Tag: novel character

Emergence Collective

Character snapshot: The hole

Joe Hallett2 Comments

From the feedback I have gotten about ‘Emergence Collective,”  It turns out that “The hole.” Which was (to me) just part of the setting that turned out to be its own Character. I didn’t expect there to be so much intrigue around it. It is fun and satisfying to see reactions and thoughts about my story from other people’s perspectives, which didn’t occur to me since I was focused on different parts of the story.  This character snapshot is not a character, but a place in the story.

Old Willy opened the truck door, which whined and screeched in protest as the rusty hinges rattled. “Whatcha doin’?” Mr. Winston croaked out the question while clearing his throat, showing genuine interest in Frank’s contraption over the dump.   

He turned a little red, embarrassed by his curiosity. “Umm, well, ya see. I got to thinking is all.” He began to explain. “I have been using this as a dump for 30 years now, right?”  

“Well… why hasn’t it filled up yet?” He posed the question with increasing excitement.  

Mr. Winston’s eyes lit up as the thought sunk in. “You know…. I never much gave it a thought….’ Till now. You know your right!” the excitement transferred to Mr. Winston. They both sat staring at it silently for a minute or two, pondering the notion as another old beat-up truck shook its way up the path. A younger man in his mid-30’s poked his head out of the truck window to have a clearer view of the scene around the hole.  

       “Is there something I can do?” he asked with concern in his voice. Not knowing the details of the situation, he offered his services out of simple neighborly kindness.  

Frank and Mr. Winston did not look up or respond, lost in their own thoughts. Johnny got out of his truck in a hurry and trotted over to the hole.   
  
      “Someone fall in?” he asked in an almost scared tone of voice. He detected that Jonny was getting amped up a bit, broke his trance from the hole, cracked a smile, and chuckled. “No, no, everything is fine,” he said in a calm voice, trying to put out the fire in Jonny’s mind “we were just think’n is all; how deep is this hole?”  

Emergence Collective

A strong female lead

Joe HallettLeave a comment

In honor of International women’s day, I wanted to share my thoughts on “Trina.” In “Emergence Collective,” As I wrote the character “Trina,” I wanted to make sure that her character was one of strength and determination. Self-reliant, independent, and purposeful woman in stories (and in life) are something that I find very attractive ( and not in a sexual way – you perve). To be honest, weak and spineless female characters revolt me. I tried to write Trina to be a strong character, and her strength empowered other characters to emulate that strength and lean on. “Mark,” as I wrote his relationship with her, I tried to express that he recognized that in her and depended on her equally as she did with him. The axiom “Behind every good man is an even better woman” is what shaped their interactions. I hope I did her justice and that the readers also saw that in her character.

Let me know how I did!

Emergence Collective

Onlinebookclub Reviews 3 out of 4 stars

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Emergence Collective by Joseph Hallett is a suspenseful science fiction novel. When Frank Friedman dropped out of college and left his parents’ home in 1969, he decided to hitchhike to start a new life. He was picked up by a painted school bus filled with similarly situated young adults on their way to Oregon. With no specific destination in mind, Frank decided to join their group. Their commune in the Oregon mountains consisted of fifty free spirits. Eventually, the members left the commune, except for Frank. He enjoyed life alone in the mountains with a few friends who lived nearby; however, he was bored. He became fascinated with a hole on the land that the commune had used to dispose of garbage over the years. The hole never filled up. Decades of garbage and old appliances, including refrigerators, never filled the hole. He decides to investigate the depth of the hole and engages his friends, including a geologist at a local university, to assist him. What secrets will they uncover about this mysterious hole?

Chief Master Sergeant Barney Derrick of the United States Air Force has been studying deviations in the magnetosphere. His study of the deviations over the last two years became his pet project for personal reasons. He assembled a team to accompany him to Washington state to investigate the anomalies. Mark and Trina are a young couple staying at the commune in Oregon when they find themselves in the middle of the mysteries surrounding the hole, the anomalies, and the ambitions of Barney Derrick.

This book is a page-turner. There are several unexpected twists that kept me guessing until the end. The existence of the hole is a mystery and it was intriguing to gradually learn more about it. It was captivating to see how each of the characters approached that mystery and tried to discover more about it. Each character brought a unique perspective to the investigation. The characters are what I liked most in the book. They are well-developed and interesting. Frank and his friend, Willy, had developed a deep connection over the years. Their relationship became more like family. The relationship between Mark and Trina was also well-written and realistic for a young couple. They had the unique perspective of teenagers as they investigated the strange occurrences.

