A GEM FOR VENUS, A Novel by John J. Culp

Back in the 1980’s when I was a bachelor my career arc found me driving all over the colorful State of Colorado as a relief manager for small Driver License offices (Yeah, I probably gave over 4,000 driving tests, graded thousands more written tests, and typed or processed as many licenses over a 20-plus years career). While I was fortunate to be paid to travel, I spent many nights alone in a motel room. Boring. What to do?

I had enjoyed creative writing in school, so I decided to write a novel and began writing in longhand in spiral notebooks– not the most efficient way to do revisions or prepare the manuscript for publication. This was an opportunity to integrate the newest advances in technology by using (big fanfare) my mighty Commodore Vic-20 and later my trusty C-64. I found a good word processing program called Speedscript, of which I typed the machine code to a floppy disk that I could load onto the C-64 every time to use it. I could set up my “system” quickly and use the motel room’s television as my monitor. It was analogous to a painter grinding his own pigments before he could produce a fine painting.

So (literally) byte by byte and trip by trip, the story took shape. My goal was always to digitize the manuscript in a useful format. In those days, publishers expected manuscripts to be typed or clearly printed (no dot-matrix printouts), double spaced, on one side only of good quality letter paper stock. So I ended up with 256 pages of draft, which I dutifully made copies of and sent off to a couple of friends to proof. One friend pretty much accepted anything I did as a matter-of-fact, while the other was more critical, and I took his suggestions to heart. So I was set to find a publisher, and only two things stood in the way: first, technology was changing rapidly and so were publishing guidelines, and second, I lacked the confidence to continue. So eventually the old Commodores were replaced but I knew of no way to transfer the digital files to Windows 3.1, and the manuscripts sat hidden in bookcases, boxes and closets for years.

Fast forward to now. I am retired and finally willing to resume this project. Technology is available to make it happen. I have an all-in-one printer/scanner with auto document feeder through which I ran the manuscript, chapter by chapter, converted to PDF files that were processed with an OCR program and, voila!, here is the digitized novel! Happy day! The OCR program then transformed the PDF’s to a text format for my Open Office word processor, and off I went. Easy to edit.

I am thankful that editing is nearly effortless these days. I found in rewriting that changing a character’s name is as easy as using the Find & Replace function on the program, and most spelling mistakes are identified as well.

So that is why it has taken this long to get to this stage of publication. It has been a pleasure to write, and I hope you enjoy the story.

Now about the content background of what is now designated A GEM FOR VENUS: Originally as a working title the story was called Tunnelmaker, a singularly uninspiring moniker. I recently followed some ideas on the web and thought that with using the word “GEM” to be an acronym for Geological Exploration Module, and the connection with a Venus space probe, that I would name my “mechanical monster” after the Vedic gemstone for the planet, a diamond. Diamond One went to Venus. Robert Deems built Diamond Two.

The setting for the story stems from my interest of the Black Forest area of Colorado. Somewhat like the Black Hills, here is situated a forested mountainous region on the High Plains, only smaller and nearer to the Rocky Mountains. My story was formulated before the area was quite as developed as it is now. Flat-topped mountains or mesas are found within or near the region.

Themes of the story:

1. Impact of technology on people and the environment– Scimitar’s data collection policy causes Robert Deems’ firing and retirement. Deems’ invention unintentionally causes destruction.

2. The social responsibility of science– the parameters of artificial intelligence continue to expand, where programming is hueristic relating to a situation. To what extent is the inventor responsible for a robot that operates outside of its original mission?

3. Characters acting to improve their situation makes heroes and villains concepts relative. If both are trying to control technology that is out of control (Diamond Two) and destructive, who are the bad guys?

The Characters:

As happens in the development of a story, the characters evolved. Names have been changed, sometimes to diversify the cast, or because I liked the sound or “feel” of the name. For example, I was originally inspired to make the last name of Robert and Jillian “Waltham” by the brand name of the wristwatch I wore at the time. (How many literary inspirations have there been throughout history that were simply the product of the author’s look around his immediate environment! )

1. Doctor Robert Harrison Deems, Ph.D.– space engineer and inventor of Diamond Two, the fantastic tunnel blasting robotic machine. Usually jovial and easy going, professionally competent, middle-aged and balding with a bit of a paunch. Clean shaven, round face.

2. Taras Tamonash, creator of Scimitar– mysterious, brilliant mastermind. Tall, cool and aloof, well-dressed. Graying temples and dark hair, steel-blue eyes, short beard, angular face. Originally named Taras Bulba Al-Souci, which sounded ominous but hinted of an apprentice chef.

3. Jillian Deems, niece of Robert Deems– young, aspiring scientist who forsakes her career when her uncle is retired. Medium length dark hair, attractive and petite. Can be rather short tempered.

4. Neil Rivera, local friend and love interest of Jillian; owns a computer service shop. Lanky young cowboy looks belie his education and musical interests. Family has roots in the area. Easy- going young man.

5. Samson Connors, senior assistant technician to Taras Tamonash. Muscular, large, capable

6. Mia Shen, technician at Scimitar– curious background, tall with long brown hair with a mysterious past.

7. Sheriff Pilsner, the local law enforcement– has lived in the area for years, somewhat overweight with a penchant for coffee and candy corn. A serious lawman. Fire Chief Elmer VanGowan is his brother-in-law.

Also:

Senator Beemis

Kyah, Slatts– Scimitar techs

Fire Chief Elmer VanGowan

The Movie:

Well of course it’s fun to envision a photoplay of the story. With today’s CGI, projects that would have been impossible to realize years ago are now commonplace. Thus, (BTW, who really says “thus” when speaking, but it seems ok to write? Or is that just me?) presenting the actions and calamities brought on by Diamond Two would be realistic and dynamic. Imagine ducking its power ray in 3-D! Casting the work with variously familiar actors also helps to visualize the story. Here are some of today’s actors as characters in A Gem for Venus: The Movie: that would closely resemble what the author had in mind.

J. K. Simmons as Dr. Robert Harrison Deems

as Taras Tamonash

as Jillian Deems

as Neil Rivera

as Mia Shen

Djimon Hounsou as Samson Connors

as Senator Ed Beemis

Sheriff Pilsner

Fire Chief VanGowan