“If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.”
– Edgar Rice Burroughs –
Among many other things,
I like to think of myself as a writer. In fact I spent a number of years slightly diverging from my engineering career to write technical manuals. My boss recognized that I not only understood complex technology, but could also describe it cogently.
Duncan Cary Palmer is a pen name.
I wear it like a cloak when I write fiction and poetry, or when I'm writing political diatribes and curious theological speculations.
The notion that I should write more fiction was recently advanced by author friend John J. Geddes ( @johnjgeddes ). That impulse has now been fanned into flame by the kind support of members of The Writers' Block.
Buoyed by such encouragement, I recently wrote "Too Much of A Good Thing," set in a fictional world that has been knocking about in my head for many decades, and more recently, "Jesus Wept."
Future and Historical Theological Fiction
Image courtesy of NASA and http://unsplash.com
At times I wake up with stories in my head.
Two major fictional worlds fill my thoughts, and I want to tell you about them.
I find these fictional universes compelling because I believe they are real. Both are based on what to me are concrete realities informed by my Christian faith.
Biblical Christianity envisions two overwhelming, cataclysmic events, one past, and one yet to come. The past event is the flood that occurred in the days of Noah. The future event transcends human imagination because it pictures God regenerating the entire physical universe as easily as a man might change coats.
Writing as Duncan Cary Palmer, I have begun and hope to continue telling stories set in those presently inaccessible ages of the universe—before the Flood and after the Restoration.
The antediluvian world and the flood.
The bible describes in surprising detail an almost unthinkable catastrophe. It speaks of a flood that, due to its overwhelming nature, still echoes in the minds and legends of all mankind.
Stories I write in this "historical/fictional/theological" space (like "Too Much of A Good Thing") are driven by an unusual, and possibly unprecedented combination of world-building elements.
Although I am not a strict biblical literalist, I don't casually dismiss statements that may appear superficially implausible. For example, I accept the reported life spans of Adam and his peers. Rather than dismiss them, I choose to consider how extreme length of life would impact society.
Though widely dismissed, scripture also asserts that the flood of water was global in extent. It utterly annihilated all of humanity along with all creatures living and moving on the face of the earth. Primed with that belief, I find that modern research has uncovered significant evidence of massive water features on the moon and Mars. This suggests to me that the flood of Noah may have been not limited to Earth, but in fact solar-system wide as well.
Another oft overlooked feature of this ancient world is its universal common language. How rapidly might technology have advanced, given an ability to accumulate learning across eight or nine centuries while communicating perfectly with peers? And so, you may find unexpected surprises in my stories, including human space travel in Noah's day.
New Heavens and a New Earth to come.
Don't be misled by cartoon caricatures of heaven. The bible contains significant and highly detailed information about what the future universe may be like. I've already written quite a few stories from this perspective.
For example, the eight-part series "Whispering Hope," and the whimsical account of "How To Deal With That First, Rough Morning In Heaven...". I also speculate on logical/theological conundrums, as in "The Most Popular Person In Heaven...".
Starting soon, I hope to begin delivering "Postcards from The Glory," assorted and sundry fictional stories that take place in that future, unimaginably perfect universe. Fellow writers, do you have any thoughts on how I might hold readers' interest when—by definition—a story cannot possibly contain a crisis?
This present dark age.
To be sure, there are stories to be found sandwiched between the cataclysmic bookends of The Flood and The Fiery Rebirth of the universe. The ones that interest me the most have to do with overlooked implications of miracles reported in the bible, and those that help reveal humanity's blind spot when it comes to thoughtlessly submitting to our self-appointed human overlords.
The story "Jesus Wept" is an example of the latter. I have yet to write some fiction about notable miracles, but have several ideas.
I have observed—as did King David when confronted by Nathan with a vivid story—that some of the greatest truths are best communicated to my emotions in the form of authentic fiction.
I truly hope that you, gentle reader, will choose to stick with me and that you'll be surprised at and pleased with the stories yet to come. Rest assured, I do not take you for granted. Without readers, what good would it do me to write?
FIN
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