Thriller

THE LATEST It’s been a minute since I last posted (in February). In this issue, I’ll share some ruminating thoughts on the recent solar eclipse that many of us experienced in North America—and the incredible coincidences needed for it to happen—plus, some historical reactions to these kinds of events (which are a bit scary), and a look back on some prior works that got me to where I am with my debut novel. REFLECTIONS ON THE APRIL 8 SOLAR ECLIPSE Were you along the path of the solar eclipse that happened on April 8? I was, from my vantagepoint in Cleveland, OH USA, and I am still marveling at how extraordinary the path of totality was. It was simultaneously dusk and dawn at one point, the diffused light that fell upon our neighborhood as surreal as a Dali painting. Then, the darkness of totality happened, the light posts lining in our neighborhood’s front yards winking on one-by-one to the tune of barking dogs and gasping humans. And when I say it was extraordinary, there was something that felt “designed” about it. Is it just me, or did you feel that way too? If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, let me explain by posing a question: what are the odds? What are the odds that the sun is 400 times larger than the moon, yet is 400 times further from the Earth than the moon; hence, making the two heavenly bodies identical in size—at least, from our minute vantagepoint on this spinning blue marble? The math is near perfect. How did nature, God, or whichever higher power you believe in create this? If your brain works the same way as mine, something about seeing the black disc of the moon slide past the brilliant sun—almost like an eye occluder covering one eye for a vision exam—felt purposeful. Then, as it perfectly covered the sun save for the slender corona, it felt like a divine design that we (or some other creatures) are meant to see and experience. Or perhaps there’s some other purpose that defies our knowledge or ability to understand it. Maybe it’s meant to be an occasional reminder, communicating, “Remember, all this can go away at any time. That precious life-giving star is all you’ve got. Appreciate what’s been given to you—don’t F it up.” I know these thoughts sound like tin-hat ruminations, but I couldn’t help but wonder… what are the odds? And why? HISTORICAL FREAK-OUTS If you lived back in 1806, your thought process might’ve been very different. And by what’s been recounted by local Northeast Ohio historians, your pre-knowledge of this incredible event could’ve led to your death. Take what happened with the Wyandot tribe in what is now a Cleveland metropark (Hinckley Reservation) and not far from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where THE TOWPATH takes place. A Wyandot woman was able to predict a “great darkness” that would fall over the Earth. Her insistence of this freaked out the tribe and she became viewed as evil, or some kind of witch, and was later hanged over the nearby river for others to see: a warning. A couple of weeks later, when the eclipse DID happen, the tribe understandably got spooked and assumed it was the woman’s way of exacting posthumous vengeance. While this event of course ended tragically, it’s incredible that she was able to predict it—at all. She must have had uncanny knowledge of the movements and patterns of the Earth, moon, sun, other stars, and time itself. It makes my head spin to imagine just how she went about acquiring this knowledge and studying/understanding it to the degree that she could predict something of this nature. Then again, the ancient Mayans—who predated this North American Tribe by centuries—had remarkable knowledge of the stars, were exceptional mathematicians, and keen observers and recorders of time. So, there’s a part of me that also feels that we modern humans with all our glowing technology and conveniences have lost some important connections with our planet and no longer marvel at the heavenly events swirling around us—that is, if we’re even able to get away from our own light pollution. Hence, we tend to think it’s beyond comprehension that people of the past could understand and calculate these things because our own comfort and ignorance has gotten in the way, and this so happens to be a subtle theme in THE TOWPATH. In fact, because we can’t grasp it, we often assume it had to be aliens, divine intervention, or some force that gave our ancestors this special knowledge. Maybe that’s true… but maybe not? THE WRITING JOURNEY All this looking to the past has made me feel nostalgic, and I often overlook those past efforts that landed me where I am: which is on the cusp of releasing a debut novel. Had I not gotten my feet wet with some short stories, I doubt my writing and self-editing abilities would have landed me a traditional publishing contract. The following are a couple of works that I rarely, if ever, promote (they are FAR under the radar on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other distributor channels), but I’d like to share them with you nonetheless since they are part of me and my journey as a writer. And heck, maybe you’d like to check out these stories and their respective anthologies, which contain some great stories from some talented, unsung writers (wink wink, nudge nudge). My contributions: SHALLOWEEN  Featured in GHOSTLIGHT, THE MAGAZINE OF TERROR Sam Haines is a cantankerous senior whose affinity for Halloween goes to the extremes—much to the chagrin of his immediate neighbors. Despite warnings from his wife to keep a “low profile,” Haines conjures up an antagonistic game of judgment for trick-or-treating children and their helicoptering parents. But is Haines the only antagonist on this cold and dark Hallows Eve night?  Purchase the anthology on Amazon. REIGN, REIGN Featured in THE DEVIL’S DOORBELL: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DARK ROMANCE Recovering drug