The Swetky Agency - First Steps

Submission Synopsis

First Steps
by Gregory Anderson

Length:
78,000

Genre:
Science Fiction

Series:
First Steps is the first installment of a projected trilogy.

Sentence:
Kate Parks and Harry Reed battle for their different visions of humanity's future.

Blurb:
Kate is tormented by strange nightmares-- but also driven by them. Harry becomes a charismatic leader of the New Age movement. Kate's drive leads her into space, while Harry develops a new philosophy that gives humanity a key role in the cosmos.

Synopsis:
Kate Parks is an attractive, ambitious lawyer in her late thirties. Her practice has always been corporate, her income has been consistently comfortable, and her passion has always been the stars. Even though Kate chose the money and power of the law, she imbued her younger sister Sundaye with her fascination about the universe-- so much so, in fact, that Sunny becomes one of the new generation of shuttle astronauts as a mission specialist.

As she has grown older, Kate has been plagued with strange, recuurrent nightmares, glimpses of something her conscious mind refused to accept. These nightmares have cost her more than one relationship, including her only marriage, as she would not, or could not, let the men share her private terror, and they all eventually drifted away from her. Finally, however, she meets a man with more staying power. Tom Halig is a shrewd, determined criminal defense attorney who knows what he wants, and he wants Kate Parks. As their relationship grows, he becomes determined to get to the bottom of the nightmares, and he persuades Kate to see DR. Amy Dryzak, a psychiatrist/hypnotist he has used in his work. Under Dr. Dryzak's gentle but persistent probing, the story of Kate's abduction by aliens as a young girl is slowly pieced together.

One problem had come to dominate Kate's professional musings as the seventies turned into the eighties. It had become obvious that there were fortunes to be made in space-- and equally obvious that it would take smaller fortunes and years of waiting for a return on that money. The problem was to find ways to accomodate that gestation period and survive within a competitive capitalist economy. To that end, Kate helps found EXECSPACE, a private for-profit enterprise, and begins to struggle towards the stars. The Challenger explosion is a blow to EXECSPACE and to Sunny personally, but, by 1993, Kate and Tom are married, EXECSPACE is beginning to turn the corner financially, and Sunny is preparing for her first space flight, a mission that will deliver to orbit an EXECSPACE payload. The nightmares, however, persist-- so much so that at times Kate fears for her sanity. Tom has become her rock.

Harry Reed, who likes to call himself Harbinger Reed, is a tall, charismatic young man who has his own dream. Not unlike Kate Parks, Harry wants to leave his mark on the world. A mix-- some would say a mishmash-- of ideas taken from Eastern philosophy, Biblical interpretations, pop psychology, and peculiar views on the rise of humanity, together with the power of his physical presence, soon make Harry a darling of the New Age movement. Together with Peter Glenn and Dee Hopkinson, two searchers who have left mainstream science behind to pursue their own quest, Harry begins to formulate, however embryonic it may be, a new philosophy.

As his fame grows, so do his wealth and influence. Harry meets Sunny Parks on his way up, and, while the sparks do fly between them, he also realizes having a NASA astronaut in his fold would be a real coup. Harry pursues Sunny only fitfully because of his relationship with Jolene Kapstra, a television news reporter who has become Harry's producer and lover, but he keeps his connection with Sunny alive. As the Millenium approaches, Harry, at a mass rally, proclaims the fullest version of his new philosophy to date while his continued relationship with Sunny carries unpredictable potential for them, his following, and Kate.

Bio:
I am a graduate of Ball State University with a degree in history. Currently, I work as a freelance journalist.

Film:
It's a sprawling story covering many locales through seveeral strong characters, and it deals with some of the most interesting ideas floating through pop culture. I think it might do best as a television mini-series.

Additional:
This is the first novel I wrote. Before writing it, I read several books on "actual" alien abductions to get that part right.