Barney Derrick is a fascinating character. Without divulging any spoilers, he goes through many changes through the course of the book. Initially, he is demanding of his subordinates who accompany him on his quest. This seems natural since he is a Chief Master Sergeant. However, as the story progresses, his demands become more and more unacceptable. The contrast between Barney and Frank is significant. Their objectives and the way they treat others are vastly different. There was nothing that I disliked about this book.

I recommend Emergence Collective to fans of science fiction novels. I also recommend it to readers who enjoy mysteries and suspenseful novels. There were more than ten errors in the book, so I don’t believe it was professionally edited. With some additional editing, this book is worthy of a perfect score. Because it has more than ten errors, I give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars.

https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=217905
Emergence Collective

Trying to gain exposure

Joe HallettLeave a comment

This self publishing thing is frustrating when you are all but a recluse. How does one gain exposure? (seriously I am trying to figure this out) In the beginning I just sat and wrote, then it was ready so I hired a publisher, hired a cover artist (Already more money out than I expected to shell out). I am not expecting to make a living off of this I am a realist. but the passion project is getting expensive. I found onlinebokclub.com to review “Emergence Collective.” and decided to give it a whirl. see if that would generate interest, and hopefully a positive review. At this point only a few friends and the editor had read it so I was eager for fresh unbiased feedback.

It was nerve racking waiting for the reviewer to read rate a review. It took about a month, but I wasn’t dissapointed. 3 out of 4 stars. The review mentioned that there was a lot of format and gramatical errors (more than 10) and was nice enough to point out the page and paragragh those errors were, so that I could correct it. And had there not been those errors they would have gave 4 out of 4 stars. And that they felt it was not professionally edited… Here I have to defend the editor. First, as I went to page and paragrah noted, the most of errors the reviewer sited, I did not see. About half were hyphens at the end of sentences that did not belong and I did not see after looking where they pointed. My editor offered more than one round of editing, but I could only afford the first go around. That being said, My Professional editor did a fantastic job especially considering there were only about 3 or 4 actual typos and grammer issues. I will post the onlinebook club review in the next post. Anyone have any thoughts on these review places?

Emergence Collective

What is it all about? (Spoiler alert!)part2

Joe HallettLeave a comment

spoiler alert! I just wanted to warn again that some of the previous post and this one has spoiler type material about “Emergence Collective.” I personally hate spoilers. I dont even like it when your watching a show, and they tease THE NEXT scene during the commercial break. For me I love the suprise and discovery as the story unfolds.

I use transcended and ascended interchangeably, even though they are not precisely synonymous. I think it still fits. I still think a lot about the nature of consciousness. What is it? Where does it come from? One of my favorite theories is that the human body is like a marionette where our consciousness pulls the strings outside the body. You cut the strings,  and the body dies or is in stasis like a coma.

 But where is the puppeteer? In a higher realm, a higher resonant frequency outside of conscious reality. And our brains act like a filter preventing us from experiencing that higher realm. It is only when we alter our state of mind that the filter is removed, and we can experience the true reality as its resonant frequencies are revealed. Whether it is through strict meditation or mind-altering chemicals like Ayahuasca, a potent hallucinogen that contains a chemical called DMT or dimethyltryptamine. Whatever the catalyst is that allows us to escape the prison of our brain doesn’t matter once free, and one is perceiving a higher reality, the awareness of the nature of the universe expands. We start to fully understand our place in it. Learn that we have abilities that were previously only imagination. Learn to connect with others on a deeper spiritual level, communicate and express ideas. Travel throughout the realm and defy the physics of the reality our bodies are trapped in.

I know this sounds like the ravings of a metaphysical stoner. I think I communicated the essence of these ideas in the story well enough. But wait! There’s more; however, I will not bore you any longer. I do explore these concepts much more deeply in the next book. I think that once you get your feet wet in the first book, the second will be more satisfying as you explore your own thoughts on the potential of what could be done if all of this was real. I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Emergence Collective

Do you like signed copies of books?

Joe HallettLeave a comment

Just click the link below!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1114597005/signed-copy-of-emergence-collective-book?click_key=05550fc4ff0c4ed5e5b296d60f831648f8d8359e%3A1114597005&click_sum=5916d9cb&ref=hp_rv-1&frs=1
Emergence Collective

Character snapshot: Mark and Trina

Joe Hallett1 Comment

It’s a character snapshot, but these two characters are equally important together as they are apart, so I decided to lump the snapshot together. I really enjoyed writing the relationship between these two. I really wanted to express the kind of purity of love two people could share if they had the freedom of innocence….

Mark’s beat-up Honda fishtailed around the corner of the driveway and then skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust in front of the longhouse. Trina had a white-knuckle grip on the dashboard as if she was holding on for dear life. “Why do you have to drive like a crazy person?” she shouted, but the look on her face was one of excitement rather than terror.  “Umm, because it’s fun?” he said with a chuckle. “Well, here we are. Let’s find the best cabin before anyone else calls dibs.” 

