F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

Writing

Wailing Loon

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Wailing Loon (F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)
Wailing Loon (F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)

In my continuing journey as an Indie author, I thought about the creation of the trade paperback for ERO, and asked Lon Kirschner, my Cover Guy, if we could create a “fake imprint” to round out the cover…something instead of “Create Space” that would communicate the kind of writing I do. Basically, “finish” off the whole cover process. Lon enthusiastically said, “sure!” So, I (pardon the pun) floated a couple ideas by him I’d been thinking about, one involved a black lab (in honor of our long-gone dog, MacTavish du Lac) and the other involved a loon. Lon gave some great advice, one of which was that in doing this I should be different, think of something unique, cause “everyone” does a dog. Sage advice, because I did want something unique…something I could brand all my work with, not just ERO. Well, yesterday Lon presented me with his offerings, and, I must say, once again, I am blown away by his work! What he has created is so classy, so professional, it simply belongs on the spine of books!

I chose the loon, because I’ve always loved them…loved their haunting tones…and the way they always bring me back to the Adirondacks of upstate New York, where I grew up. When I hear them, I’m transported to dark and mysterious places…the calm, dark waters of the Adirondacks, also replete with mystery. The Adirondacks are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. The image of the loon also lends a calming, end-of-day relaxation, gliding over the glass-like evening-into-night waters…of places largely unfrequented by the masses…causing many to give pause and introspection to not just one’s day, but one’s life.

And then there’s the red eyes.

They’re just such a different bird…that I’ve come to love their symbology so much, I’ve decided to use them as my Indie imprint. Mysterious, haunting, subtle. Stark. Different. All things I hope my work embodies.

So, I hope you enjoy my new brand…and I hope you enjoy my work. The creation of the physical trade paperback (in 6 x 9 format) is coming along nicely, and I hope to have it out soon! But, until then, sit back and enjoy…the haunting wail of the loon….

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Radio Interview on Tron Talk!

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Photograph of a young girl listening to the ra...
This Just In! (Photograph of a young girl listening to the radio during the Great Depression. Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 24th, I will be interviewed on Tron Talk, with host Tron Simpson, on KCMN AM 1530/KCBR-AM 1040. Try this link for online streaming audio. I’m scheduled for a call-in interview (a “phoner”) about 1:15 Mountain Time  in the afternoon. We’re going to give away a couple free e-books on-air.

Hope to hear you there!

ERO—On Sale Now!

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ERO (© F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)
ERO (© F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)

Well, my team and I have done it—Lon Kirschner, Pam Headrick, Cherry Weiner, and all the other readers and people (see Acknowledgements/Author Note in the beginning of the book) who have read and commented and helped out in any way—ERO is finally available through Smashwords, Amazon, and soon, Nook (not yet processed; please, keep checking back)! Thanks, for everything, folks! I’m charging $5.99 for this book. It’s bigger and I have more money invested in it. I will shortly be working on getting the physical copy out there; it takes more coordination.

Wow, what a sprint. As with The Uninvited, it’s so weird to actually, finally see this out there after so many years (seven). I have in my writing log that I started plotting for the novel on March 6, 2006, and started actually writing the manuscript itself “in earnest” on March 9th, around 4 p.m. (Mountain Time). I’d called the working title of the manuscript Brilliant Eyes. You’ll see that tile in the story. I also note in the log, that a few days later—March 11th—my wife and I took a trip to Roswell, NM. Yeah, that Roswell. That was an interesting trip. Met and talked with some very interesting people, including an “Earth Station Roswell” guy who took us into his back room to spend a serious amount of time talking with us about his plans for a huge Roswell conference center using advanced/state-of-the-art technology in creating this center…basically, making it like a huge UFO mothership for the conference center itself. It was so cool. Incredibly cool. And we thanked him for the honor of his taking the time he did talking with us. He and I had to have been talking about an hour or more. Anyway, I’d kept tabs on him for a couple years, but last heard he’d been fighting not only water rights issues, but his fellow locals, for him pulling the “UFO business” out of downtown Roswell, and to the “front” of Roswell. I’ll have to check up on all this, now, that I’m reminding myself of it. Maybe interview him for my blog.

