Sneak peek

After letting it simmer on the back burner for a couple of years, I've finally gotten around to writing my paranormal novella. It's called Chasing Omega, and it will be out in ebook form before long. 

The 30,000 word story explores Dan Brown territory - people on the run, uncovering facts about a conspiracy. Along the way, there's a fair amount of expository dialogue laying out the basics of the empirical case for postmortem survival - NDEs, mediumship, etc. There's also some stuff about the nature of reality, which gets into the ever-controversial notion of the universe as the rendered output of an information processing system. In short, there's something to annoy just about everyone. 

I've created an online bibliography for the book, which gives a pretty good idea of the topics covered (as well as some that aren't, like reincarnation). Note that most of these subjects are addressed very briefly in the story, since a full presentation would be impossible in a short novel. Though it's somewhat top-heavy with exposition, it's still essentially a thriller, and I have to keep the pace moving. 

I'll put up an announcement when Chasing Omega goes on sale, but for now, here's a look at an early mockup of the cover (with original artwork by my friend Reenie Price) and a preview of the first scene. 

 

 

Ω

 

“Do you believe in life after death?”

The question took me by surprise. It didn’t seem to track with anything we’d been talking about. 

“I don’t know,” I said, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. “Haven’t really thought about it.”

She turned in the passenger seat and fixed me with a stare. “Everybody’s thought about it.”

That was true, I supposed. And the fact was, I had thought about it–thought about it too much in the past two years. But I didn’t see why it was any business of hers.

I’d picked her up twenty minutes earlier on a desolate desert highway midway between Tucson and the Mexican border. Unusual to see a woman hitching alone, and even more unusual when it was after 2:00 AM in the middle of nowhere. She looked scuffed up and careworn and haunted. She had no handbag, only a leather satchel that she gripped close to her chest. She was dressed in a sort of white pantsuit that didn’t flatter her, her skin was pale, and even her hair was white, or silver-gray anyhow. Prematurely so–she couldn’t have been more than forty. My age, for what that’s worth.

The only thing I wasn’t sure about were her eyes. Green, maybe–or gray. In the chancy light, I couldn’t tell.

Something about the way she’d materialized out of the moonlight appealed to me on a visceral level. From a distance she was almost more wraith than woman. Up close she was real enough. Her name, she said, was Claire–just Claire–and she was nervous. Throughout our ride she’d kept her head down while glancing slyly in the side-view mirror, trying to be inconspicuous as she scanned the road behind us.

I’d kept the conversation going, talking about nothing in particular, as we sped west with the top down, the warm sandpapery wind scrubbing our faces. My car was a 1962 Rambler American with a long-ago rebuilt engine, and nothing about it was cherry except the color. I’d picked it up three years ago from a friend who had put a hundred thousand miles on the new engine, and since then I’d added nearly another hundred thousand myself. The damn thing still started up every time I turned the key, a fact that never stopped taking me by surprise.

Our talk had been safely meaningless until she suddenly went all metaphysical on me. Which is where you came in when I started my little story, like Homer, in medias res. 

Yeah, that’s right. Latin. I have unexpected depths.

She was still staring at me, waiting for a better answer.

“All right,” I said, “if you want to know … I think it’s crap. When you’re gone, you’re gone. Lights out. Food for worms and beetles.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“The same way I know about Santa Claus, or those Nigerian princes who want to transfer a million dollars to my bank account. Anything that sounds too good to be true is a lie.”

“That’s the answer a lot of people would give. But not all of them would be so angry about it.”

Was I angry? I decided I was. “I don’t like people who give false hope. Who prey on weakness. Like those phony psychics who claim they can get your dear departed on the line–for a fee. It’s cruel and … and stupid. I don’t know which part bothers me more. Probably the stupidity. Cruelty I almost understand. Stupidity just pisses me off.”

“I see.”

She was quiet after that.

I wondered why it mattered to her. It wasn’t a subject I wanted to pursue.  

But when I looked at her again, she was still watching me with that vaguely disappointed, vaguely challenging stare.

“How about you?” I asked reluctantly. “Do you believe?”

“No, I don’t believe. I know.”

Terrific. 

I didn’t know what to say to that. So I let the road speak for me with its endless low-octave hum.

“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden,” she said.

“That afterlife stuff is kind of a conversation stopper. Why’d you bring it up?”

“Because there’s a car following us. The people in the car are after me. And it all has to do with life after death.”

 

Ω

Comments

[no one]

This is fantastic. Congratulations! I can't wait to get my copy.

[Michael Prescott]

Thanks very much, No One!

[Ben]

Very pleased to see this. Good luck with it, Michael.

[Roger Knights]

You've got a way with words.

[Rabbbitdawg]

Gee. Thanks a lot Michael.
Now you've got my inner child screaming "How long how long how long how long how long how long how long how long...!"

Can't wait.
:-)

[Michael Prescott]

Thanks, all!

