Hello blog friends,
I've another backstory to share. This one is for The Culmination, a new beginning. You may recall that last week I focused on Redemption, A Father's Fatal Decision and also mentioned The Gift. And before these two, I talked about The Soul Whisperer's Decision. With each, I tried to explain my motivation for writing the story.
The Culmination is a little different, because it is the result of a journey - one that is difficult to revisit. While watching network news one night, I heard a suffering Syrian woman say to a reporter, "Just take the oil and leave us alone." Her painful tears prompted my quest. Oil?
To understand international tensions, there was much I needed to learn. My long-standing aversion to all-things-political had to be set aside. First, I focused on geography. I affixed detailed maps of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States on my wall - where they remain today. I then tried to track U.S. military deployments and the locations of U.S. Navy carrier strike groups on the maps. And I included the locations of the Level IV Bio-Defense Labs. Diving deeper, I subscribed to five newspapers and multiple military YouTube stations and websites. I also watched or listened to the BBC and Al Jazeera English for international perspectives. Through this immersion experience, I found myself in a world I did not recognize, and it changed my life - permanently.
I've another backstory to share. This one is for The Culmination, a new beginning. You may recall that last week I focused on Redemption, A Father's Fatal Decision and also mentioned The Gift. And before these two, I talked about The Soul Whisperer's Decision. With each, I tried to explain my motivation for writing the story.
The Culmination is a little different, because it is the result of a journey - one that is difficult to revisit. While watching network news one night, I heard a suffering Syrian woman say to a reporter, "Just take the oil and leave us alone." Her painful tears prompted my quest. Oil?
To understand international tensions, there was much I needed to learn. My long-standing aversion to all-things-political had to be set aside. First, I focused on geography. I affixed detailed maps of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States on my wall - where they remain today. I then tried to track U.S. military deployments and the locations of U.S. Navy carrier strike groups on the maps. And I included the locations of the Level IV Bio-Defense Labs. Diving deeper, I subscribed to five newspapers and multiple military YouTube stations and websites. I also watched or listened to the BBC and Al Jazeera English for international perspectives. Through this immersion experience, I found myself in a world I did not recognize, and it changed my life - permanently.
On a whim, I looked into the U.S. Senate Committees, particularly Appropriations and its Subcommittee on Defense. I noted how members voted and examined their investments in the large defense contractors and in oil. What I found left me with even more questions.
Every day for hours at a time, I studied the unfolding global events. When I finally began writing, I tried to craft a path that I believed might lead to a new beginning.
The Culmination was published in November of 2020. In February of 2020, I awakened from surgery to the news of a deadly virus spreading across the planet. The reporter claimed the origin was a wet market in Wuhan, China. I turned to my husband and said, "This is a lab leak." Then I learned that those who concluded the same were conspiracy theorists. I said no more.
I rarely discuss my findings, and I don't consider myself an expert on anything. But a question emerged from my research that remains, "Who profits?"
The Culmination, a new beginning is a book that changed my life. Though fictional, it is not just a story for me. Perhaps you've written a novel that altered your way of seeing the world. I'd love to know about your experience, I suspect others would as well. Won't you share?
On a final note, fiction writers often create alternate worlds to express complicated truths. Most of these truths are either personal or interpersonal. But I suggest to you that these dynamics are at the root of international conflict.
Have a wonderful week, dear friends, with plenty of time for writing your next best seller. I look forward to turning those precious pages.
Every day for hours at a time, I studied the unfolding global events. When I finally began writing, I tried to craft a path that I believed might lead to a new beginning.
The Culmination was published in November of 2020. In February of 2020, I awakened from surgery to the news of a deadly virus spreading across the planet. The reporter claimed the origin was a wet market in Wuhan, China. I turned to my husband and said, "This is a lab leak." Then I learned that those who concluded the same were conspiracy theorists. I said no more.
I rarely discuss my findings, and I don't consider myself an expert on anything. But a question emerged from my research that remains, "Who profits?"
The Culmination, a new beginning is a book that changed my life. Though fictional, it is not just a story for me. Perhaps you've written a novel that altered your way of seeing the world. I'd love to know about your experience, I suspect others would as well. Won't you share?
On a final note, fiction writers often create alternate worlds to express complicated truths. Most of these truths are either personal or interpersonal. But I suggest to you that these dynamics are at the root of international conflict.
Have a wonderful week, dear friends, with plenty of time for writing your next best seller. I look forward to turning those precious pages.
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