Road Signs

Jay, Brilliant story going on here. This is a well written book that is very original and I think is going to go a long way. Nice flow, great use of your descriptions and well delivered. I wish you luck with this and I will be scoring it high as I enjoyed it that much.
Sean Connolly. British Army on the Rampage. (B.A.O.R) Please consider me for a read or watch list wont you?? Many thanks. Sean

Hello Jay David Archer. Wanted to let you know you're on my watchlist and I'm starting to read. First of all, I have to admit, I began when I was somewhat tired and probably shouldn't have done. And I have to quit now because Downton Abbey season three starts soon (Yes...I'm a boring ol' Southern girl who loves the English).
Soooo....I wasn't at all sure what to make of the prologue, but I carried on. I read the next two chapters. It's quite obvious you are a good writer and have quite the command of the English language. For me, this is not what I would call an "easy" read. Not that a book has to be "easy"....but this takes concentration and thought...at least on my humble part, especially when it comes to the inner musings/ramblings of the narrator. I haven't a clue where this is going or why, but i am interested enough to come back for more. I just have to be sure to come back when I have the time and mental attitude the book deserves.
All the best, and thanks again for your support. I remain humbled and grateful.
Sheri Emery / Crazy Quilt.

First of all I love the premise, it's a great opening. In a time-honored tradition you've taken the 'road movie' format and spun it on it's head. We can all relate with bad drivers too :) A brilliant read.

I was absolutely spellbound by Road Signs. I think like a lot of readers, I have a love/hate relationship with most science fiction. I love the concept and the genre, but so much of it is just poorly written junk, and that includes much of the published books sitting on the shelves.

Road Signs is different from the concept to the execution of the story. Author Jay Archer David has somehow combined sci-fi with, I know this sounds odd, literally fiction. The characterization is very well done. And as the main character explores the magical back roads of the Southwest, he (and us readers) are really exploring the human condition.

There is a great story here, but the book taken as a whole will also make you contemplate life and even reality. Good science fiction does that, which is why Bradbury and Asimov are so well respected. I hope I am not being too forward, but I think Jay Archer David could be as well if Road Signs is any indication.

John Breeden II
Old Number Seven

Dear jay,
Greetings:)
Real good writing and i like the name ROAD SIGNS apt for the book and a name which made me feel earlier it would deal with anagrams but is a different story. I read 2 chapters very well started, very creative I should say and anyone writing fiction is bound to be creative.I also read your second chapter could almost relate to all the idiots and asses I have come across while driving, I am sure they wud have thought the same for me. I love the way the story unfolds and am sure you are a STAR. Though personally i like reading NON-FICTION but your kind of subject attracts me. Very well written, creative & your writing looks aged as in having a lot of experience, i think it is not your first book. Best of Luck Buena Suerte.i will read further, i have enjoyed a lot till now, keep writing, GOD BLESS YOU~Naveen Nayar

Road Signs is a very easy read. The introduction and much of the beginning is quite savvy. I love the pace of the book and the narration--all very tight. It has its moments of panic, but thats only due to the fact that i tis so relatable. The later chapters do have their puzzling moments (which I do appreciate) and although its a bit of an endeavor at times, it is completely worth it.

JC Whitfield-A Proclamation of Death

Hi Jay,

The pace is just right and the plot is one which will motivate a good reader. The first person account leaves little to doubt and I can see the book edging up the charts slowly but surely.
For such a promising work, I suggest you upload only a few chapters and let the editor ask for more.
I have it on my WL and shall soon find a place for it on my shelf. I hope you will eventually find a publisher.
all the best.

Jay Adiyarath
EXPIRY DATE

Hello Jay,

Thank you for backing my novel, I hugely appreciate it and as repayment I decided to Watchlist your novel and give it a read. Unfortunately, I only have time to read chapter 1 and I've got to say, it's very well written. The style is very laid back and it feels like the protagonist is casually speaking to us. I also loved the descriptions, the tiny details really helped in painting a pitch perfect image in my mind. I will read more when time permits me but in the mean time, I wish you all the best with this :)

Hemisha
THE PEARL BONES

Jay, this is a faster, crisper read (if thats possible from before). I think I galloped through several chapters it without breathing. I love the last two paragraphs in Chapter 1. Just brilliant. The only thing I would suggest is watching those modifiers. No matter how well you have crafted that description, it can overwhelm some readers. (I do this a lot and after editing, my book is much crisper. Still not there, but better.). Very well done. Claire ~ Chasing Pharaohs.

