Lora D.

Nobody ever shows the bodies. In all the post-apocalyptic films a billion people always manage to magically disappear into thin air, leaving the survivors to walk the earth in isolation. Believe me, that sounds like heaven compared to the present situation. My name is Cody Armstrong. I am nineteen years old and even before what I’ve come to call the Great Extinction, I was all alone. I didn’t start out that way. Until I was eight, I had lots of friends. Then we moved, and I skipped three grades. The school didn’t want to do it since sixth graders don’t really hang out with eight year olds, even smart ones, but I was bored with third grade work and wanted to excel. I threw myself into my studies, and my parents became my source of companionship. All my grandparents died before I was born. Like me, my parents were both only children, so it was just us. We formed a tight knit clan. The Three Musketeers we called ourselves. Father, mother, and son. “Cody, come and get it!” I can still hear my mother calling me down to Sunday breakfast. That was the day she always made my favorite: fruit-filled waffles and Canadian Bacon. “What’s on the schedule for today?” my father would say. Sunday was the day we did things as a family. The zoo, the beach, an amusement park, a day trip somewhere. We did it all. It was heaven, but it ended all too soon. I entered college early and by the time I was eighteen, I had graduated and gotten a job as a computer programmer. I had just moved into my own apartment when there was a knock at the door one night in March. “Are you Cody Armstrong?” Two uniformed police officers stood in front of me. I wondered if I might be under arrest. “Yes,” I said tentatively. “I’m sorry to bring this news to you,” one of the officers began. The rest of what was said has become a blur in my mind. The only thing that registered was that my parents had both died instantly in an automobile accident. In the weeks afterwards, I cleaned out my childhood home, keeping a few of their possessions and selling or dumping the rest. The photo albums, my father’s gold watch and his favorite tie, my mother’s favorite vase and the apron she wore when she cooked. That's all I have left of my parents now. The sale of the house plus my parents’ life insurance gave me more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, but I continued to work anyway. What else did I have to do? I hadn’t been any better at making friends in college and since I worked from home, I didn’t have many chances to meet people. Whenever I did go out, I wasn’t very good at making connections and no one paid me much attention. I was the invisible man.

Response from Lora Danley for From Apocalypse to Anu (epic fantasy) First Assignment: Story statement After surviving a deadly virus, Cody Armstrong discovers he must prevent the universe from being controlled by an evil alien species called the Drods. Second Assignment: Antagonist Because of its many portals, Earth is the key to controlling the universe as the Drods wish to do. Their leader, Dedron, is a conglomerate of four powerful Drods that can combine and separate at will. Dedron stands as tall as four humans with the appropriate accompanying width and is dark grey in color with a bulbous head, hollow eyes, and spindly arms and legs. Dedron is seeking revenge for the four millennia the Drods have spent in isolation as punishment for their last attempt to control Earth. Dedron has become very powerful due to their constant association with the dark part of the Source, a realm accessible to all beings through meditation. A recent cosmic event has made the Drods rich with resources, and Dedron has begun their quest in earnest, starting with a virus that kills most of the humans on Earth. Dedron’s singular goal is complete control of the universe so that the Drods may have an easy and carefree life made possible by enslaving others. One of the four Drods that comprise Dedron is the father of Aradne, a half-Drod being who according to ancient prophecy is supposed to work with Cody to defeat Dedron. Third Assignment: Breakout Title From Apocalypse to Anu (first choice) The Legend of the Ones Fourth Assignment: Comp Titles My novel has elements of the philosophy of Contact by Carl Sagan with a narrator and a quest that are reminiscent of Ready Player One by Matt Weir. Fifth Assignment: Logline A lonely misfit must overcome his difficulties in relating to others to lead a team responsible for defeating an evil alien species that is trying to gain complete control of the universe. Sixth Assignment: Inner Conflict and Secondary Conflict Inner Conflict: Cody feels unworthy of his mission and is constantly striving to prove to himself that he is. He is frustrated if he cannot complete