Peter Galarneau, Jr. '98 has Novel “The Cubit” Published

A decades worth of work has come to fruition for West Virginia Wesleyan College assistant professor of communication Peter Galarneau, Jr. '98 with the publication of his 316-page horror and thriller novel “The Cubit.”

The book follows the path of scientist and MIT drop-out Billy Jo Presser and his mind-twisting journey that is predestined by an ancient countdown toward Armageddon.

“It is a horror thriller with roots that are fact-based fiction meaning that though many of its people, places and things are not connected to real-life counterparts, there are current underlying issues presented,” remarked Galarneau. “It is a horror novel but it has many religious overtones. The novel continually raises the question ‘Is it fate or is it destiny?’”

The cubit is an actual measurement used by ancient civilizations in much of its architecture. The Cubit in the novel is a wooden crate that measures about two feet on all sides. Galarneau utilizes the Cubit as a major plot device of evil. “If the Ark of the Covenant is a way of speaking to God, then the Cubit is a messenger or connection to the opposite: the underworld,” stated Galarneau.

The novel is built in two parts. Back-story is provided in Part One. Part Two follows the main character Billy Jo Presser who has left MIT in disgust after his ideas are stolen by other professors and used for their personal gain. He winds up in the laid-back surfing community of Port Aransas, Texas. When Presser leads the small island community against what is believed to be a conspiracy to corrupt the town with casino gambling, Presser finds that the real threat comes from an ancient evil within the Cubit. Soon he is not certain who is real and who is dead.

“Presser is a man who only believes in the things that he can touch and research as a scientist,” explained Galarneau.  “However, he comes to realize that there may be more to the world than just scientific fact. It is a struggle that he is forced to examine. As a scientist, how can he believe? Faith had been lost a long time ago and now he is forced to face a world without academic principal, with no figures or facts or proof. Now, he must confront the ultimate truth.”

The fiction world of “The Cubit” has been an idea of Galarneau’s for over a decade. “At first, I put my ideas for “The Cubit” in short story form,” stated Galarneau. “Back in the 90s, I was moving into the horror genre circles, writing short stories and having them published in small press magazines and attending conventions in an attempt to get my name out there with editors and writers. But then the opportunity became available to return to school and that halted my ideas to continue the storyline.”

Galarneau was employed by Wesleyan as the Sports Information Director in 1996 and at the same time, he returned to the classroom to earn his degree. He earned his communication studies degree in 1998. He became the College’s first webmaster that same year. He earned his master’s degree from West Virginia University in 2003. It was then that he decided to step back into the classroom, only this time as a professor. “Teaching reopened the door for my interest in the novel because my summers were free,” he remarked. “I finally had the time to revisit my ‘short story.’ Even though I was not writing on the novel during that eight-year span, I still developed ideas of how I would connect the plot and settings and give the characters more depth.”

It was during this time as well that he decided that “The Cubit” would be the first part of a trilogy. “According to ancient Mayan civilizations, the world is scheduled to end on December 21, 2012,” he explained. “The Mayans archived the End Date in a artifact called the Long Count or the Mayan calendar. This calendar, as it was conceived, recorded the Earth's Fifth Age which will end on 12-21-12...in our lifetime. I wanted ‘The Cubit’ to be the first book of what I am calling the ‘2012 Trilogy.’ This first book is set with five years left until the End Date. The trilogy will take Presser, and us, toward what could be his and the world’s ultimate fate.”

Galarneau has started writing the plot points to the second book of the trilogy entitled “The Djed.” “‘The Cubit’ stands on its own in regards to the plot coming to a climax, but when readers finish reading the novel, they will have a sense that there is still more to come.”

While Galarneau is hopeful people will enjoy his novel, he is also a bit anxious of it being released. “When a writer or artist personally works on something for such a long period of time, and then they let it out into the world for the audience to read it or view it, that person is bearing his soul and revealing a part of themselves in their work. I wonder how people will see me as a person after reading the novel. As the book shows, for every good in the world there is evil. This novel is my way of releasing the ‘evil.’”

“I hope to play on the reader’s fear and uncertainty of themselves,” concluded Galarneau. “That is what a good horror novelist does. I really believe that readers will not be able to put the book down, particularly as they approach its climax.”

For a sneak peek of the novel, Part One is available as an e-Book on the novel’s website at www.thecubit.com, where the book can also be purchased. The novel will also be available at the West Virginia Wesleyan College Barnes & Noble Bookstore, the Buckhannon 7-11 store, and Aseops Bookstore in Buckhannon.