Jay, I'm not sure what you did differently, but I connected more to the main character. Did you change that last scene where the driver of the RV connected with him? Whatever you did, your story reads smoother, and the connection with the MC pulled me more into the story.
In your opening paragraph, you may want to consider changing those passive verbs to active. You have a great story here, Jay. I'm remembering now how much I liked it.
Caroline
Summer Rose

I appreciate your writing style. It brings in a very personable touch to the storyline. Best of luck with your continued efforts with this book.

I can't recall if I already left a comment or not. Either way, i'm leaving another one. I really enjoy this one. It has a casual tone, like kind of when you're explaining something to say...a passenger in a car but it's still interesting. It's the kind of explination that you wouldn't drone out and do the half listening "uh huh" thing to. Your use of words does well to describe what's going; keeps it from sounds like "I was driving, thought, driving some more, thought, etc." Did that make sense? Anyway! I enjoyed it, and hate to admit it but gave me a little insight on how annoying it is for people to put up with little speed demons like me haha.

Neicy

Hello Jay, This is good, solid and intriguing writing. Much enjoyed and I wish you good luck with this.
Starred highly and on my shelf.

Phyllis
PAPER DREAMS & A PASSING STORM

HI there,
I have read the book a couple of times and I like the ending, very tight. One of the things I like about your writing is you don't waste words, very spare. To me this is something I aspire to,
I think it is already on my watch list. I will review my shelf space.
Bests
Roberta

Backed Road Sign. Clever beginning with Genesis and the road. Who can not relate to a moment of insane road rage. Great use of descriptive language. I could actually imagin Iwas there with the road passing the man with the prefect teeth and d striking mustache. Will be back later to find out where the story is headed. Hoe you will find time to check out our book, Dark Side.
CC Brown

Road Signs was recommended by CC Brown author of Dark Side. I read the first 3 chapters of your story and I'm happy to place it on my shelf. Hope you have a chance to take a look at Dark Side and find a place for it on your shelf. Good Luck!
Sue50

This story has intrigued me like no other...I look forward to reading more as soon as I have more time (and am more awake...). Your writing flows very well, and I found that I wasn't tempted to skip over any paragraphs as I so often am while reading stories on here. This deserves to be on the editor's desk :) backed with pleasure.

I love the narration part. Very good work.
All the best.

S.Vinay Kumar.
10 roses for love

This was a very satisfying read for me, rich in internal meaning. Quite a spiritual journey starting from a prosaic account inside the motor form of the rat race. High stars, will back when a place. Lara
GOOD FOR HIM

A great job of writing in the first person and no wasted words as there's a clear picture presented by characters, actions, scenery, and the probing the mind with queations and statements glides this story along.

Well, i like this pitch. i think it is quite intriguing.

Hi Jay

I have to admit i do not remember your pitch from before, however i am able to comment on the new one. i have cheated in that i have also read chapters one and two. As a comparrison, between the pitch and the content. I like the allegory of the road and humanity. Whilst the style does jump around, it is part of the whole. From life back to allegorical story telling. I think the pitch is intriguing and will pull the reader in.

Please would you in exchange view Marking Time. It would be most appreciated.

Good luck
Crispy

Dear Jay,

I am usually quite baffled by whether any given pitch attracts readers or not. However, I can tell you what information I get from your pitches.

Short pitch: This story is probably allegorical, metaphorical, and difficult to understand. There is a possibility that the MC, and thus the reader, will attain power and knowledge from the story.

Long pitch: The first paragraph tells me that this author has grandiose ideas. "greatest of human struggles" sounds like hyperbole to me. Second paragraph tells me, once again, that this book is going to jump around a lot.
Paragraph 3 again makes the story sound very philosophical. Paragraph 4 - is it wise to call your own work "profound"? The final part of the very long sentence tells me there may be an uplifting message in the end.

Summed up, this sounds a lot like a weird, heavy-duty philosophical allegory, with a convoluted plotline, and not much action.

Now that I'm finished, I guess this is a negative. I know there's a great deal of character and emotion in the story, and you have left that out completely.

Hope this helps,

Gordon
"Sarasha the Lame."

I think for impact, the short pitch needs a character and specific story details rather than a lyrical lesson.

In the long pitch, quite a few phrases are generic, and it's only in the second paragraph that we meet a character and get a starting point for a story.

Further on, in the last paragraph, the setting is described, but more in terms of theme and significance than vivid detail.

Over all, I think it's rather hit-or-miss, since it's rather theme-based, wordy and formal, which buries the main character's story and doesn't showcase a fresh voice and feeling for language.