a specific task with ease and compares himself unfavorably to his companions. He is paired with the beautiful alien Aradne to complete his quest and together they form “the Ones,” those who have been chosen by prophecy to lead the fight to save the universe. While Cody considers Aradne his girlfriend, a second level of inner conflict exists as he is feels that he is better understood by Trudy, a practical and wise woman who is one of the humans accompanying them on their mission. While training for his mission, Cody is given the task to walk on water, but no instructions as to how to do it. He watches helplessly as the others do it with ease, but he is not able to believe in himself enough to complete the task. In the end, his frustration reaches a boiling point, and he lets out a primordial scream. While he then accomplishes the task, he is admonished by his mentor for using anger instead of love. Secondary conflict: Cody is forever feeling inferior to his close companions, Bart, who is able to pick up any skill or fix anything nearly instantly and Gurgla, a juvenile alien who possesses many abilities and talents at a young age that go far beyond those of any human. Cody met Gurgla and Bart soon after surviving the virus and along with Bart’s wife Jenny, they have formed a tight-knit family. Cody is conflicted because he is jealous of yet thankful for his newfound family. Cody was the last to master the task of walking on water and when he finally joins the others, he is upset that everyone else has arrived before him. He is unhappy that Bart and Jenny walked ahead of him without ensuring that he was able to follow. Bart welcomes him with open arms as he, Jenny, and Trudy trade stories with the others of what it felt like. Instead of joining them, Cody sits by himself and sulks because Bart and the others have bested him when he assumed he would finish first owing to his rather instant success at the previous task. Seventh Assignment: Setting One of the primary settings of the novel is post-apocalyptic Earth. A virus has killed almost all of the humans instantly, and so bodies are everywhere, stopped in whatever action they had been taking at the fatal moment. Strangely, many of the animals seem to have disappeared as well, and so the world has descended into an eerie silence with people in various states of decay scattered throughout it. The stench is awful in areas where bodies are plentiful, but in the midst of the San Bernardino mountains, where Cody first lives with Gurgla, Bart, and Jenny, there are no people and thus no smell. A few smaller animals roam the area, but no alpha predators are encountered. Much later in the novel, the setting switches to the several of the main tourist areas in Egypt: the Luxor Temple and the Great Pyramids. As these attractions were closed to the public during the initial stages of the viral outbreak when only small numbers of people died, they are devoid of humans save a few decaying security guards. The final version of Earth presented in the novel is an alternate Earth which is very much like our Earth except that there is no pollution and certain circumstances are different for Cody and some of the other characters. Cody, Bart, Jenny, Gurgla, and the others prepare for their mission on the planet of Elthea which looks like a sea green version of Oz. Everything sparkles because of Meesa, a green glitter like dust that permeates the atmosphere and obliterates the need for oxygen or food by providing energy directly to those who inhale it. There is very little vegetation there since there is no need to eat, and animals exist only as pets. Buildings look like small castles and are made of stone, however there are many areas in Elthea that materialize and dematerialize according to the needs of the trainees: small stone rooms, tiny islands, entirely white spaces with puffy white cubes and white mist on the floor, deserts with skies that go on forever, and a giant courtyard used for games and meditation. The main characters spend some time on Beylon where they meet many other types of aliens. Beylon is an artificial moon that serves as a trading post for the universe and while you can’t get valuable substances such as Meesa there, you can get just about everything else including highly realistic humanoid robots. The Hotel Ginzi on Beylon has sleeping quarters for rent as well as a bar with food and drinks that no Earthling has ever before tasted. All food is vegan to avoid offending any aliens by consuming their evolutionary predecessors. Rooms feature twelve sleeping pods arranged around a common area, so that guests can get to know aliens of other species. Beylon also has areas for relaxation, for games, and a Dome Room which is similar to a house of pleasure.