One of the nice features of using OpenOffice for writing on my Ubuntu machine is that it exports directly into PDF. So when I finished the major edits of my manuscript I was able to output it into the format that pleased me although not without a few twists. For example, I really liked the font ZapFino for the title. But this is a Mac font: so I just put my odt file on the Mac and used NeoOffice (the version of OpenOffice for it) to add it in. Of course, I probably could have downloaded a ZapFino-like font for Ubuntu but it’s fun not being system-dependent for my word processing. I can move from Ubuntu to Mac to Windows with no issues. It was fun to experiment to get what I wanted. 10 Point fonts were fine to read zoomed on my system but I found I had to change to 12 points in order to be easily read in PDF without zooming.
I’m using PDF because my reviewers are computer literate and it would be, I think, too wasteful to print out more copies than I already have.
The name of the book is “The Relater” and it’s a science fiction novel for young adults that reads a little like a fantasy. You could say it is fantasy but that with no magic if that works for you. It’s set on a planet in the distant future where metals are scarce and so little advanced technology still exists after the humans and several other races first landed five thousand years previously.
The hero is a 12 year old boy who wants to be a Relater or story teller. And the story begins with him getting ready for his rite into adulthood.
The story seems straightforward but there are three twists that affect him: a prophecy, a chance meeting with another race and something special about him and his relationship with the solar system. There was not enough time for everything to be explained in the book. It would take a trilogy to do that…
Golbing 