I've found another book on Lulu with a similar concept to the one I'm writing now. This seriously worries me because I would hate to finally have my book published and have it written off as a stolen plot... but then again any publicity is good publicity, just ask Dan Brown :-)
This is not the first time I have had this problem. The first book I started (currenty in limbo) involves an incident involving the International Space Station which almost puts NASA out of business. I had written about a 1/4 of the book when a cargo ship crashed into the MIR Space Station, followed by a fire. Then a few years later, when I was just revisiting the book, NASA's Columbia Shuttle disintergrated on re-entry. I was beginning to wonder if I was psychic.
In The Pocket and the Pendant by Mark Jeffrey (released 2004) time on Earth stands still except for a boy named Max and a few other children who set about to find the cause of the time freeze and rectify it.
In my Coma City, the population of Earth is sent into a deep sleep, with the exception of a small group of survivors who set about locating the mysterious force that has inacted the world's slumber.
Further details from Wikipedia (entered unbeknownst to the author) reveal further likenesses:
- The event occurs at a particular instant, affecting the entire world simultaneously.
- Aliens feature in the story (except in Coma, not everyone believes Aliens are responsible)
Also, The Pocket and the Pendant is the first book in a series (the second book: The Two Travelers is due for release soon). I have no current plans for a sequel to Coma City, but who knows what the future may bring - lottery, or car crash, or join a cult (gratuitous Bjork quote from Possibly Maybe).
Mark Jeffery could very well be the next J.K. Rowling. I wish him all the best with it.
I, on the other hand, am hoping Coma City has more of a Neal Stephenson-Snow Crash-like status. Not a household name but popular with those in the know.
2 comments:
Dude,
This is Mark Jeffrey, author of 'Pocket' (yes it really is - my email is mark.jeffrey@gmail.com, you can confirm) -- 'Coma City' does not in fact sound like a rip of Pocket to me. Sleeping people does not equal stopped time, although the idea of an 'empty world' is similar. Frankly, I was trying to come up an 'empty world' scenario that would be similar to 'The Stand' (a virus kills off almost everyone on earth) when the idea of stopped time came to me. But even stopped time is not wholly original -- Star Trek has an episode where Kirk gets stuck in Pocket-like environment; HG Wells wrote a story called 'The New Accelerator' about a device which allows him to enter a time-stopped world by accelerating him in time ... so I guess what I'm trying to say is: Finish Coma City! It sounds cool, like a book I'd like to read :)
Wow, what an honour. Thanks for your words of encouragement Mark.
How amazing that the first comment left on my blog is from the very author I mentioned in one of my posts.
I agree, Pocket and Coma are quite different. It was the scenario of an "empty world" and a small number of surviving unlikely-heroes seeking the source that gave me the chills.
Don't worry, I shall continue to write Coma City (or whatever I end up naming it), it consumes so much of my thoughts that I feel I will not be able to rest until it's complete.
Thanks again Mark for taking the time to write to me. I'm still in shock to tell you the truth. I'm sure you will have continued success with The Two Travelers and the rest of the series. J.K. Rowling look out!
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