Sanity's Edge--themes

    

     Every novel has a point, a unifying theme that knits all the threads together. There may be more than one, just as there are more than one character driving the narrative. Here’s the most important one.   

     Essentially I think this story is about isolation, the isolation others impose on us and that we impose on ourselves. When we don’t feel worthy, feel worthless, often wrongly, sometimes we have an overwhelming feeling that we’re alone.   We’ve always been alone and maybe it’s something we deserve.  

     But that’s not really true. We’re not alone; we don’t have to be alone.

Buterfly and Serpent Space excerpt

The following is a short scene from "Kalila Maji", part two in my book Butterfly & Serpent, published by Createspace
Jamai has been captured by an interdimensional spectre named Sydelle, and is about to see a stunning vista.


She answered with a smile reflected in hungry eyes. “You came to learn of me? Come, see.”

She inclined her head, and I followed the direction of her gaze. We were still in Mokoyo Springs. But the Moon was gone. A massive orb filled its space, filled nearly the entire sky, but for one narrow sliver near its upper hemisphere. Clouds of the purest blue blanketed its surface, if it had any, clouds layered with chalk-white jet streams. Occasionally its troposphere was punctuated with crackles of lightning, traversing an entire hemisphere. “Is that…?”

“No,” Sydelle replied with an eye as full of wonder as mine. “Our home was in orbit around what you see, our Parent Body. The core of our home was a powerful magnetic orb with predictable magnetic reversals, which acted in conjunction with those of our Parent Body’s poles. On those dates, we could see into other realms as the barriers separating each sphere thinned, due to the two bodies’ electromagnetic reverses.

The above is actually a NASA image of the planet Neptune.

Available still as a print or Kindle Editon at amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Serpent-Michael-Robbins-ebook/dp/B0088K8DIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487044940&sr=8-1&keywords=Butterfly+and+Serpent+Michael+Robbins

Sanity's Edge-draft preview

Just composed this the other night:

"I'll give you one chance. Walk away. I have nothing to live for and everything to protect. This child is going back to her village. If you try to stop me, if any of your goons come between us and her tree house, i will end you."

This comes towards the end of the novel. Main protagonist Jamai has lost a child thanks to her prime antagonist Goukoni. He's made the mistake of threatening the 600-year-old child who saved her.

More to come. Enjoy.

Trump's Cabinet Posts-First Drafts

Well, the election's over, and we're screwed. That's what we all thought at first, didn't we? But to be fair, Donald Trump hasn't taken office yet, and he might surprise us with some wise discourse and prudent actions. 

Still, no man can carry the burden of President alone. He needs persons of unparalleled quality to bring this country onto the right path and render unselfish servitude service. With that in mind I propose the following individuals to fill his cabinet posts.

Ambassador to Iran:

Brian Blessed (in his guise as Prince Vultan from "Flash Gordon")

"HAHAHAHAHA! DIIIIIE!!!!"

Secretary of State:
Naturally we'll want a man who will best represent American interests while soothing our allies' jitters about the policies we must pursue. And who better represents all that America stands for than...
Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent!

Secretary of Education:
This calls for a person of extraordinary intelligence with an uncanny knack for geography. So why not, Sarah fuckin' Palin!

Attorney General:

Let's nominate Dr. Victor von Frankenstein!

Secretary of Defense:

Frank Castle, 'The Punisher'!

Supreme Court nominee: 

There will no doubt be a few vacancies opening up in coming years. As the nominee will serve for decades, this must be a man of judicious perception and a steady mind. I offer

The Green Gob--I mean, Norman Osborn!

Of course there are other posts to be filled, and perhaps we'll suggest other names in the coming apocalypse days, but we can always come back to that. Cheers for now. And God help us.

This is Halloween

Some of the horrors I've unleashed on my Deviantart page over the years. Pleasant dreams.

Link: www.mike3839.deviantart.com

To my family, I can only say, yep, he's as disturbed as he seems...

Colin Kaepernieck

By Ed Clemente Photography - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18158956

     So T-Bo kneels and its all la-la-la-la-la. Colin Kaepernick does so in protest of police brutality and our nation's resurgent racism and its all, "SINNER! You have blasphemed our great nation! You're a traitor, boy! Repent or you shall be daaaaaamned!"
     Hmm. Right. I love how open-minded people are in this country, don't you?
     You people need to calm down--and I mean all the firebrands and the cops having a hard time understanding what this movement stands for. As I understand its a solemn protest against the rampant, almost daily shooting of African-Americans in the last few years.
     Colin Kaepernick should be applauded for the restraint he's shown by calling attention to a serious and deadly issue, with one simple gesture. We're so busy singing America's praises that we've forgot the hard road our citizens have been forced to trod to snatch even the minimum amount of equality. Eighty years had to pass before the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that 'all men are created equal', became a legal reality. And that required a bloody Civil War that demonstrated our noble ideals of freedom were clearly lacking.
     Another one hundred years had to pass before we enacted the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act to give the 13th & 14th Amendments some teeth. I've had my own disturbing moment, in Sunday School class. I was a member of the Mormon Church, now inactive, and this class was taught by a man I'd known all my life, a grown-up I'd respected growing up in the Church.He commented--and I didn't have to courage to call him out on this--was that sometimes when black people joined the church, their skin color lightened.
     Yep. These are the same people who took 112 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued before they offered the priesthood to church members of color. Questioning Colin Kaepernick's motives or his patriotism is only a distraction from the very real issues his protest has raised. He's rightfully challenged our cozy notions of equality and challenges us to live up to the ideals we claim to champion as Americans.
     So [1st], I thank you for taking a stand, so to speak.
     And [2nd], challenge accepted.

Wonder Woman trailer 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lGoQhFb4NM&list=PLDMl54nSWUeycOBliOlsf1JBI0c85Ek9f&index=13

I'm not usually sanguine about movies taking liberties with a comic book's established backstory, but for this one, I think I'm comfortable with it. Setting Diana's origins in World War I makes better sense than WW2, if only for the fact that the First World War may be the greatest instance of hubris , arrogance and sheer obstinate, military stupidity in the history of the world. What other war could be so characterized by such a lack of vision, by every military authority repeating the same mistakes over and over, as if you're going to get different results the second or third time around?

By the way, Diana's armor looks fantastic. Looking forward to 2017.