(By generic expressions, I mean phrases like: vast open roads, pursued by a terrible secret, not what it seems, into the past, the future and back to a present he sought desperately to escape, stark beauty, profound novel, new eyes)

Dear Jay, I just re-read your pitch at your request & don't remember how it was before, but this is totally beckoning for me to read your story & find out everything that David learns from his road trip. :) Since I've read your book, I will again mention that I like Ellen & also the rescue of the car from being stuck & most of all that God is in the picture. :) Love, Susie :)

Jay, I hadn’t read your earlier pitch, but this one is extremely good. It certainly made me curious enough to read your book. The ‘false realities’ of mankind is the clincher since the world struggles with truth and error. The stark desert theme is wonderfully described, I live in New Mexico and you give the reader a skillful visual. With an excellent Post- Genesis beginning, Road Signs starts off with a ‘what if’ theme. This is a first-class hook, well written and highly entertaining. As David drives, he is convinced something isn’t right. Something has changed yet the signs are all around him. This provides tension and the need to know more. This book is unique inasmuch as it is mysterious. It is complex and clever. Highly starred. Claire ~ Chasing Pharaohs.

But I, too, wondered how your main character could drive a car with all his injuries - surely Ellen would have driven him?
Berni

Ahhh,... read on Berni & Doug. This question about Ellen is exactly the question you are meant to have. It's only the beginning.
Jay Archer David

I've read the first three chapters so far. It was almost like 'coming home' for me. 'The searing blue sky' sums up those desert skies perfectly.

But I, too, wondered how your main character could drive a car with all his injuries - surely Ellen would have driven him? I know your cars are automatic - so no gut-wrenching gear changes, but he must have been in agony?

As you discovered I too, am a South-West junkie and I love Moab, Zion, Chaco Canyon, and Canyonlands - so this would always be a great book for me:) I only hope the success of 127 Hours doesn't hold your book back, but gathers instead a lot more readers for you.

Best of luck and on my shelf for sure :)

Berni
Renegades

Sort of a "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenece" for the Ed Abbey/ backpacker set so far. Good read, but the shifting time frames left me (though I'm loathe to admit it), like other readers, a trifle confused- did the accident occur before or after all that driving in the first five chapters? I would have thought after, as it would seem rather incredulous that your character could manage to drive a car while Ellen slept after such an accident, but the story indicates otherwise. If so, there's a leap of logic here that went over my head.
Noneless, being a big fan of the American Southwest, I enjoyed the passages about climbing in Zion (love Moab, btw) and hope later chapters come back to the desert experience. Likewise, I saw Anasazi in tags and hope they work their way into your manuscript. Never made it to Chaco Canyon, but one of the more memorable times of my life was spent at the Gila Cliff Dwellings.
On my watchlist to come back to later.
All the bast,
Doug Thurston
VOODOO INFERNO

Whoa, this is pretty interesting. I wouldn't normally go for a book like this: it's pitch doesn't do it justice.

This turned out to be a most wonderful, beautiful story. Not what I expected from the beginning or the pitch. Will go on my shelf in it's turn.

I really enjoyed the first chapter, made be laugh, full of humour.

Loved the language you use liked 'experience the pyrotechnics of exploding nerves' at end of chp 2 and liked the description of the accident in chp 3.

I thought this flowed really well, it was an usual read. Read to chp 7 but maybe its just my page but I couldn't open chp 5 so a little lost in 6.

You have a great use of description and draw a scene well.

I enjoyed this, backed.

Red

Jay,
i feel like Tom Hanks in BIG 'i don't get it. I've read through Chap 6 and just when i think i am getting something it changes and i am back to confusion.
Diane

Jay, I read through chapter six this time and I think your strengths are your topographical descriptions of the Red Rocks and maybe Zion National Park, from what I can tell. I really felt like I was there with you and the road trip was engaging too. It is kind of a zen journey. I think you need to work on getting your narrative voice more coordinated in the book, as it is somewhat spastic. I would focus on the zen journey. Really interesting reflection on what J Christ's perspective might have been.
I am reflecting on the book and will check my shelf. I did rate it though.
Thanks for inviting me to read it again.
Roberta

Jay, here is what I think about Road signs:

I have read chapters 1,2,6,11. There are quite many differences in them, so I will address them separately:

Ch 1: I liked the intro. While reading it I had the following questions that I could not answer: Why does Road have a capital R? Why is it important that there are 1.2 cars per driver? Do you take into account the whole world or the States? Also I did not like this: "And the road was good". Could be something more describing than just good. Also instead of Autos I would use Automobiles, but this concerns my taste only.

