DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Well, okay, I must admit I'm no scientist and perhaps what I write about in my twelfth upcoming book, CHANGED IN THE NIGHT, is really not science at all, only pseudoscience . . . but what the bleep do I know? 

I certainly don't know the theory of everything.

Ages ago, back in my teen years, high school science meant dissecting dead things marinating in formaldehyde and memorizing hieroglyphic symbols and equations, but that was then and this is now. 

So down the rabbit hole I go.

My White Rabbit Friend  (Photo by Pam Fish)

At this late date, I'm attracted by how thought can affect water molecules, tantalized by the possibility of parallel universes where carbon copies of me are leading totally separate lives from the life I'm living, and curious if other dimensions might be filled with thinking and breathing life forms. I'm also puzzled about our ways of seeing and the evidence that the mind can actually alter events through meditation or intense concentration. 

Who wouldn't be awed by the incredible fact that everything is energy, including you and me, and it's our perceptions that create our reality? 

Now these are scientific bites I can chew on awhile and find easy to digest. In fact, I want to devour more and don't even mind the homework as I attempt to explain the unexplainable to readers who are most likely light-years ahead of me when it comes to Science 101, an advanced species compared to the good old days of Roswell and UFOs over the White House and sightings no one could explain.

Okay, I must admit I might have gone straight down the rabbit hole while writing CHANGED IN THE NIGHT, but I sure had a great time doing the research and poring over unclassified information and exploring quantum physics or, as scientists might want to suggest, quantum nonsense. 

As my old friend, Alice in Wonderland, might say, it's all quite a puzzle, isn't it? 

I'm an admirer of scientist Richard Dawkins who remarked that authors seem undecided whether their theme is quantum theory or consciousness, but since both ideas are equally appealing to me, does it really matter?

He's not referring to me, of course, or to my writing per se, but to the cult favorite, "What the Bleep Do We Know?" a film I've seen a few times.

Technology, quantum physics, and the cosmos seem to conspire to outdate us before we can grasp all the concepts. We update our apps and then update them hours later; we link devices that are outdated the minute we exit the store. It's impossible to stay current. 

Science is our future, no doubt about it. Our myths and legends indicate we surely come from star stuff, and it seems we're on a collision course with our future selves; maybe we really are our own worst enemy. 

Anyone seeking spiritual connections can surely find meaning in the stars even though science writer Margaret Wertheim claims, "No scientific discovery has proved so ripe for spiritual projection as the theories of quantum physics, replete with their quixotic qualities of uncertainty, simultaneity and parallelism." 

But it's exquisite fun for me to think about such things as I try to interpret meaning in the way planets are arranged and attempt to translate the synchronicity that reoccurs throughout life as evidence of our human decay or destiny. 

And even though my investigative search plunges me right down the rabbit hole, what's not to love about those quixotic qualities of quantum physics? 

How fortunate that young people today have all this information at their fingertips. As we race headlong into an uncertain future, I want my readers to appreciate the value of science and the secrets revealed by discovery, to be open minded about science religion. What better tools for their journey through life than a deep appreciation of the exciting theories of quantum physics with all the uncertainty, simultaneity and parallelism?

Parallel universes and the concepts of time and space are on my mind recently, and as the creator of a fictional world, these tantalizing ideas are woven into my plot as a way to arouse the curiosity of my readers. 

So I suppose in the final analysis, going down the rabbit hole isn't such a bad thing. Anything that engages readers and encourages them to further investigate interesting topics they might never have considered before is worthwhile. Our job as authors is to arouse awareness about the world we live in and impart insight into our human struggle to be better and more noble than we are. 

CHANGED IN THE NIGHT is the story of sixteen-year-old Allana Odette, an unstable loner marked by aliens. Abandoned and isolated and mourning the loss of her brother, she creates a portal that lures her into frightening dimensions where nothing is as it seems.