For
anyone in need of submitting a fictional book proposal to a
publisher, here is an example of one for a book that is now
published. As always, paying acute attention to grammar and spelling
is crucial. Different publishers will have different requirements, so
pay close attention to those and meet them. I certainly hope that you
will find this useful and relevant.
Yours
Truly,
B.C.
Jensen
P.S.
- All major spoilers have been deleted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FICTION
PROPOSAL
REZ's
EDGE - "Destruction & Redemption"
Welcome
to Dakota's hell! Welcome to the REZ's EDGE!
The REZ's
EDGE dives into the life of a middle-school aged white-boy whose
world is wracked by tragedy. Join him in his trials and
tribulations, joys and sorrows, pleasures and pains; his
"Destruction
& Redemption". Ride the REZ's EDGE!
Summary
It's
late at night and Dakota's father, Gordon, is driving them home down
a lonesome highway. It's 1974, one year after the takeover and
occupation of the village of Wounded Knee by the American Indian
Movement (AIM) and a militant population of 300 Indians.
.
Headlights
pop over a hill, blinding Gordon. The oncoming vehicle streaks across
the double-yellow lines, smashing into Dakota and his father. Their
car careens, catches, flips, and smashes into the ditch. Dakota is
seriously wounded. His father is dead.
.
After
a year of rehabilitation and many visits to his shrink, Dakota
returns to his first day of eighth-grade middle school to face his
mental demons and the tribal cousins of his father's killer.
.
Dakota's
anger burns within him and finally comes spewing up as he throttles
... [spoiler deletion].
.
Dakota
finds that his next-door locker mate is an Indian girl named Cheryl
Two Bulls. His disgust at her and her race eventually froths off from
a boil to only a simmer, and he asks her for information on the
Indian meaning of his namesake. This sparks off an attraction towards
Cheryl and her white best friend Olivia, which leads into tricky
territory of young love and hormones gone rampant.
.
Dakota
is forced to meet each class day with student counselor, Bruce
Radcliffe. In cahoots with Dakota's mother, Bruce proposes a Big
Brother figure for the thirteen-year-old to hang out with. Upon an
almost impromptu introduction, Dakota sees that the Big Brother is
... [spoiler deletion]. Dakota's mind is shredded and he runs from
Bruce's office and the school grounds. With Bruce's coaxing, this
finally resolves itself and Dakota turns to his Big Brother,
Jonathon, as a friend and confident.
.
Dakota
and his white friends torment the hell out a number of Indian kids in
their classes. He has two Indian friends that he had become estranged
with after sixth grade. Dakota is also bullied by a large
upperclassman Indian, whom he has altercations with during their
football practice sessions. He's forced into dealing with his
tormentor and he also rekindles the friendship of his Indian friends,
but to the criticism of one of his white friend's, a fellow Indian
tormentor.
.
Dakota
and his mixed group of friends gather at one of the boy's house,
whose parents are gone for the weekend. Olivia shows up at the
doorstep with torn and bloodied clothes. The group then goes on a
rescue mission to find her friend, Cheryl. ... [spoiler
deletion].
.
Dakota
falls into a deep depression. His Big Brother takes him out to
Cheryl's grandfather's cabin on the reservation for a sweat
lodge, Inipi, cleansing. Dakota is searching for a resolution to
his guilt and his sorrow. During the sweat, he is sideswiped by the
realization that he has been tricked by his Big Brother and Cheryl's
Grandfather into performing the ceremony with ... [spoiler
deletion].
.
Dakota
finds peace in the end, and the reader finds out, in the very last
sentence, that Dakota's father's killer is ... [spoiler deletion].
