Working on new novella: Copy

Posted by Grant B. on May 17, 2014 in Current News | 0 comments

I am currently about a third of the way into my new novella. The current working title is “Copy”, although we’ll see if that holds up until the end or not 🙂

It’s a genre-confused little item, blending mild sci-fi (more like slight future earth – maybe a decade or two) and legal thriller.

The tale is told in two braided story lines:  the core narrative being the present-time courtroom drama in which Geoffrey Bartell III is on trial for murder, with a secondary narrative covering the developing back story moving up towards present-time which is woven in as facts are developed in the present-time-line courtroom scenes.

Geoffrey Bartell is a wealthy and ambitious genetic engineer and corporate magnate of GenLabs (a biotech company under legal, social & political fire for questionable ethical practices) who comes to the misguided conclusion that cloning himself will buy him the time & resources he needs to save his company and restore his crumbling marriage & family life.

Things take a dark turn however as jealousies build between himself and the copy (referred to as Jeff between the two of them, to make matters easier).  Complications set in and resentment builds until the final result is a corpse and a criminal murder trial in which Geoffrey tries to salvage what life he can.