The 1977 and 1985 Introductions

In the Beginning

[The Introduction of 1977]

This is an epic. For those of you who never had Mrs. Tully for English in tenth grade, an epic is a narrative story relating the travels and adventures of one or more people.

This epic tells the story of four young people; Larry, Lisa, Cindy and Missy. It takes place in a time where mankind is looking for a solution to his problems, and fantasy and imagination are on the sidelines waiting for a break. Man has scientific breakthroughs every day, which doesn’t give imagination much of a chance in the rapidly changing society. Government is corrupt, crime rates are up and the leaders of tomorrow aren’t sure which way to go.

This [book] doesn’t give [you] any access route to a better future. It just takes you away from reality and places you into the imagination of a 15-year old, struggling to decide between good and evil.

[Author: What'd he say? Note that for this 90's rewrite/revision, the name "Missy" has been uniformly changed to "Melissa".]

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Introduction ‘85

What had begun as a small story in my 4th grade is here; evolved into epic proportions. Over the dozen or so years since the initial story, my wealth of knowledge and collection of experiences has expanded 100 fold.

My years as a “yeoman” or secretary in the Navy, taking me into the world of submarines, passed the equator, north of the Arctic, and to untold islands of beauty in the Pacific have increased my writing ability to a far more professional nature than those crude notes I now look back at. [If that were so, he wouldn’t have made this a “one sentence paragraph”].

The first and second books of the trilogy (as they were called in 1977) were completed and are not updated and remain complete. The third book had enough plot line in the initial writing to fill a series of books. [Egotistical lad, wasn’t he!] Unfortunately, it ends mid‑sentence, mid‑thought and mid‑chapter. I have no idea where it was leading to.

The 1977/78 rewrite only confused matters by being typed revisions of only the first few ideas of the 1976 original. Not only does it veer off in different directions plot‑wise, it also oversimplifies the original. It too ends mid‑sentence, mid‑thought, mid‑chapter... I think.

In this 1985 edition, I would hope to complete the three books to the point of actually having them read by someone. At the time of this current introduction, there are no plans to rewrite books one and two. Book three (or The Time Tornado) will be completely overhauled and rethought out. Chapters, characters and plot lines will be completely done away with.

Before total destruction occurs, a brief sample of the ‘8th grade’ mind is provided. When [a character from the past] arrives in the 20th century, he asks what year it is. Upon hearing the reply of “1976 A.D.” he asks “What happened to B.C.?” If you ponder that thought for a minute, you can imagine how bad the rest is.

March 9, 1985
New London, Connecticut

[Author: Remember, this is as far as the 1985 rewrite got. Everything that follows is the 1990-96 update to the 1973/74/76 ideas that were tampered with in 1977 (but to no avail). I hope this works.]