Pepe -- the blurb

I just did the blurb for Pepe -- exactly 250 words. May it sell many books:

It’s 2020. We have people living on Mars, but haven’t sorted out life on earth yet. To the boy washing windscreens at the red light, it may just as well be 1920.

The boy is Pepe. He doesn't know who his real parents are. His ‘grandma’ dies in a slum fire, and he is left to fend for himself and his grandma’s biological granddaughter, whom he treats like a real sister. They live in an abandoned construction site with other homeless children.

Raul is a young computer wiz, whose hacking adventures get him in over his head. He stumbles onto knowledge that could get him killed if he makes the wrong step -- in fact, he’s seen someone murdered, through a video port on a government server.

The villain: General Don Juan Clemente, who seized power from the king ten years ago, and installed himself as president for life.

The General has a degenerative disease that is paralysing him. However, his brain has been linked to a computer network that enables him to control the country, and destroy any threat to his power.

The biggest threat to him now is the true identity of a homeless boy named Pepe.

Atsuko is a wise old man who knows more than he says, and talks about Truth as a personal acquaintance. He has the uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time.

The author writes from a background of experience with street children, and a working knowledge of computers.

Pepe -- the complete rough draft

Well, there it is. There's still work to be done in editing and making it a reading experience that will be enjoyed by all, and acceptable to prospective publishers. I would like it to be readable by the same age group that reads Harry Potter. That, all by itself, probably means a lot of re-editing.

There are two aspects of this book that I feel are blogging material. The first is the subject, the life of a homeless street child.

Ever since viewing a film reel in my Bible School Missions class by the Salician Fathers, entitled Gaminos, the subject has interested me. I'm grateful to the professor of that course for making sure that I got a private viewing of that film, as I had actually missed class that day. Gaminos was set in a Latin American capital, I forget which one. 'Gaminos' is the local Spanish term for street kids. The film was about the work of a Salician Father who used to go out to befriend the children of the streets. He told about how he had to be careful not to come on too strong, or he'd lose them. Because street children are fiercely independent, they are sensitive to any attempt to institutionalise them. His whole work had to be one of 'no strings attached.' If nothing else, he'd simply get them things they needed, or befriend them when they were in trouble, even if they went right on living on the streets. Once they were confident of him, some of them consented to move to his shelter, with the full understanding that they could leave whenever they wanted.

A few years later, in Thailand, I lead a few co-workers in opening up an evangelistic centre in the South. When we moved in, we realised that a couple of homeless people were living on the premises, a man and a boy. Since they weren't related, we invited the boy to stay on with us. He did for about a week. In that time, he stole my heart.

He went away again after that one week, but that experience forever changed me.

My first (unpublished) novel, The Emissary, about the Apostle Shaul, involved a fictional first century street boy as one of the main characters. He first appears in the prologue, so you don't have to read very far. It's on line.

Much later, I got the opportunity to work for a year at a Catholic centre located in the biggest slum in Bangkok. That place is the inspiration for Mercy House, one of the main settings in Pepe. Fr. Antonio, Mother Clara, 'Madam Zudu', Phil Grub and Tony Ryan are characters inspired by real people I met there. Actually, Tony Ryan is me. The Bangkok slum is also the inspiration for Dockyards Community where Pepe lived.

Because the story line involves many other aspects, such as politics and royalty, I couldn't set the story in Thailand. I do want to be welcome back there. The social problems of the city of La Fonta, particularly the homeless children, slums and gangs, are a synthesis of Bangkok, Moscow and various Latin American cities. The level of corruption in my fictional country is much greater than I believe exists in Thailand. The monarchy is based on European traditions. The fictional nation of Cardovia would be somewhere on the Mediterranean, but it isn't stated exactly where.

The other aspect that bares blogging is that it is a parable of the Kingdom of God. The book is targeted to the secular reading audience, hopefully including young fans of Harry Potter (though it won't remind you of Harry Potter in any way). However, in the course of the story, Pepe realises who he really is, and with help, regains the throne, and the nation becomes an almost utopian paradise (The actual events in the narrative are not to be taken as a statement of my view of eschatology, however).

When he realises who he is, and becomes the rightful king -- though not yet crowned as such -- he is given a stone, called the Stone of Cardo. It has powers that are as effective as the purity of his heart. At its most intense state, it can potentially destroy evil, along with anyone who refuses to release his or her evil ambitions. Good things begin to happen, but only at the rate determined by the purity of Pepe's heart. That represents what I believe to be the life force of the church, and answers the question as to why the church is so ineffective in transforming society today, and what we must do to regain our cutting edge.

I've mentioned Harry Potter twice already. I do hope to reach a young audience, knowing that older people will read it as well (the intellectual reading level of an average adults is actually quite low). However it definately not in the style of J.K.Rowling. It's probably more like William Gibson. Making something something so Gibsonian readable by 10 year olds, will probably be the main challenge.

I believe it has enough action evenly paced throughout to keep people reading. I did learn that lesson from reading Harry Potter. Thank you, Ms. Rowling

Pepe

Here it is...the first chapter of Pepe. If there's any demand, I may post more of it in a separate link.

(21 Oct -- I just re-edited this entry so that only the first few paragraphs show, but you can click to where the whole book is posted)

Chapter 1

Pepe

© baruch


The light changed. Pepe looked down the lineup now waiting for the next green. He groaned. The bucket was heavy and drivers were always in a bad mood this time of day.

He counted his takings again. 13 Dinarios. Not enough.

With a grunt, he lifted his bucket and walked down the island to the first sedan he saw -- a Mercedes. The windscreen wipers immediately went on.

'Okay, okay! Freakin tightwad!'

He had to side-stepped to avoid a motorbike. He could see Jose doing the next row, already at work on a Porsche.

The next was a Honda Accord. Pepe's squeegee handle was long enough for a boy of his size to reach to the middle of the windscreen -- if he stood on tip-toe, and the car's body wasn't too wide.

Done. He went to the driver's window. The driver just sat there, looking straight ahead.

The scumbag!

He'd heard of one kid keeping a baseball bat nearby for such occasions -- got him in trouble though.

The next was a lorry. Too big. The next car was too old for the driver to be interested.

Ditto for the next three vehicles. Then there was a taxi.

A few intersections East was San Miguel Square, adjoining Camino Real street, La Fonta's financial district. There, the expensive makes outnumbered the cheap ones. The takings were good, but it was worked by a gang. They'd beat Pepe if they caught him anywhere near there. He sure wasn't going to join no gang -- as good as being a slave! ... more

Blogging and writing novels

It looks like I have the same disease as William Gibson:

I currently seem to be proving my theory that I can't simultaneously write a novel and blog...