Posts filed under ‘Elmo’s Sojourn’
ELMO’S SOJOURN, CHAPTER 1
ELMO’S SOJOURN
CHAPTER 1
CELLAR SCIENCE
“I have a problem! I have a big problem!” Elmo shouted from his cellar laboratory. Mildred shook her head, wiped her hands on her apron and headed for the basement door. After fifty years of marriage, Elmo never ceased to amaze her at the trouble he could get into.
“Could he garden like other men his age? Oh no, he has to do physics experiments,” Mildred muttered as she walked down the cellar stairs.
* * *
They had moved into this rural house in Upstate New York ten years ago, right after Elmo had retired from his job at Los Alamo Laboratory. He was a physicist at the laboratory, part of a think-tank that planned experiments. But Elmo enjoyed the lab work too. He had accumulated a lot of ideas and discarded equipment. Mildred gazed out the window of her country home. Nearby, tall electrical towers obstructed some of the bucolic scenery, but Mildred liked the house just fine. Elmo brought along the junk he had accumulated over the years, mostly discarded apparatus from failed experiments, equipment useless to everyone except Elmo. The items included large magnets and four six-foot-tall Tesla coils, specialized high voltage transformers three feet in diameter and wrapped with miles of thin copper wire. They resembled giant candles, coming to a point with electrical connections at the apex. Elmo transported all this equipment into the basement and fiddled with it for years. He then had a large Plexiglas chamber built, which set them back a bundle. He stood the Tesla coils in each corner, then mounted the magnets in the floor.
The next step in the construction of Elmo’s experiment Mildred found most undesirable. Elmo told Mildred, “I’ll need a great deal of power for my research. Soon I’ll need your help making the electrical connections for the project I’ve been working on.”
A few days ago, a truck had delivered a huge spool of heavy insulated wire, another great expense, and now Mildred was getting a bad feeling. Once it was dark, Elmo emerged from the basement wearing rubber boots and heavy rubber gloves. “Get your coat Mildred, we’re going out.” The spool of wire was in the bed of Elmo’s pickup. They drove to the base of the nearest electrical tower and parked.
“What are you going to do Elmo?” Mildred asked in a voice full of apprehension and a touch of impatience.
“I’m going to climb the tower and connect this wire which you’re going to feed out,” came his reply. Mildred shook her head and wished Elmo would act his age.
After that illegal task was accomplished, Elmo spent most of his time in the basement tinkering with his invention. He called it his Time – Space Chamber, and when Mildred asked just what he was doing Elmo explained, “I’ve always thought that if I could create an electrical field, then move those electrons in a magnetic field to approach the speed of light, I could create a wormhole to a distant time and place. I could aim at the wormhole and transport matter. The secret is the size of the magnetic field. It must be small, not like the giant cyclotrons they construct in the desert.
All Mildred could say was, “If it makes you happy dear.” It kept Elmo out of her hair for years.
ELMO RETURNS
AN INTRODUCTION TO ELMO’S SOJOURN
If you read my novella, Elmo’s Invention, previously posted on my blog, you know that Elmo was a scientist working at Los Alamos and have come to be familiar with his quirky personality. Elmo’s Invention was written after Elmo’s Sojourn and as a prequel to that novella. In Elmo’s Invention while working at Los Alamos, his interest was in time travel. In Elmo’s Sojourn he is retired, and his interest is in space travel.
He has a theory that it is possible to travel through space with the use of wormholes. He builds a device, and it works! However, Elmo goes nowhere. But a creature appears in his cellar lab after his first use of the machine. Elmo being Elmo, decides to return with the creature to its home. Thus, an adventure for Elmo, in a strange world begins.
Elmo’s Sojourn has a long history. The novella was first published online by Bewildering Stories in 2006. Later, it was published by Mélange Books as an eBook and in a print anthology, Curious Hearts, in 2010. Then, purely by accident, I discovered the first two chapters of the novella were published in China in an English-language science fiction publication in 2008.
