Shown below is the original synopsis and summary for "The Porthole To Time" posted on the Authorlink Web site while it was shopped around the publishing industry. The book was printed by Maverick Publishing in the second quarter of 1999, so this manuscript synopsis now is only a "tombstone" here at Rocky Mesa with permission of Authorlink.

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Summary

"Early settlers said Ship Rock floated on the desert at sunset like a sailing ship coursing an endless sea of shifting sand. The Navajos called it Tse Bit ai', the winged rock, because they believed it was once a giant bird that flew them to safety, descended back to the desert of what is now called New Mexico, and then morphed into stone.

"Ship Rock is also the marker stone for the resting place of a Dutch sailing ship transported piece by piece across the scorching desert by the ancient Navajos. During the journey, the porthole in the Captain's cabin was electrified by a freak lightning storm and became a portal to time -- a tunnel into the past and a gateway to the future."

Seeking shelter from a rainstorm while horseback riding, ten-year-old Chrissy accidentally discovers the terrifying secret of the porthole and gets trapped in the past. If the volcanic Rock can't come to life once again to rescue her, can her twin brothers Jeb and Jeremy possibly save her?

From The Book

"One night before a thunderstorm during the journey across the desert, a lightning bolt struck one of the portholes on the pieces of the ship. Blue sparks danced on the metal ring, and a strange glow appeared in the glass when moonlight broke through the clouds later in the evening. No one understood the meaning of it," Roger Yazzie told the crowd of people pressing closer together to hear him speak.

"When the ship finally arrived at the great rock, the Navajos pulled the ship's timbers and possessions from the captain's cabin into the center of the amphitheater inside Ship Rock and placed them in the sand beneath the chimney. A special Enemy Way ceremony was to be performed for all of the Navajo people who grieved for their dead warriors and the loss of their finest horses.

"A strange thing happened inside the amphitheater during the climax of the Enemy Way ceremony. The clouds in the skies above Ship Rock parted, moonlight streamed down the chimney and illuminated the porthole on the ship that was previously struck by lightning. Suddenly, one of the Navajo warriors disappeared without a trace.

"The ceremony was immediately halted. The man's friends searched everywhere for him inside the amphitheater. One of the younger men claimed he saw the older Navajo man and his horse fall into the porthole. As the horse went into the glass, its buffalo hide blanket fell onto the ground. The younger Navajo man picked up the buffalo hide and told everyone that this was all that remained of the friend and his horse. Nobody believed him, but they couldn't deny the fact that he was missing!"

About The Author

Having been possessed by the power of ten computing machines in his lifetime, Michael Eugene Stoddard has bartered the release of his soul to begin the quest to write The Porthole To Time, a time-travel fantasy series. The second book, Cibola Gold, is currently in process. Author of three computer programs and the associated software documentation, Michael has written the kind of story he would enjoy telling to his captors if he were beamed up by an alien spaceship.

Copyright © 1998, Michael Eugene Stoddard

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