Ch 2: I did not like the language at all. Well I usually get turned off by books that use so blunt vocabulary such as "Asshole" or "Idiot". Well sometimes it goes well with the text, i.e. when a drunkard in the story tells that or when there is some dialog between people. But making the narrator tell this, nah, I don't think so!

Ch 6: That is a good one! Story is interesting, the plot in accordance to what you say in the book intro, more spiritual tone, some deeper meanings conveyed. I think this chapter has something to say. Also you use very good descriptions, such as the description of Futzu. If all chapters were like this I would have 6starred and backed the book.

Ch 11: I think you need to be careful about the following in this chapter: It is lacking the description of the surroundings (you are doing it very well in ch 6, why not here?). It is changing from one topic to another too abrupt, I think it should be smoother. Vocabulary can be enhanced.

I would say that I had lost my hope until I read the comments and saw that people had commented positive on chapter 6. I think it is very well written and it would be good to consider editing some chapters, such as 2 and 11.

Good Luck!

Angelos

ROAD SIGNS
I think I'll walk but still have read and starred your book. Please take a look at my non-fiction, The Tuskegee Strangler. LLL

I found this a most unusual read. There is no doubt that your writing is good. In fact at times it is almost poetic with its descriptive prose and phrasing. I am a little unsure where the story is leading me but have felt compelled to carry on reading. Well done. I have shelved Road Signs and wish you lots of luck.
Lynne,
Brooklyn Bridge.

This is a refreshing read the first chapter is very engaging. I'm also a fan of ...childhood memories made a tight circle around me...You have some unique phases that make me sit up and think I know exactly what you mean. I find the relationship between the road and the journey an interesting one. It turns the norm upsidedown. The discription of the bolder going over him made me squirm. You have a great tallent.

