|
The Haxtun Public Library hosted a book signing with Fleet of Angels author, Carl R. Merritt, Thursday. Merritt, a Dayton, Ohio native, has worked on an assembly line for General Motors since 1976. However, he said he has known he wanted to be a writer since he was eight years old. In 1994, Merritt got serious about his lifelong goal. For six years, he submitted manuscripts to publishers. He received 2,368 rejections. Then, in 2000, he entered a novel-writing contest and took first place with his story, Fleet of Angels. Suddenly, the publishers were interested. In less than a week, Merritt had a contract with Barclay Books, a smaller publishing company that had never turned him down. Barclay published Merritt's novel, albeit with a few changes requested by the publisher. "They're nice enough to publish you, so you pretty much have to do what they say," he said. Before writing Fleet of Angels, Merritt first researched popular styles in science fiction. He said he wanted to write something that would sell. He then spent a year developing the characters and plot in his mind. Once he put the book to paper, it took him seven or eight weeks to write it. His inspiration for the fleet of military spaceships came from modern aircraft carrier groups. He modeled his characters after the military, giving them personalities of people he knows. Merritt's contract stipulates an eight-book series. He said Fleet of Angels II, Lust for Gold, is about two-thirds complete, and he hopes to release it within the next year. The original cast of characters experience a lull in the intergalactic war and face a new foe, pirates in space. While working on his series, Merritt also hopes to write other novels. Fleet of Angels was not the first book Merritt has written. He's completed seven others, but is not ready to publish them yet. |
space |
At a session with the library's Young Authors Workshop members, Merritt advised the aspiring writers to be persistent. "Always hold on to your dreams," he said. "You never lose until you give up." He also offered tips on what to look for in an agent, how to make their names known and ways to get past writer's block. Merritt invited the youngsters to submit their stories to his web site, Abe's Tomb. The site is among the most popular horror web sites in the world, and host to stories from many authors. The address is: www.carlmerritt.com. Merritt reminded the group that web pages offer another venue for publicity and encouraged them to think about developing their own sites. Now that he's a published author, Merritt said his next goal is to "make it big." He wants to break into the mass market and would like to see a movie made from his book. Merritt's other goal is to retire from GM and settle in the Haxtun area. He and his wife are friends of Duane and Kim Harms and visit the area every few years. "Haxtun and Holyoke are two of the nicest cities on the planet," he said.
|