“Yeah, good call,” she said as she got out of the car and stretched her back. “This is a cool place,” she said as she looked around, taking in the layout of the place. “But geez, namaste much?” Mark chuckled at that last remark. “Yeah, he was the poster child for hippies, I guess. That’s probably why my dad and Grandad pretended he didn’t exist.” “I think you might be cut from the same cloth, honey, ya know? A long-hair dropout in a family of lawyers and doctors. You’re not gonna get rich, but I love ya,” she said softly. 

He walked over and put his hands on her tiny waist, and pulled her close to him. “That’s how I know you love me. You’re not a gold digger. He whispered in her ear, “That makes me richer than any of ’em.” 

“I think this place is making you mushy,” she whispered back. He moved closer to her ear. “It’s also making me horny.” Then he playfully swatted her butt. She pretended to be mad and started to push him away but grabbed his hand and started pulling him to the cabins. “Let’s go find us a cabin, my ‘mushy’ man,” she said and winked at him. He dared not resist as she led him down a random path. “These cabins are all in good condition. I was imagining something like sleeping in a dirty barn,” Trina said as she peered into the window of a pleasant-looking cabin. “I like this one, but I want something, ya know, a little more private.” “Anything for you, love,” he said, smiling. “Yeah, I think Uncle Frank had a lot of time on his hands and kept the place up nicely.” 

They reached the end of the path at a cabin that seemed to be the farthest from all the others. Mark walked up the few steps to the porch and opened the door. “Should I carry you over the threshold?” Trina pushed past him with a smirk. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, bucko,” she said sarcastically. 

“Well then,” he said with an exaggerated bow, “after you, m’lady,” then followed her in. 

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Character snapshot: Willy Winston

Joe Hallett1 Comment

Writing Willy’s character was fun. I like characters that can be equally tough and tender…

Willy turned around to face his friends and make sure everyone was out and ok. Sandy started to sob and fell to her knees as Jonny put his arm around her. Frank, still huffing from his sprint, bent over to catch his breath. Gregory and Daniel looked around, frantic.  

“Where’s David?” Gregory asked in an awkward girlish-sounding voice. Frank stood up straight and looked toward the tent.  

Sandy gasped. “Oh, oh my God!” she cried, seeing the tent collapsed.  

Gregory and Daniel rushed over to the tent, calling his name. Willy and Frank followed, quick to help, struggling to find the tent opening in the darkening light of the sky. Frank froze cold. He looked down, and his voice turned a chilling tone of horror. “Blood,” he whispered, forcing the word out of his mouth.  

Willy looked down at where Frank was staring. Fresh splats of blood dripped at Willy’s feet.  

Frank looked up at Willy. “You’re bleeding, old man,” he said with a relieved tone.  

A trickle of blood ran down from Willy’s forehead and nose into his beard. He reached up and touched his forehead, searching for injury. “Oh,” he said with a nonchalant tone as he pulled a toothpick-sized piece of cable from his head. “Would ya look at that.”  

Emergence Collective

Character snapshot: Frank

Joe Hallett1 Comment

Frank is a fan favorite, Mine too. I tend to use people I know as a template (not biograghically) for some characters. Frank is modeled after a real person….

Still lost in his thoughts and even a little excited, he must have been driving faster than he realized since he got to the hardware store in quick time. It was good, though; the evening was going by fast, and the store was about to close up for the night. He got out of his Volkswagen van and pushed open the old door of the storefront. He only got a few steps into the store when the cashier gave him an odd look. The young kid had spiky black hair and a ring in his nose. 

“Mister… you can’t come in here like that, sorry.” The young kid sounded apologetic and amused at the same time. 

“Like what?” Frank was oblivious to any reason why he should not be there. 

“Your feet, bro. You have to have shoes to come in; it’s a safety thing. Might step on a nail and sue us or something.” A smile indicating laughter was soon to follow was on the boy’s face by now. 

Frank looked down at his feet and realized that he wasn’t wearing shoes. The thick calluses on his perpetually dirty feet did not feel shoes in the summer most of the time. He was an old hippy and stuck in a time warp. Shoes were for winter when it was too cold to go without. He chuckled at himself and smiled back at the cashier.

“Sorry,” Frank said with a bit of a giggle. He was not embarrassed by his attire. Look at that kid; why should I be embarrassed by the way I dress? he thought to himself, almost laughing out loud. Nonchalantly turning around, he gave the cashier a nod goodbye and headed for the exit. He only felt a little disgruntled by the situation since it was a wasted trip. He did not have anything much to do anyway, but wasted gasoline was wasted money.