RabbitDawg, your inner child can relax. I intend to release the ebook next week. Just want to go over the manuscript one more time, and then make sure the ebook formatting is okay.

Incidentally, I don't expect the book to sell very well. It's too different from my others. But I enjoyed doing it - it was like an itch that finally got scratched!

[Roger Knights]

"Throughout our ride she’d kept her head down while glancing slyly in the side-view mirror, trying to be inconspicuous as she scanned the road behind us."

But the view on those mirrors from the passenger seat wouldn't include the road behind. How about this?

"Throughout our ride she’d kept dabbing into her compact, glancing slyly in the mirror, trying to be inconspicuous as she scanned the road behind us."

[Rabbbitdawg]

"Incidentally, I don't expect the book to sell very well. It's too different from my others"... -M.P.

I'm sure most of the readers of this blog would disagree. But then, we're the choir.
I'm too biased to objectively understand how this book will be received by your larger audience, but the tension created in a crime/horror thriller isn't a far cry from the tension established in a paranormal/spiritual novel (okay, novella). The paranormal/spiritual plot may have a more positive underlying quality, but the mysterious pull of the Unknown is there.
Also, I see no reason why high quality writing, a compelling plot, and an established reader base wouldn't result in a best seller.

Michael, don't underestimate your appeal. You're a first-class writer, and you know it. If the initial offering gets positive reviews, promote it. You might be pleasantly surprised.
And you could find yourself successfully branching off into a whole new genre.
:-)

[Michael Prescott]

Roger, I'll have to check my passenger side-view mirror tomorrow. I just assumed it would show the road, but maybe not.

RabbitDawg, I appreciate the good thoughts, but I don't think this one will bring in a lot of sales. Though I could be wrong, I'm usually pretty good at predicting which of my books will do well. I wrote this one just to satisfy myself, so any money it makes will be icing on the cake. It was the same way with a short-story collection I put out a few months ago; I figured it would go nowhere and that's exactly where it went, but I enjoyed doing it anyway.

[Matt Rouge]

Michael,

Bravo!

[Roger Knights]

"Roger, I'll have to check my passenger side-view mirror tomorrow. I just assumed it would show the road, but maybe not."

On second thought, I think it would work if the passenger leant forward a bit. Then she would have the same angle of view as the driver. But it wouldn't hurt to check.

[lynn]

Hmmm I would like to read it too. I've ordered books from Thailand to find they disappear in the post here, so I haven't done it for a while. I love short stories, I adored Catherine Mansfield as a girl, a New Zealand short story writer. I read prolifically as a child. Strangely, and it erks me, I only read true stories, biographies, science, medical science, psychic books etc, now. Novels seem too vague for some reason, even though I know there is some beautiful literature out there that I should be reading. So I may give yours a try Michael. Ramblings.. Lyn x.

[lynn]

Sometimes I think that the powers above decided that my fate or purpose in life is to help others. Over the years psychics tell me I will go into councelling. Although I have training in this area, I sometimes wonder if I will return to that field. I have also been told I have a Maori guide, and interestingly I am doing a bi-cultural paper at the moment, now compulsory in New Zealand. So I think this may be why when ever I go to a book shop, I end up being drawn to psychic books, science and biographies, to further my understanding of people. Who knows. And perhaps having a Maori guide is so I will work with the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Tungata Whenua. Something like that.. who knows. Lyn x.

[Bruce Siegel]

Michael, I just got back from my local Barnes and Noble, where I was checking out PMH Atwater's Future Dreams. In it, she neatly links two of your favorite subjects. She says Edward de Vere probably had a near-death experience, and that's why he was able to write all those great plays.

No mention of whether or not he was into Mariachi.

[Kathleen]

You never know what will take off. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a bedtime story to read to his children, and The Lord of the Rings was just a "backdrop" to place the languages he created. It's always fascinated me how some books take off. Good luck.

[Fred Seton]

Really looking forward to this, Michael.

[Ally]

Yes you can see out of the passender side window, I do it all the time with our 92 ford explorer and my 85 LTD. Michael your new book sounds very intriging!!with a natural bend for smooth unfolding, with quick insight to the reader, wish it came in book form for a keepsake!

[Michael Prescott]

I'd never thought of that, Bruce, but it's true that de Vere came close to dying while he was in Italy. He came down with the plague, I think. Italy was the locale of several Shakespearean plays, and the commedia del arte, which was of Italian origin, inspired several others. The Shakespeare Guide to Italy, by Richard Paul Roe, discusses the remarkable accuracy of Shakespeare's descriptions of Italy, showing that the author must have been there.

"wish it came in book form for a keepsake!" I do plan to put it out in a a print edition, Ally, but that version will take an extra couple of weeks to prepare.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes!

[Steve Snead]

Looking forward to it. Will there be an ebook? I am partial to my Kindle Fire these days. I think I see the ebook better than my beloved print these days. ;-)

[Steve Snead]

Face palm. It say's ebook doesn't it? Sigh, I gotta slow down and "read." Anyway, looking forward to it. ;-)