ELMO IS COMING
ELMO IS COMING
Elmo is soon arriving for your reading enjoyment. He is the main character in my two novellas, Elmo’s Invention and Elmo’s Sojourn.
In Elmo’s Sojourn, written first, he is a retired Los Alamos scientist but has never strayed from his love of science. He has a theory that it is possible to travel through space through wormholes. He builds a device, and it works! However, Elmo goes nowhere, but a creature appears in his cellar lab. Elmo being Elmo, decides to return with the creature to its home. Thus, the adventure for Elmo, in a strange world begins.
Elmo’s Sojourn has a long history. The novella was first published online by Bewildering Stories in 2006. Later, it was published by Mélange Books as an eBook and in a print anthology, Curious Hearts, in 2010. Then, purely by accident, I discovered the first two chapters of the eight-chapter novella were published in China in an English-language science fiction publication in 2008.
Elmo’s Invention, written as a prequel to Elmo’s Sojourn, has only been published on my blog. In this novella Elmo is working as a scientist in Los Alamos and has the idea to build a time machine.
He builds it, and it works, but not in the way he intended. His discovery is made public and causes an uproar for Elmo and his wife in their community, and beyond.
After things die down and Elmo is using his machine to raise chickens it ceases to work. In the process of repairing it, he stumbles upon the reason why it was not working as intended. But as a true time machine, more problems lurk in the future.
I had a great deal of fun writing these two novellas and I hope you have as much fun reading them.
I will begin publishing Elmo’s Invention a chapter at a time every three days on by blog. When completed, Elmo’s Sojourn will make its appearance.
ELMO’S SOJOURN
ELMO’S SOJOURN
Elmo’s Sojourn is a novella I wrote awhile ago and was first published by Bewildering Stories in 2007. Since then, it has been published by Mélange Books (no longer publishing) in an anthology, Curious Hearts, and as a stand-alone e-book.
The story involves Elmo, a retired Los Alamos retired scientist who accidentally discovers the ability to travel through space using wormholes. With this new knowledge he travels to a distant planet and discovers an alien civilization with a devastating problem. A problem for which he stumbles upon a solution.
I was checking Google to see what was being done with my published work when I stumbled upon the fact that the first two chapters of the novella has been published in China.
Just now I have also found that Elmo’s Sojourn is still available for sale. I’ve provided a link if anyone is interested.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/elmos-sojourn-walt-trizna/1118770303
FROM GOOGLE
I just received this email from Google. I have no idea of it,s importance, or whether I’m being ripped off ( which happens these days, but has always been the practice of a certain element of society, i.e., losers).
https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/mail?app=mail#5
I’m also including the sit they reference.
To be honest, I would prefer you purchase my story from Melange Books. I make money, and more in important, my publisher makes money.
As a side note, I occasionally check my name on Google. It’s not an ego thing, I just want an update on what of my work has been published. Interestingly, I did discover one of my stories publish. That knowledge was new to me. I also found that the first two chapters of Elmo’s Sojourn has been published in China. I waited for the money from millions of sales to roll in. Of course, I knew that China has little use for our copyrights, but the next time I visit the Orient, I expect a huge outflowing of love.
In spite of my age, I still dream.
SUBMITTED: ELMO’S INVENTION
A few days ago, after many rewrites, I finally finished my novella, Elmo’s Invention. This 16,500 word work is a prequel to my first published Elmo novella, Elmo’s Sojourn, available from Melange Books.
Completing this current novella took quite longer than it should. Life’s been rough but that’s part of the experience. But once finished, off it went to Melange Books hopefully with a happy outcome.
Not to give too much away, Elmo’s Invention is the story of a Los Alamos scientist, Elmo, who tinkers in his cellar with ‘off the wall’ ideas that no one would pay him to pursue. In the course of his tinkering, he invents the perfect prison, but that was not the result he was after.
If this stirs your interest, I’ll let you know if it is published and you interest can be satisfied.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
BOOK SIGNING
This coming Saturday, 2/14/15, I will be joining a group of local writers at the Atglen Public Library in Atglen, PA. The address for the library is 413 Valley Ave., Atglen, PA and will be from 12PM – 3PM.
