SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT

Early on, I wrote a science fiction novel, titled Mission 998, in which, in the not-too-distant future, overpopulation on Earth drove mankind to build giant craft to cross the vast emptiness of outer space to reach other star systems.  When such a craft approached a planetary system that its sensors calculated could support human life, frozen embryos were inseminated and babies were artificially nurtured, born and raised until they could be dispatched to the lucky new planet.  Well, in my story, the new-born babies, coming down the line were analyzed and either approved or dispatched due to weaknesses, genetic imperfections and the like.  And, as there was an ingrained bias against Jewish people, the computer driven ship attempts to do away with the hero of the mission, who has a fraction of Jewish DNA in his genetics.   

Well, my agent howled at me that this would never do for the future of mankind, for, to his way of thinking, I had created a “Nazi state”.  I had created a state where necessity forced robotic decision-making, and in this case there was a well-documented anti-Hebrew bias, but I didn’t see it as the main thrust of the piece.  A ship launched by the Chinese would probably have a higher percentage of Chinese DNA on board, and since the Chinese are not consumed with brotherly love for the Japanese, one can see how a son of the Land of the Rising Sun might have the odds stacked against him.  I couldn’t believe the odd turn the discussion of this project had taken, and ultimately the agent and I parted ways. 

Today, being much older and a little wiser, I think I would have tried to explain the do-or-die necessity of the process of selection a little better.  How could my novel be anti-Jewish when my hero wins out over all odds?  Explain it, you see.  Explain without being boring or pedantic.  It’s not easy with your agent running like an ant from boiling water. 

Which brings me to a recent novel I wrote, The Rogue Pirates Bible Heretical, this one published by Double Dragon.  I sold it as science fiction - the tales from the bible once again handed down from generation to generation as oral history, this time by descendants of survivors of a space ship crashed on a distant planet ‘far out of the ordinary shipping lanes.’  You see, I took great care to disguise the underlying idea of the novel, that oral histories shift over time.  Still, it wasn’t enough.  I get emails from outraged readers who dislike the work for a variety of reasons.  But they never touch on what is really bothering them, the notion that I am messing with the word of God.  Interesting, when emotion and belief systems get involved, a writer can be mistaken as anti-Bible as easily as pro-Nazi.  So, my advice to fellow authors: if you want to please all of the people all of the time, stay away from subjects that trigger instant emotive response.  As to characters, use power-gays, strong women, sensitive male heroes and good dogs. Perhaps the giant spaceship in Mission 993 could have a side-pod where they raise all the imperfect children and allow them to live out their lives, and maybe my hero should be British and of royal ancestry, accomplished at knitting, cooking and gardening as well as aikedo.  And, considering the widely held rock-bound belief in the testaments old and new, I probably shouldn't have written my Rogue's Bible in the first place.  I doubt explaining it a little better would make any difference.