Sue
Knowing Liam Riley - I hope you enjoy it

Ch 10.
These are the three dabs of this chapter which I savour because of the freshness in phrasing ...
~ The hull of my vessel was buckling under the pressure.
~~ ...was in full regalia.
~~~ this esp: ...childhood memories made a tight circle around me.
I am reading you looking for poetic dabs. They are the glinty bits. That is what I crave and you have delivered some here. They are lovely touches those three. There is a street in London called Pageantmasters Court. The name just makes me feel good every time I look up and see it. It's near St.Pauls. The guy must have been some dude, getting the show to look just so for the peasants. The show just makes us goggleyed with glee and that is how those little glinty bits are that you have served up.
Here goes!
'I was beginning to understand that creation was a road (yes), not a destination ... I wldn't want to be forever on it.' My greatest fear of all is that one day I will not be on that road, where ideas come to us from nowhere. I am terrified of arriving. I don't want to arrive anywhere ever, but hope to be permanently in motion on the road you describe. Motion is good, natural. Your story is about the nature of the creative spirit. This is why it fascinates, me at least. You are baring your creative soul.
'...the road I was set upon was leading me to arrive alone.' But this is perfect as you can better concentrate on your real calling which is to create with words. All else is secondary to this, including those around you. A writer is a brute who should not need any others as others get in the way of his first love, creation. Those unfortunate to be around a writer must love him. He will not return their love in kind because he can't because hs is in love with the notion of creativity. That is how it is. It is the beautiful curse.
'...but also kept everyone at arm's length'. Yes, because you need to focus on receiving your dabsworth of glinty stuff.
'...I was happy with myself and by myself.' Is this not the essential state of the poet, sorry writer? Poets, by the way, are THE very best writers there are. And I will strip my shirt off and fight anyone in the carpark who disagrees with me on this.
'I was a pariah, desperately alone, better off alone.' Perfect. The best way to be. Others just get in the way of our calling. Brutal. Beautiful. Yes.
The biographical insights into your family's modest means are of little interest. The dabs you came up with above are far far far more interesting.
Ach, I was screaming burn those bollocky bucks! They are just snake oil whisperings for the gullible. I was soooooooooooooo happy when you set the match to them.
Ach, I am beginning to feel a little over-excited now. And I like the daft wit of the marshamallows, too.
You are a powet, sir. Surrender to it and write short. It won't sell, but you will be happy.

I should phps say I am enjoying this. You are making me think. I wld not have read so far if I was not engaged, being as I am the most brutal of readers.
I think writers are brutal also. Chapter 10 had me fully engaged with you.

I should phps say I am enjoying this. You are making me think. I wld not have read so far if I was not engaged, being as I am the most brutal of readers.
I think writers are brutal also. Chapter 10 had me fully engaged with you.

Ch 9

Hmmm, making a list seems a very intellectual way of approaching things. The notion of wanting anything also seems to be the wrong approach as we are born with everything. Isn't the question more one of how to be what we are? And the notion of restlessness perhaps suggests we are looking in the wrong places somehow, or just not being outselves...but then maybe to be restless is how we are supposed to be. Life after all is restless in its efforts to replicate itself and improve its designs, though having said that it seems to have stopped trying to improve on its shark design and its crocodile design. Perhaps the fact that we as a species are so damn restless suggests that life has not got us right, that we are either a flawed design, or that we are a work in progress. Surely this is right in both regards. We are enormously successful in some ways ... how many billions are we? Yet we are very far from at ease with how we are. This is because we are not right. We are, in our supposed success and dominance, unbalancing far too many harmonies for the good of life. Clearly this, we, can't go on in this way. We must either find a new man or fail. This model of man is not looking very viable as things stand. Therefore, following this view, restlessness is absolutely right because we have to find a new way to be man. So restlessness is life trying to survive. To meditate and seek escape into mystical realms is, arguably, to leave the game of life. I like 'to receive the warmth' as that sounds like receiving a sweet poem from the universe for the universe for the sheer joy of it. What else is there? Life is creation in play. When we write we are life mimicing itself. Life loves to see itself in the little word mirrors we create for it to gaze into. We show life to itself and, life being of the universe, we allow the universe to see itself also. Ach, time to cook dinner! Macaroni cheese.

Ch 8
Now THAT is the way to die, out among nature, connected, in company of one's choosing, handing the flame on to one who may know what to make of it. And how fitting that chapter 9 begins with a fire.

the old man's swine pearls put me up to this ... jet drops refer to a lover's earrings ... I was just plain happy ... 36 lines of 4 syllabs ... 144 syllabs ... a magic number that reductive to 9 and ultimately to 3 ... ha madness!


JET DROPS WINE PEARLS

When all is done
, my universe,
Including you
Tomorrow's night
Conversation
Mysteries' mist
Gone, done, lost, known
There will be ... this
O universe!
Small, smaller, gone
Not needed now
No thing no where
All done, gone, found
Just one of these >>> .
Punctuating
Punctuation
Punctivation
In spiralling
Inspiralings
... dog hat death bliss ...
Thank you for that
In this love ... in
Looking around
In love around
In the making
Which when it's done...
Can this be so?
Which when it's! ... done
There will be this
Mul-ti-ver-song
When you will hum
And then there's this!
And this in hear
In this is here
All music is
Life says in you

Ch 7
The obverving of others I can understand completely as we are an infinitely puzzling species. As for the magic...ahem. I get the impression your journey was about finding yourself and you just decided to do a few of the things you had always wanted to do. You were merely adjusting your life to suit your nature, your nature being that of a nature loving poet, unsuited to the success-driven zoo of city life. Right? Reading Shelley wld have done just as well as listening to the mystics and magicians methinks. You have in the best poetry freedom of spirt yet great architectural order in the formal discipline of the syllabic structures ... much as there is in the universe. Hmmm, but you do use words like 'recognise' and 'receive' which I absolutely agree with. Maybe if you had called the woman a poetess I wld have been happy. But the main point is Futzu. Why is he drawing you back? The last few graphs of the chapter are absorbing. I want to know why. We read on.

Ch 6
This chapter kept my interest. I was really taken with John. I was with him. He was speaking for me. My only issue is that he crumbled far too easily in the fencing over the meaning of impecccable and the challenge to his core values and being.The bit about the brain tumour also made me blink as a relative was facing a brain op to have one removed that day. I cld not help thinking of logic and reason and scientific medicine. I wld rather have a man of reason and logic dealing with my tumour than a mystic, even one whose chi can startle gnats. But that is just the combative westerner in me responding to the situation. Something in me finds it a betrayal of our values that so many westerners succumb to the allure of oriental mysticism and pursuits. But then I am your original English pragmatist who believes nothing and prefers to have a laugh than meditate. We read on.

An interlectual read. The rational between man, road, and life is formed in an accountable manner. I read 5 chapters and began to understand what you were saying about relationships and how little is plan and how much is fate. Thouroughly enjoyable.

Sue
Knowing Liam Riley

David and Ellen a different sort of relationship and perception of being, Backed and starred. LLL

Jay, well written and very haunting first chapter - certainly what anyone who drives a decent amount can relate to, and I get the feeling that Mustang is yesterday and the slow moving dude is tomorrow. Think it very clever to use this road metaphor and its signs. Look forward to reading more with time. Well done. CW The Fog Had Lifted

A very enjoyable read, a book that will end up on the Ed's desk, happy to give this book 5 stars, and in good time, will end up on my shelf.

YEP!! IT MADE IT WELL DONE

JOHN