The
Yellow Earth:Intro
I self-published "The Yellow Earth" a number of years back. That is a mistake I
will never make again. I have since re-written it, cutting fifty pages from the
published manuscript.
Every now and then a publisher or agent wants to take a peek. I'm still hoping
to get it to a major publisher.
In many ways, it is the best thing I've ever written.
The
Yellow Earth:Synopsis
"The Yellow Earth" takes place in
the year 2029 and centers on the story of Jonathan Marlow. Jonathan is an
ex-pro quarterback who lost his career and reputation through an act of
cowardice.
Unable to
explain his actions to himself or anyone else, Jonathan tries to disappear
into an everyday
Los
Angeles
suburban life. But he is wracked by pain from an injury during his
playing days and, of course, by guilt. The government has outlawed virtually
all pain medication except what is available from its largest corporate backer.
Jonathan, along with most of the overworked populous, is forced to try street
trafficked derma-patches for relief. He is eventually introduced to, and
quickly becomes addicted to, a powerful painkiller called Hoddentin or “The
Yellow Earth”. As Jonathan's need for the drug grows, he begins to experience
its peculiar properties, one of which is to stimulate the area of his brain
where his memories are stored. He begins to re-live parts of his life as though
they were happening again in the present.
His visions
steadily become as real as the world around him. He is forced to relive
fragments of that one night so long ago that cost him everything. When the
local Hoddentin supply dries up as the government cracks down, Jonathan learns
the only place it is still available is deep in
Mexico
.
Jonathan’s best
friend knows one man who can lead the way, an old Mexican named Jimmy who
fought in
Vietnam
and listens to The Doors religiously. Jimmy leads them across the violent open
border town of
Nogales
where Jonathan is separated during a gang attack.
He ends up in
Los Mochis hundreds of miles into Mexico. Here he discovers that he has taken
so much Hoddentin, he has lethal levels built up in his system. There is an
antidote, one feared by all who speak of it. The antidote leeches all of the
built up drug out of the bone and muscle then sweats the poison out of the
victim - similar to the cleansing of an Apache sweathouse ceremony.
Having no
choice, Jonathan must travel to an ancient cave where the antidote is
made. He is left alone to live or die on the dirt floor of the cave. Here, the
lines between his present and past blur completely and Jonathan lapses into a
kind of coma.
When he wakes
the Hoddentin is gone from his system but he must face the full realization of
what he has run from for years- and he must find a way to redeem
himself.