PW #226: Middle Grade Science Fiction: THE ADVENTURES OF KIRBY DARING

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentors: Elly Blake & Ron Walters
Mentee: David Kane
Title: THE ADVENTURES OF KIRBY DARING
Category/Genre: Middle Grade Science Fiction
Word Count: 35,000

Pitch:

Kirby Daring is such a nerd. Action and adventure? So not his thing. But when evil aliens threaten the Space Station he calls home, Kirby must hero-up big time to save everything he cares about.

Excerpt:

Kirby Daring was full of great ideas. He also had good ideas and sometimes even OK ones. His dad, Dr. Donald Daring, Chief Scientist aboard Space Station Delta, said there was no such thing as a bad idea.

Kirby glanced over at his best friend, Jake Merriweather, strapped into the pilot’s seat of a space cruiser. He was pretty sure this was a terrible idea.

Jake grinned from ear to ear, practically vibrating with excitement. He clearly thought sneaking aboard an XJ-27 space cruiser and taking her for a little spin was a fantastic idea.

If Jake likes it, thought Kirby, this must be a horrible idea.

It all started last week when Jake, hotshot member of the Jr. Space Pilots, would not shut up about the new high score he set in the flight simulator. After listening to a few hours of non-stop bragging, Kirby stupidly said, “Who cares? Just because you can fly a simulator doesn’t mean you can fly a real space-craft.”

And so here they were. Down in the lowest level of Space Station Delta. In the early morning hours while everyone else was sleeping. With Kirby suffering from a mild panic attack and Jake looking like a kid on Christmas.

This was the worst idea ever. Kirby re-checked the safety harness pulled tight over his chubby belly. Still fastened.

Jake had calmed himself enough to focus, and was now busy going over the pre-flight checklist. “Navigation systems?”

Kirby looked at the display in front of him. All lights were green. “Navigation systems, check. Can we talk about this?”