I will be signing my novel, New Moon Rising, along with two anthologies, Curious Hearts and Spellbound 2011, where my stories appear. For those on a tight budget, I will also be giving away my short story, The Gig of a Lifetime, published in Toasted Cheese Literary Journal.
Come meet the authors and perhaps buy a book.
See you Saturday.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: HOW MUCH OF ‘YOU’ IS IN YOUR CHARACTERS? CONTINUED
Continued as promised…
Okay, sit back from the edge of your seats.
Here’s some hints as to who the character is and the reward I’m offering.
First, as you all know by now, I have a profound love for books. In New Moon Rising the character shares the same love and, in the story, is on my dream vacation. What’s his name?
As for the prize, it is twofold. Now you’re back to edge of your seats again. I can feel it.
First, you will receive a signed copy of my e-book, Elmo’s Sojourn, mailed to you as a printout. Also, you will receive a copy of my, as yet, unpublished manuscript, Elmo’s Invention, which is a prequel to the e-book.
That’s it, my friends. I’ll alert Amazon to expect the rush to buy my novel.
Good luck!
To ease your buying enjoyment, here’s a link to my work for sale by Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
ELMO’S SOJOURN, FINAL QUESTIONS
9. This would make a great series – have you considered writing the next adventure?
Glad you asked this one, it’s already written. Elmo’s Invention is a prequel to Elmo’s Sojourn. In Elmo’s Invention Elmo is working at Los Alamos and here sets out to build a time machine using an old iron lung, but things do not go as planned.
This novella is longer than Elmo’s Sojourn and still needs a lot of editing, and then out it goes. I’m sure there will be other stories fermenting in my brain, but they have yet come to the surface.
10. What are you working on now?
Currently, I’m doing a great deal of editing. I have two novels written but are in need of a rewrite.
The Beast Awaits is the most complete. It deals with a monster created through stem cell research. It escapes into the Everglades and its destruction leads to enhanced global warming. How’s that for ‘hot button’ issues?
Sweet Depression is a novel which is a cross between the work of James Patterson and Robin Cook, a very sinister thriller set in a pharmaceutical company.
11. In your point of view, what is the most difficult part of the writing life?
Imagining story ideas I find to be the easiest part. The writing can be difficult and the editing is, I find, even more difficult. But the part of writing I find the most difficult is trying to get the work published. I agonize over writing query letters.
12. Do you outline your stories before you sit down to write?
For short stories, I mull over the plot before I put pen to paper. I write all my first drafts by hand. So when I begin writing the story, it’s already fully formed in my mind.
For novels I use an outline but keep it fluid. In a steno pad, for each novel, I form an outline to include scenes and dialog when the characters start talking.
13. What plans do you have for your writing going into the future?
If I can publish Sweet Depression I have plans to write at least one sequel.
I’ve also published a short story, Martian Rebirth, which I want to develop into a novel.
And of course, my brain keeps on cranking out short story ideas.
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/elmossojourn.html
ELMO’S SOJOURN, MORE QUESTIONS
5. Your time machine seemed very well thought out – is it based on something in theoretical science.
The time machine is a product of my imagination.
While I was in college, there was a guy in the dorm who built a tesla coil. You could pull something like a quarter million volts to your finger, but since the amperage was low, you survived. I had to get that thing into a story.
6. How do you personally relate to your main character in your story?
I was a scientist for 34 years, but a biologist not a physicist. I love science and the opportunity it gives you to discover something new, when all the parts of a puzzle suddenly come together. I share the wonder Elmo has for science.
7. How challenging was it to build your alien landscapes and creatures?
I have a very active imagination so it was really quite easy. But the creatures changed along the way. The first creature that comes through Elmo’s machine was going to be the dominant creature on Roth, but of course that changed. Then Valmid was going to be a sinister being and that changed. Since I needed some conflict, Gylex came into being and I could just picture what it looked like.
8. What theme do you want to convey to your readers?
I think, as with most science fiction, I want to create adventure and the wonder of the unknown.
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/elmossojourn.html
