Dargo: Eco Hero! A Feel-Good Novella

Book Cover

SATIRE FANTASY ADVENTURE

Contemporary

Karina McRoberts

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Submision Type

book

Logline

HILARIOUS, HEART-WARMING, DIFFERENT and DELIGHTFUL! A lonely young man suffers a massive defeat. When all is lost, he meets a fiery fortune-teller who pleads with him to save her. Will he fall flat, or can he re-invent himself as a hero?

Genre

Satire,Fantasy,Adventure

Short Summary

Dargo is a strange but sweet kinda guy. Gets fired from work, gets nowhere with love. Swept up by a strange wind and blown to a delapitated amusement park. Broken Gypsy (Roma) fortune machine comes alive and begs him save her and the other Nature Spirits. No one loves them anymore!

Setting

Urban. Can be anywhere, but takes place in the USA (not specified).

Based on a True Story

No

Plot - Premise

Internal Journey/Rebirth,Quest,Other

Plot - Other Elements

Coming of Age,Happy Ending,Meaningful Message,Philosophical Questions,Twist,Other

Mature Audience Themes

Information not completed

Main Character Details

Name: Dargo Fernandez

Age: early 20s

Gender: Male

Role: Protagonist

Key Traits: Charming,Clumsy,Empathetic,Engaging,Underdog,Insecure,Funny,Skillful

Additional Character Details

Name: Flame - Gypsy Fortune Telling Machine, Woman, and Spirit of FIre

Age: mid20s

Gender: Female

Role: Sidekick

Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Badass,Charming,Complex,Confident,Desperate,Empathetic,Engaging,Faithful,Outspoken,Skillful,Funny,Visionary,Romantic,Sarcastic,Seductive,Heroic,Gracious,Blunt,Leader,Honorable,Sophisticated,Selfless,Sexy

Additional Character Details

Name: Mariah - The Spirit of the WInd

Age: timeless - 50ish?

Gender: Male

Role: mentor

Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Badass,Charming,Complex,Narcisstic,Confident,Crazy,Desperate,Engaging,Honorable,Leader,Outspoken,Skillful,Funny,Visionary,Unapologetic,Strong Moral Code

Additional Character Details

Name: Vivian - Spirit of Water

Age: 30ish

Gender: Female

Role: mentor

Key Traits: Sexy,Outspoken,Skillful,Strong Moral Code,Honorable,Gracious,Desperate,Confident,Badass,Empathetic,Engaging,Visionary,Sophisticated

About The Author

Karina McRoberts Escape to the heights of your heart and the depths of your soul. Karina McRoberts is an Australian author, illustrator, musician, and theatre producer. Previously working as a conservation scientist, she was struck down by a mosquito-borne virus. No longer able to work, Karina now spends her time writing fiction to inspire, encourage, enlighten and entertain; especially those readers active in social justice, humanitarian work, and protection of the Earth. Her fiction is filled with characters and stories designed to give readers a lift! Karina also writes self-instruction books on illustration and creative writing. There is something for everybody, children included. Her project this year is assistance to older writers wishing to publish a novel or novella, entitled 'A Novel at Ninety.' "2020 was the year of the rat. Aptly named! Did you know that 2021 is the year of medical workers? Well, it should be!!! They sure do need all the support we can give them! In these dark days of overt racism, violence, betrayal, and plague, I hope readers find solace in my creations. Hope is light to the heart! As my character JT Gordon says in my time-travel adventure/romance novel, The Palace of the Stars, 'Don't measure your time in minutes, treasure your time in moments.' Indeed. Grab the quality."

Target Audiences

Age: 7-12,13-17,18-34,35-54,55+

Target Gender: Universal,Other

Group Specific

Information not completed

Publishing Details

Status: Yes: self-published

Publisher: Self

Year Published: 2020

Hard Copy Available

Yes

ISBN

ASIN: B083RBML74

Genre

FANTASY

Brief

After being fired from his previous job, a young man finds himself in the strange position of defending nature spirits, about which humanity doesn't care anymore. Despite some trouble, he manages to succeed and help their cause.

Overall Rating

FAIR

Point of View

THIRD PERSON

Narrative Elements

Authors Writing Style: FAIR

Characterization: FAIR

Commerciality: FAIR

Franchise Potential: FAIR

Pace: FAIR

Premise: FAIR

Structure: FAIR

Theme: FAIR

Accuracy of Book Profile

Yes, it does.

Draw of Story

The strange dialogue that opens the novella and that points out to an interesting and intriguingly outcast character.

Possible Drawbacks

Many of the events throughout the novella happen very abruptly and without reflection. This ends up making the story somewhat inconsequential and without impact.

Use of Special Effects

THE STORY RELIES A LITTLE BIT ON SPECIAL EFFECTS

Primary Hook of Story

The way we trade nature for technology and how our heads bowed over cell phone screens prevent us from seeing the blue of the sky and the green of the trees.

Fanbase Potential

Stories with an environmentally oriented moral background certainly can attract fans and people interested in the subject. However, the story needs to develop its characters and situations more deeply to really impact the viewers.

Awards Potential

As it stands now, it lacks revision and more narrative development for the story to work. Therefore, it would hardly have a chance to win Awards.

Envisioned Budget

MEDIUM BUDGET

Similar Films/TV Series

AMERICAN GODS - A TV SERIES THAT SHOWS THE CONTEMPORARY CLASH BETWEEN THE GODS OF THE PAST AND THOSE OF WORLD TODAY, LINKED TO TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBALIZATION. BLACK MIRROR - THE SERIES SHOWS, IN A SARCASTIC WAY, HOW TECHNOLOGY AND CONTEMPORARY HABITS CAN HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON HUMANITY AND THE WORLD AS A WHOLE.

What’s New About the Story

The premise, which is to defend the case of the main elements of nature, has a touch of originality that is important. However, it is necessary to focus efforts on two factors: further developing this whole concept and making the story more believable and closer to reality. Otherwise, the narrative runs the risk of sounding shallow and even a little preposterous.

Lead Characters

The protagonist is strange, clumsy, and a bit confused, but he has a good heart, thus creating an empathetic relationship with the audience.

Uniqueness of Story

It's not a rare gem yet. Despite the interesting concept, it lacks more development, depth, and better-defined characters for the narrative to engage the reader.

Possible Formats

Film: Studio, Streaming

Analyst Recommendation

WORK IN PROGRESS

Justification

While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.

Tips for Improvement

For the narrative to be more thought-provoking and hold the reader's attention, the author should extensively review, revise, and edit the book. In general, the impression is that there are too many events and too little time to recount them. We cannot understand exactly who are those fantastic elements with whom the protagonist interacts, which makes it difficult for us to relate and feel empathy for them, a fundamental point for the success of the narrative. Why not give more time for relationships to develop better? So that the protagonist builds clearer and deeper bonds with these beings, generating a greater understanding of what drives him to defend them fiercely? This would even help the audience to accept the whole story and enter this world much more easily. For an adaptation to be successful, changes like these should be necessary and somewhat essential.