Main
Genre: Coming of Age Action & Adventure Historical Fiction
Other
Genre's It Fits Under:
Action
& Adventure
Coming
of Age
Cultural
Heritage
Family
Life
Historical
Native
American & Aboriginal
Psychological
Romance
- Multicultural & Interracial
Small
Town & Rural
Word
Count: 133,075
Target
Audience: Ages 13 and up. Those that enjoy:
-
The Body by Stephen King or the movie Stand By Me should love REZ's
EDGE
-
John Steinbeck's writing style, but desire more action and a plot
that move's along faster than that of East Of Eden, should also be
fully engaged by REZ's EDGE
-
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall and his followers will
dig REZ's EDGE
-
Learning about reservation lifestyle, Indian history, religion,
spirituality, tragedies, triumphs, folklore, and the American Indian
wars.
-
Books on race issues, injustice, prejudices, inequality, equality and
justice.
-
Music of the 1970s, including pop, rock, metal, and a touch of
country western.
-
Gripping coming of age stories
-
Small town life in the 70s
-
The news on the Indian's standing up against the building of the
Keystone XL Pipeline.
-
Multicultural & Interracial Romance
REZ's
EDGE is different in that it takes the viewpoint of a Caucasian boy,
and his somewhat prejudiced upbringing, to address the racial
inequality of American Indians through his own eyes. It ultimately is
a story of a boy looking to find resolution with the chaos that has
turned his world upside down. Dakota is a torn up boy looking for
healing and redemption in a world of conflicting signals.
REZ's
EDGE intertwines historical juicy tidbits, American Indian folklore,
Native rituals in a manner that most definitely 'Does Not Suck'. In
fact, readers will be gulping it down.
Bio
Brad
Jensen was born, raised, and educated through 12th grade in a small
town in western South Dakota, approximately 30 miles from the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation border. He attended South Dakota School of
Mines & Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota, and then went to
work In Seattle, Washington for the Boeing Company as an engineer for
22.5 years. He always felt misplaced as an engineer, because he never
fit the stereotype. In his heart, he has always been an artist and a
writer, that happened to be damn good at math. He always wrote:
prose, poems, stories, etc. B.C. Jensen has had his work published in
newspaper form and internet forums.
Brad
has been a reader most of his life. In Seattle, however, he began
diving into books about his homelands, the Dakota's, and the people
that first lived there, the American Plains Indians. This stirred in
him the desire to write about the people of his homeland, the
injustices, the tragedies, and their triumphs. He's seen it first
hand and works to give it a vibrant life in his stories.
Brad
has been working diligently at growing his social internet reach. He
has a large following on the below websites:
Personal
Website: http://bradjensen.wixsite.com/authorbradjensen
Tumblr: http://aminoapps.com/page/books/680756/brad-jensen-author
Facebook
Page: https://www.facebook.com/bradjensenauthor
Google+
Page: https://plus.google.com/…/10505…/105054276127718924831/posts
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/…/rezs-edge-ancestral-novels-by-…/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorBJensen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorbradjensen/
Books
& Writing Amino:
http://aminoapps.com/page/books/680756/brad-jensen-author
Contact
Info
Brad
Jensen
[address]
[phone]
authorbradjensen@gmail.com
http://bradjensen.wixsite.com/authorbradjensen
The
following 25 pages of single-spaced text has been expanded to double
space for your reading ease. Enjoy!
THE REZ's
EDGE - "Destruction & Redemption"
Introduction
I
had it all.
.
I
was only twelve, but everything was there for me. Food, clothing,
shelter, friends, the love of my mother and father, and the
protective wall that my father constructed around us.
.
But
the walls of my soul were decimated the summer before I started
seventh grade.
Five-thousand
pounds of sheet metal and steel came barreling down upon my father
and me, obliterating my wall, my protector.
.
So,
now, how the heck do I rebuild some kind of wall? Because, Lord
knows, I need one to protect my wounded and scared to death heart and
soul.
.
You
know, nothing is more dangerous than a hurt and fearful animal...
...
[spoiler deletion]...
--------------------
Hope
you found it informative and worthwhile.
Cheers!
B.C.
Jensen