This also reminds me of the woman behind That Crazy Lady Down The Road, Judy Messoline (I have a signed copy of her book; will now have to give her the same, since I’d been talking up my book with her for years), and her UFO Watchtower. We’d gone down to see her many times over the years, and would just hang out and B.S. with her at her place, in the 90+ degree heat…watching the summer thunderheads roll in and out, talking about UFO sightings and, once, even getting some violin lessons from another lady also hanging out with Judy. This lady also went on to play some violin music. That was sooo cool, the four of us and Judy’s dogs, out in the middle of nowhere, violin music gracing the airwaves! After visiting her the first time, my wife and I then went around the area asking residents whether or not they’d seen anything weird, and, boy, did we hear some stuff. One was told us from a person who told us their grandmother used to sit on their front porch and watch UFOs rise out of Blanca Mountain (the prominent peak down there). Their grandmother’s time was the late 1800s.

Well. Here it is. My opus. My space opera. My signature work, as I’ll call it, because that’s how I look at this one. Of all I’ve written, and those who have read all of my work (including my ex-agent), this is the one everyone loves the most. This is my “Big Book.” It’s got it all: intrigue, love, conspiracies, UFOs, aliens, thinky stuff, scary stuff, funny stuff. Parts of my life. My DNA.

Thoughts for our future.

And I give it all to you.

I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for stopping by, and I thank you all in advance for taking a chance on it.

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ERO—The Press Release

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Is All We See...Real? (Photo credit: Wikipedia, Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders, December 24, 1968)
Is All We See…Real? (Photo credit: Wikipedia, Apollo 8 crewmember Bill Anders, December 24, 1968)

Here is the press release for ERO (click here). I used PRLog. The PR should be visible on their main page for a little bit today.

I’m releasing the book on July 20th, tomorrow, to time it with the 44th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings. Just for fun. I’m sure somehow I’ll be tagged as part of the conspiracy theory and treatises will be written about my involvement in promulgating the hoax of our lunar landings through the highest levels of government….

At least, a writer-selling-novels can only hope!

Take everything with a block of salt, readers.

Only real thing I realized after submitting I could have done better, is including a larger image of the book I attached to the PR. Dang it. Well, the PR does give an expanded view of the cover.

Can you all keep a secret? I might begin uploading files late tonight, so it might actually go live slightly early, Mountain Time, though it’ll be July 20th, Eastern Time. Shsssh. This is on a strict, need-to-know basis….

Join the confusion. Question everything. Nothing is as it seems.

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The Music of ERO

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http://youtu.be/N_GPxe91hWE

Unlike writing The Uninvited, where I listened to a lot of one particular band, while writing ERO, I listened to a variety of music. But even though I listened to a variety of bands (Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, etc), I did gravitate toward one in particular Alice in Chains. “A Chains,” as they are also called (here’s their website), is turning out to be one of my favorite bands, though I’ve listened to them for years. They have a dark, metal, grunge, alternative feel to their music. I got back into them after hearing one of their coolest hits, “Nutshell,” while working on another project I’ve since backburnered. “Nutshell” is an emotional, acoustic piece with dark lyrics dealing with loneliness, death, and despair. Click here for “Nutshell” lyrics. This song, like it did for my backburnered project, fits the tone of ERO.

I also listened to a lot of Tool. I’ve also loved and listened to this band for years. They’re known for their trippy, long and complex tunes, described as “style-transcending” and part of progressive rock, psychedelic and art rock. Dark. Experimental. Love em.

I also listened to a lot of science fiction movie soundtracks, including the X-Files soundtrack, “Songs in the Key of X.”

I didn’t always listen to music while writing the manuscript, but when inputting my redlines or doing something that didn’t require intense focus, I’d put on an “album.” It’s amazing the frame of mind music can put you into.

