salvage Premise and Synopsis

by Cindy Rae

As a beginning writer, I’ve struggled with describing my story ideas.  After research, thought, and effort around the definitions of idea, concept, premise, synopsis, and theme in writing, I discovered a solid concept, premise, and synopsis can help me craft the story more robustly.

I came up with the following premise and synopsis for Salvage:
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