Hey there readers, friends and fans. I know, it’s been a while since I’ve been with you. I must offer you my most humble apologies. I won’t make excuses (I never do) instead I will offer you a fine story. I know you love a great story as much as I do or you wouldn’t be here. I, as your humble servant, am here to deliver.

You guys remember our friend and contributor, Eric Trant? I know you do. Not only did he win our An Honest Lie Volume One contest, he more importantly contributed not one but two amazing stories for our collections. In An Honest Lie Volume One: Encouraging the Delinquency of your Inner Child he sent us a fan favorite, “Apple Tree” about the times when our inner children get us into trouble. In An Honest Lie Volume Two: Delusions of Insignificance Eric blessed us again with a tale about a man named Percy Freebottom. Percy was the unconventional astronaut in the short “One Small Step” who managed to transport us onto the moon with nothing but the power of our minds.

Percy Freebottom, it seems, is gaining no little notoriety out there in the great wide world. He is not only the subject of one published short but also the subject of an upcoming novel and a model to boot. Yes you heard me right. Percy Freebottom has been realized in a full three dimensions by an amazing artist and fan of Mr. Freebottom. I don’t know about ya’ll but I want one.

There is a fantastic story about the origins of this amazing character piece at Eric’s blog “Digging with the Worms” which is amazing on its own.

Shit, there is a story here and I am ranting on and on (that should tell you how good this story is). Let me give space to Eric to tell it in his own words. One PSA:

We are still selling copies of An Honest Lie Volumes 1 &2. You can pick them up HERE. And we are also still accepting submissions for An Honest Lie Volume 3: Justifiable Hypocrisy. Read our submission guidelines HERE. Okay now Eric Trant:

“Percy started out not as a short story but as a novel. I got stuck, but I needed to get him onto paper, and so I wrote the short story and moved on to other projects. I told my wife about the short story and she said, Print it out. I printed it and she took it up to her work (she’s a daycare teacher) and let the other teachers read it. They loved Percy and I generated a few fans up there.

I printed another copy and took it to work and showed it to a NASA enthusiast. By enthusiast, I mean this guy has pictures of astronauts in his office, on his computer, has been to astronaut conventions and such. He dug on Percy, let his wife and kids read it, said it inspired him to dig out his old Arthur C. Clarke books. He said his wife thought of Percy when she saw a full moon. He’s the one who got me the sculpture. Don’t quit writing, he said. You have a talent. Use it.

As for the novel, I did an opening and sent it to a beta reader who has read just about everything I’ve written, and she said this was my breakout novel, by far one of the best things she’s read. She loved it! I haven’t finished the novel, but it’s still rattling around in my head wanting to get out.

The original concept was simply a name: Percy Freebottom. That’s how I start my stories — with a title. And I thought and thought about why Percy was special, what made him ~different~ from the rest of us. It was that pondering that brought about “One Small Step” and the rendering we see of Percy in that story. He’s inspiring. He’s a dreamer. He is a freaking genius who everyone thinks is crazy, insane, off his rocker, ignorable and ordinary, some hillbilly nut with a space suit.

Far from ordinary, though, Percy is one step closer to figuring out this universe. That’s his One Small Step, you know. We all think he lags behind the rest of us sometimes, but he’s up on us by one little stride.”

Percy managed to not only catch our fancy but also our hearts. We here at Open Heart Publishing are excited to see if Percy has anything else in store for us and apparently we are not the only ones.