True story
There is a gilded statue of Joan of Arc that my son sees everyday from his school bus.
She crowns a roundabout astride a horse and was given to Portland to honor our soldiers of the Great War.
He asks, and I tell him the truth.
She was a religious fanatic who was burned alive.
He wants to know more, and I struggle with how to expand. We haven’t had the religion conversation yet. I decide it can wait until he learns there isn’t an actual Santa Claus that comes down the chimney, an Easter Bunny that hides plastic eggs, or a tooth fairy that buys his teeth while he sleeps. So I distract with another topic.
Continue reading Son Of Truth, Father Of Lies →
Human Resources retired the objector, forcibly
The absence of democracy on a ship shouldn’t be surprising. But the absence of it from a spaceship on a thousand year journey may be.
There’s also no captain, not since the human resources department took over.
They’re a major antagonist for my Destiny Exodus series.
Having human resources a villain in my book can be confusing. I try to mitigate by naming the leadership committee superman, because it is made up of supervisors and managers. Superman ensures that passengers are happy and compliant with the rules of the ship.
Continue reading Antagonizing Human Resources →
My favorite meal is a hotdog
When I eat out I mean. Of course all meals prepared by my lovely wife are my true favorites.
I’ve been accused of loving Portland, and I do love living here.
I appreciate all the city has to offer, but I’m too pretentious to admit directly that I love Portland. Instead I put a bird on my book.
Continue reading New Seasons Hotdog, With Horseradish →
Currency within my fictional world
Working on my book Destiny’s Hand I struggled with the concept of currency. I wondered if money was even necessary with only a thousand people isolated for fifty generations.
My son gets a dollar a week and five dollars a tooth. He doesn’t need money. We provide his basic necessities and many amenities.
He wants money. It gives him choices. He collects it and counts it. He brushes his teeth extra to improve their value for when it’s time to trade with the tooth fairy.
Continue reading Currency of a space village →
A writer's world encountered