JimHCT

Story Statement In 2046 America, Lily Proctor and Jeff Maslow must expose the corruption in the government of their town of Vicksburg Gulch, Colorado, and ultimately throughout the country, by stopping Iwanna Dennison and her family from completing the subjugation of American democracy. Antagonist sketch Iwanna Dennison, daughter of the six-term President of the United States and CEO of Dennison Enterprises, is running for Governor of Colorado. Despite constant misogynistic treatment by her family, she has led their corporate enterprises successfully, culminating in their development of humanistic robots with advanced AI. She purchases the support of the Reverend Brady Taggert, her political rival and head of the largest Church in the United States. This effectively makes her the Governor-elect, as there are no viable candidates from other parties, resulting from the extensive corruption of the last twenty years under President John Dennison. When her father's health worsens, she takes the opportunity to bypass her brothers and, in partnership with the world's wealthiest person, become President to implement a plan to force non-whites and her political rivals to accept her uncontested leadership, or force them out of the country. Titles The current working title is THE BOOK OF DENNISON. It refers to the antagonist and her father by name, the religious overtones of the novel, and, ultimately, the conclusion of their plotline. The original title was THE WORLD ON HER SHOULDERS, a reference to the antagonist and Ayn Rand's ATLAS SHRUGGED. The novel takes place outside of Colorado Springs, and a major theme is the abuse of power by people who align themselves directly with the Rand philosophy of Objectivism. Comparables Many dystopian novels recently published fall more into the science fiction/fantasy genre, which I have very intentionally tried to avoid because I want the reader to see today in the near future. While I do have some "gadgets," some cool, some pure evil, they are all easily envisioned by today's reader, so though the novel is set in 2046, there is little "fantastic" to be found. "The One" by John Marrs comes quite close to this approach as it leverages technology already in use today, DNA testing, for what might seem a positive application: finding one's true love. It's now on my wish list, but I won't be able to read it until after the conference. I can tell I'm going to like his approach very much and I'm sure I'll learn from it. It also seems to be well received. "The Greater Good: A dystopian novel of Divided America" by Seth Daniel Parker, is very close to my theme and is set in a time after the United States has been divided geographically. While my novel does not take that approach, it is clearly inspired by the author's similar observations of how bad things can get in this country should they continue to deteriorate. I learned from my Amazon search in this exercise that there is very little fiction on my primary theme, which is what the US could realistically see if the far-right in this country succeeds with plans already in flight. Most hits are fantasy or post-apocalyptic, which is not my objective. I want people to envision reality, not fantasy. Hook In 2046 Colorado, a woman must flee to Mexico to obtain an abortion that threatens her life. When she is later arrested for murder, she must challenge the far-right regime that has captured American government at all levels, and decide whether to allow her powerful but corrupt father to assist in her fight. Inner Conflict Lily Proctor is fully aware of the world in which she lives, society and government overwhelmed by the successes of the far-right to corrupt and undermine all aspects of culture and infuse them with extreme religious morality. Like many in her generation, she is resigned to this reality and unsure how to do anything about it, but when her 6-week pregnancy is picked up by an airport embryonic-detection system, the reality of this world comes front and center for her, abortion illegal at the federal level, no exceptions permitted. When she learns the pregnancy is ectopic and threatens her life, she must break the nation's laws. When her boyfriend Jeff Maslow, a teacher in the reclusive new town of Vicksburg Gulch, developed by Iwanna Dennison, is arrested for illegally quoting the banned movie "Dead Poets Society" to his students, Lily must enter the fray against the powers, local and national, to extract both of them from the legal jeopardy in which they find themselves, in the process discovering the much greater evil plan already underway. Unknown to Jeff, Lily's real name is Malodor, daughter of the world's wealthiest man. Though she has committed to cutting off ties with her father, she realizes she must break that vow to keep her and Jeff from a lifetime of prison: only her father Noel can get them out of their situation. Secondary Conflict Institutions throughout the country have been taken over by the far-right, setting up the inevitable conflicts of morality and law that impact the lives of all citizens, but particularly those out-of-power who believe in the liberal democracy the United States championed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. When it becomes clear to Lily and her new romantic interest, Jeff Maslow, that there is something unusual about the Dennison-financed company-town Vicksburg Gulch, they agree to investigate, Jeff taking a long-sought job as a teacher there. What they witness, and ultimately come into conflict with, is a microcosm of the fantasy 1950's-like world the far-right looks to as their Eden, their perfect society: Jim Crow aside. Despite her family connection, Lily has made the conscious decision to fight alone without any request for assistance, but eventually realizes there is far more to fight than she and Jeff could ever imagine. Setting All aspects of American culture in 2046 have been influenced by the far-right, who were empowered in 2024 to implement a system of political dominance through the erosion of the voting process at all levels of government. What ensued since was the implementation of their culture war against progressivism, in theory, founded in Christianity but lacking any evidence of loving thy neighbor. Abortion is banned outright, prosecuted as murder. LGBTQ+ rights are revoked at all levels of government, and the "enforcement organization" known as the Guardian Angels, better known in places like Iran as morality police, are used to enforce these values on the street level, often with the assistance of law enforcement. Educational curricula have been replaced to retell the American story in a way that whitewashes the actions of the past, and any fiction that appears to support individualism with themes like "carpe-diem" are removed from library bookshelves and theaters. The US has invaded Mexico and taken control of the state of Chihuahua, under the pretext of protecting its borders, and rationalizing a subsequent deportation of Mexicans. This results in worldwide sanctions of America by much of the First World, crushing the American economy, and making American workers even more dependent on the government. Iwanna and Noel eventually use this to their perverse profit. The setting is the most vital aspect of the novel as it is today's America tweaked just enough to make the reader realize how viable some of the evil it portrays really is. As it is also a dark comedy, an early scene demonstrates some of the latest and greatest tech: LYSSA, a Dennison product that detects anger from anyone in its range and alerts the nearest members of the "Good Guys With Guns" volunteer organization to draw on whoever is displaying the anger: their solution to gun laws where the legal age to carry is 12. Later, Lily, who takes a job as a "stewardess" ("woke" sensitivity about appropriate careers for women abolished), looks out the window to witness the latest addition to Mount Rushmore: President Dennison, to the right of Lincoln, his profile looking over his shoulder, to the east. And, as all federal complexes are now used to enforce federal law, the "heartbeat" detectors that can identify the presence of an embryo. When a TSA agent discovers Lily's pregnancy, he promptly registers the embryo and assigns it a social security number. It is now a citizen with full constitutional rights.