Whatever music each of you enjoy, I hope you also enjoy ERO, which is still set to go on sale, this Saturday, July 20th, coinciding with the 44th anniversary of the Apollo 11th moon landing.

Question everything.

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ERO—The Research…and the Truth

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Grainy B&W image of supposed UFO, Passoria, Ne...
Grainy B&W image of supposed UFO, Passoria, New Jersey Edited version of Image:PurportedUFO NewJersey 1952 07 31.gif. By Bach01. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ERO is about how one lieutenant’s life had changed after having become part of the UFO conspiracy machine.

It’s fiction.

I made it all up.

There are aspects of my real life embedded within the story…but not in any of the fantastical, conspiracy theory laden aspects. I have an active imagination, is all. I began the story with a single premise I can’t say, because it actually gives away the story, and added to it from a host of material. Most of the scenes just flowed into the writing as it happened, but, occasionally, I added material I’d read about and thought would make for some cool scenes. One of the continued scenes I added was from a book I found, called Above Black, by Dan Sherman. It blew me away, and I thought, huh, that’d be neat to include. So, I contacted the author and asked him if I could incorporate it into my novel. We did a short Q&A exchange, and he said I could. So, once I incorporated it, I’d sent him a copy of it to review. Never heard back from him one way or the other, but appreciated him letting me incorporate it. Thanks, Mr. Sherman, hope I did it justice and hope you are faring well.

Another instance of incorporation involved using the Communion books, by Whitley Strieber. Though I did not contact Mr. Strieber (or did and had no response, I can no longer remember), I borrowed certain aspects from his work. Those who have read his work will recognize where I have done so. Again, I’m not going to give away the scenes, but when I read Mr. Strieber’s work, again, I was blown away by what I read. If half of what I’d read was true, life truly is more fantastical than many of us realize. And, if you read other works, more frightening. If you are to believe some of this material (see bibliography, below), people have died talking about some of this stuff. And, if you believe some of this material, our lives are not our own, and never have been. That’s the problem with conspiratorial writing. Over the years I have read tons of books on UFOs and extraterrestrials, especially as a kid. As an adult, I scaled back quite a bit…until I wrote ERO. To be honest, some of this material scared me. One book in particular put me into a particular “funk” after having read it (and, it’s the only book I’ve read that actually had a disclaimer up front, almost trying to keep you from reading it!). Other books appalled me. Others, amused.

Are our lives our own?

Is there another, shadow government out there quietly running the world?

Is the Truth obfuscated for dark, nefarious purposes?

Do UFOs and extraterrestrials exist?

These kinds of questions plagued me the more I read about conspiracy theories as I wrote ERO, and tugged and tore at my belief systems. Eventually, I’ve made peace with it. Whatever is going on out there is and has been going on out there with or without my direct knowledge of it and will continue t do so. Do I believe in everything I’ve read? No, I don’t. And it doesn’t matter, because it really has little impact on my life on a daily basis.

You know, short of ETs coming “out.”

We all live our lives as we do, trying to get by, doing the right thing (most of us). All have our belief systems. And what if these conspiracy theories are just another alternate reality that intersects with all our individual realities, in that, it’s not really real…just an alternate present/past/future we touch on when we “go there.” That life is really all sunshine and rainbows and ice cream…but when we start talking “dark,” then this other reality “Venn diagrams” its way into our reality, our consciousness? And, if that is the case, then we can just as easily not allow it into our consciousness by not believing in it.

I know, a bunch of hooey, to most. But, it’s the perfect “conspiracy machine.” This whole world obfuscates everything. And it doesn’t cost those who may be control a dime.

Isn’t that perfect?

Because, those who may be running things…the secret societies, the shadow governments…get what they need. Confusion. What is real, and what is imagined?

