Category: Games

Interview Snippets on Mona’s Stories-4

September 1, 2016

Interview Snippets on Mona’s Stories

(Part Four)

What follows is the continuation of an interview I conducted with one of my readers. I captured their notes and turned it into this update to my blog. This is Interview Mona’s Stories part 4.

Q: Speaking of the Doctor. Does he have a name?

A: Of course he does. His name is Doctor.

Q: But that is a title or function of what he does. That’s not a name.

A: In Mona’s society, they are the same. He is the Doctor and his name is Doctor.

Q: Interesting. Fair enough. Tell me about the ‘BLOODLINE’. Can you elaborate on that?

Interview Snippets on Mona's Stories-4A: The ‘BLOODLINE’ is still a work in progress. I haven’t yet worked out all of the details related to them. Right now, they are an unknown to Mona and her supporters. They have a personal agenda that seems contrary to the society Mona lives in. They have been working on this agenda for at least three generations and frankly, she’s scared.

Q: So, she has no idea of what their endgame is?

A: No, she doesn’t. And neither do I? The ‘BLOODLINE’ was an invention developed in my second book in the series, ‘Broken Steele’ to explain tainted meat and the widespread the effects it had on a significant portion of the society.

Q: So, are the ‘BLOODLINE’ a villain?

A: Could be. I don’t know at this point. But they are a good source for conflict in Mona’s society. For tens of generations, Mona’s community has lived in peace and harmony, everyone knowing their place and everyone contributing to support the whole. Mona was born to a time when this harmony is about to falter, where stress and conflict are being felt for the first time in centuries.

Q: Are you saying that the ‘BLOODLINE’ could be the good guys?

A: Again, they could be. They don’t have to be the power-hungry, arrogant subculture that most of our books and movies assume. They could be advancing their own agenda in attempt to reverse the need to consume their own to stay alive. It remains to be seen as I work out the next couple of books.

Q: So, there are more books in the future?

A: Yes, I have outlines for at least two more books as well as a possible sixth book.

Q: I look forward to reading them.

A: Thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy them.

Care to Comment?

Feel free to comment and agree or dispute my opinions. I love a challenge. Till next time, have a great day!

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Mona's Societies DNA

Interview Snippets on Mona’s Stories 2

August 30, 2016

Interview Snippets on Mona’s Stories

(Part Two)

What follows is the continuation of an interview I conducted with one of my readers. I captured their notes and turned it into this update to my blog. This is Interview Mona’s Stories part 2.

Q: Are you an activist, passionate about stopping the practice of genetically modifying organisms?

Interview Snippets on Mona's Stories-2A: I’m not an activist. In fact, I’m not an activist about anything. I just write stories based upon my passions. If anything, I subscribe to facts science reveals. Take for example, obesity rates in the U.S. My country has been modifying our food sources for nearly a century in order to increase profits. In the 1940’s, obesity was a rarity. Today, it is the norm.

Check the statistics. For example, in the 1950’s,
the widespread use of corn syrup was added to our food supply as a cheaper way to produce food. Compare the graphs of the introduction of corn syrup to the obesity rates in this country. You will find a near perfect duplication of the charts, separated by only a decade. For every change in the production of our food supply, an exact change in the obesity rate occurs a decade later. 70 years later, corn syrup is now a staple in our diets. I try to avoid it but it is virtually impossible.

Q: How does that relate to the premise in your books?

A: To me, human arrogance is the relate. We presume to know better than what Mother Nature and millions of years of natural selection has produced. I believe we are digging a hole that the human race will find difficult to get out of. It may not happen in our lifetime or our children’s lifetime but I believe it is coming. We ourselves are going to cause a massive extinction event. Assuming our species survives, will be radically changed forever.

Q: And that is what ‘The Taste of Honey’ and the follow-up books speculate.

A: Yes, exactly. I don’t wish it to happen to anyone but I do feel powerless to prevent it. I believe an extinction event is inevitable and we will have caused it. How our extinction manifests itself is the question. All I know is, and I am firm in my belief, we will be causing our own extinction.

Care to Comment?

Feel free to comment and agree or dispute my opinions. I love a challenge. Till next time, have a great day!

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Community Games

Community Games

August 15, 2016

Community Games

The Olympic Games are here and already, they are half way done. Medals have been given with the winners standing on the podiums to receive their accolades and hear their national anthems. I must admit, I’ve been watching. Swimming, gymnastics, soccer (football), and rugby are just some of the sports I’ve watched.

Community GamesI’m fascinated with the games. They only happen every four years and for most of the sports, it is their only place to shine before the world. Forget basketball, golf and tennis. The athletes who participate in these sports have somewhere to go after the games and earn a living playing their sport.

What about archery, Track and Field, Handball, and Field Hockey? Let’s not forget swimming and gymnastics after all. Where do these athletes go after the games. Is there such a thing as a professional field hockey league? How about a professional archery league, or any of them. Nope. The only way they can make a living and still play in their sport is through endorsements. If you’re lucky enough to someone to sign on and endorse you.

As I was thinking about the Olympic Games, I couldn’t help but compare them to the games that are routinely played at the Community Celebrations in the ‘Mona Bendarova Adventures’. Set in a post-apocalyptic world millennia in the future, Mona’s community knows the value of competing in games. The difference of course is the her games are decided not on wins and losses but life and death. Winners live, losers don’t. It’s that simple.

As I think about the games, I can’t help be relate them to the real life gladiatorial games of the roman era or the fictional games brought to life in ‘The Hunger Games’. Contestants fought to win and stay alive. Most failed and died on the field of play. The same is true in Mona’s world. Who would have thought that dance competitions were waged with a noose around one’s neck and the winner is the sole survivor. Many stories in the past have hosted hunting games, where the prey are people. In Mona’s world, they too have a similar hunt, only the prey are released arms bound and naked knowing full well that they will not survive.

Life and Death Community GamesYet, why do they do it? To continue to comparison, in Mona’s world instead of country competing between country, it’s house estates against other house estates. They compete for the honor it will bring their house, where their family lives. They also know that their deaths will not be wasted. Their bodies will be converted to feed their families. It is the way of things in her world and they all accept it as a natural order of things.

Really though? Why do they willingly go off and compete in these games? I’ll tell you. It’s a far better fate than being one of thousands, transported to a conversion procession center that is no different from a slaughterhouse. At least this way, they can use every means possible to win and survive. Afterall, it is possible to win and survive. Just ask Julie in ‘Broken Steele’. She wins her dance competition. Which means, she lives to see tomorrow and feast upon the meat of her competitors. Now that’s a gold medal in of itself.