Welcome
Dale Patrick Smrekar is a Florida based writer of fantasy, suspense, thriller novels and short stories. My first fiction short story, Tradition, was recently published in the Sandhill Review.
I am currently a second year graduate student in St. Leo University's Creative Writing M.A. program.
In real life I'm a downsizing expert, certified personal property appraiser and owner of Downsizing Advisory Service a 22 year old company serving west central Florida. In a previous life, I was a Vice President with a personality testing firm and wrote numerous human behavior and employee selection articles for a variety of trade publications, including Radio Ink, American Agent & Broker, etc., and a guest columnist for the Tampa Tribune. I have conducted over three hundred local and national seminars on a variety of subjects. I'm a member of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs, Authors Guild, Tampa Writers Alliance and have availed myself of many Writer's Digest offerings and other training.
I am currently seeking representation for Why's Humanity So F'd Up?, an 85,465-word satirical fantasy novel about a dysfunctional afterlife world. It's a heaven and hell where no one is infallible, bad decisions are made and humanity is now left to its own devices. Comparable novels are Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and Lamb, The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.
Below is my query pitch for this completed novel. Literary Agents may contact me at das@ij.net for a synopsis and sample chapters.
George Faringheight is a mouthy, ego filled dead, dead file detective. An originator of turmoil and chaos who's tossed out of heaven for pissing off the All-Knowing Infinite Being. He's now St. Peter and the Devil's special redemption project. They've had him serving time back on Earth as a drug addled male prostitute, a prostitute's dog, a Vatican nun, the Devil's handyman and many other roles. All intended to teach him humility and grind down his rough edges. Each life ends in death. He's sure they're just using him for entertainment and wants it to stop. But thanks to the Devil's malfeasance, a new hell, led by a crazed, dead Catholic Vatican nun, has emerged. George Faringheight is assigned cleanup. All George Faringheight wants is to return to heaven and his old dead file detective job.