If people really had died in talking about any of this stuff, how did others survive while talking about it? To help put your minds at ease, from what I’d read, those who had theoretically died from “talking” had actually, theoretically taken part in the dark, hidden worlds of UFO/extraterrestrial operations (or had actually “known something”)…had been pledged to eternal silence…then spoke out once they “left” the organization. Now, if anyone is any kind of familiar with the science fiction world, you well know, once you enter any kind of weird Secret Society, you never, really leave. At least that’s what we’re told from the like of the SyFy channel and similar ilk. Yet…one or two still claim to do it and survive, and reasons are given, usually they’re smaller players, or not big enough names making big enough splashes, with important enough wave-making…or because the do muddy the waters just enough to be of benefit to the whole obfuscation process.

Or, it could all be fake.

It’s a weird world out there, Horatio

So, all that said, I’m just a know-nothing guy who had a cool idea in his head for several years and finally wrote it down. I have zero experience with any kinds of UFOs (uh, as far as I know…) nor any kind of experience in any kind of “dark operations.” This entire plot came solely from my imagination and into which I incorporated elements of publicly available material, to which I freely attribute my sources and acknowledgement of their efforts. I am grateful to everyone who wrote their books, and, in some cases, were brave enough to do so.

Don’t take anything for granted. Your life is yours…make the best of it and do not let anyone take away any of your rights to it. And, like a favorite television show used to say every week:

The Truth is Out There.

My ERO research material:

ABOVE BLACK, OneTeam Publishing, 1997, 2006, by Dan Sherman, ISBN 0-9660978-0-7

ALIEN AGENDA, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997, by Jim Marrs, ISBN 0-06-109686-5

Body Of Secrets, Anchor Books, 2002, by James Bamford, ISBN 0-385-49908-6

BREAKTHROUGH, HarperCollinsPublishers, 1995, by Whitley Strieber, ISBN 0-06-017653-9

Communion, Beech Tree Books, 1987, by Whitley Strieber, ISBN 0-688-07086-8

CRASH AT CORONA, Paraview Special Editions, 2004, by Don Berliner and Stanton Friedman, ISBN 1-931044-89-9

DARK MISSION: THE SECRET HISTORY OF NASA, BY Richard C. Hoagland and Mike Bara, Feral House, ISBN 978-1-932595-26-0

Deep Black, Berkley Books, 1988, by William Burrows, ISBN 0-425-10879-1

Dreamland, Villard, 1998, by Phil Patton, ISBN 0-375-75385-0

Leap Of Faith, Harper Torch, 2002, by Gordon Cooper, ISBN 0-06-109877-9

Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will To Believe, Prometheus Books, 2001, Carl T. Pflock, ISBN 1-57392-894-1

Rule by Secrecy, Perennial, 2001, by Jim Marrs, ISBN 978-0-06-093184-1

Sky Walking, Collins/Smithsonian Books, 2006, Tom Jones, ISBN 978-0-06-088436-9

That Crazy Lady Down The Road, Earth Star Publications, 2005, by Judy Messoline, ISBN 0-944851-14-2

THE DAY AFTER ROSWELL, Pocket Books, 1997, by Colonel Philip J. Corso (Ret.) and William J. Birnes, ISBN 0-671-01756-X

The Right Stuff, Bantam Books/Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1979/2001, Tom Wolfe, ISBN 0-553-38135-0

The Roswell Legacy, New Page Books, 2009, Jesse and Linda Marcel, Jr., ISBN 978-1-60163-026-1

The works of Seth, Jane Roberts, and Rob Butts

The Zeta Reticuli Incident (and Commentary), AstroMedia Corporation, 1976, Terence Dickinson

Top Secret, The Dictionary of Espionage and Intelligence, Citadel Press, 2005, by Bob Burton, ISBN 0-8065-2650-5

TOP SECRET/MAJIC, Marlowe & Company, 2005, by Stanton T. Friedman. MSc, ISBN 1-56924-342-5

TRANSFORMATION, Avon Books, 1988, by Whitley Strieber, ISBN 0-380-70535-4

UFOs AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2002, by Richard M. Dolan, ISBN 1-57174-317-0

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