It’s Not Just a Tall Tale
I’ve written a lot. Mostly technical documents and political commentary, but I never considered writing fiction until it occurred to me that I could make a better case for my passions as a citizen of the earth by making it fun to read. If you read my book, you’ll no doubt discover there’s a lot more to it than the tale it tells.
I’m a rabid reader of fiction. I have been since my early teens, so this little experiment with writing a book was a fascinating journey for me. I do not expect to become a well known, financially successful author, nor was it my goal when I started this project. It was simply a way to explore some ideas and set them in motion in a way that might be fun for both me and my readers.
In many ways, Canine Plague is a symbolic representation of how I see the world around me. Admittedly, it’s a narrow view but most of the issues in the book are based on informed analysis of modern day issues that affect us all. The central theme of the book is a commentary on modern politics, social media, social justice movements, and human behavior. While much of it is critical, there is a key element of hope that should keep readers interested as well as entertained.
I’ve spent years ranting on Facebook and Twitter, more often than not about politics. I have a small circle of friends, many of which agree with my political leanings, so most of that ranting is essentially preaching to the choir. My hopes with writing a novel is that I’ll reach a wider audience and through the power of story telling, perhaps make a better case than I would by using boring rants on Facebook of which most people tire easily. I’ve often visualized the victims of my rants falling into two categories:
1) Friends who roll their eyes and seriously consider unfriending me, but hang around anyway just to see my posts about dogs and cats, and
2) Those that agree with me, nod their heads, and in solidarity like or share my stories.
So, you have a choice when reading the book. Read it as I do most books, simply as a distraction from a complicated life, a form of entertainment, or if you’re so inclined, look for the lessons being told and consider yourself warned that our civil society is much more fragile than it appears on the surface.