So, Tell Me?

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“You write near science fiction? What’s that mean?”

This question often comes up in relation to the genre of my stories. In response, I explain these stories are based on current and/or theorised science pushed just beyond the bounds of what’s actually (or in some cases, ethically) possible. You may have seen a previous post on the challenge of when science catches up? In ten years, it has.

Photo Credit: swiftsciencewriting, Pixabay

Remember how the Blaine Colton trilogy is founded on “revolutionary gene therapy”? To find a balance between “over science-ing” the story whilst leaving space for the imagination, the specifics and risks of this gene-modifying technology were not laid out in detail. Being new technology, many of the longer-term risks were extrapolated based on known problems of various delivery systems (for example, problematic levels of inflammation, immune interactions), but many remain unknown to this day. Instead I offer a hint here, a reference there. For this reason people sometimes ask for more.

Previously I had to explain types of delivery systems and mechanisms, the potential problems of integrating new genetic material into an organism, and more. Fast track to now, and I can simply say, “You know these experimental shots people are eagerly receiving for the current virus of interest …? Yeah, the fundamental concept is pretty much that.” And something I’ve recently learnt, not only can people develop allergies to GMO products (I knew that already, BUT), some individuals develop sensitivities to people who’ve taken these shots! (Keep an eye out for my soon-to-be released short story inspired by this scenario. 😉)

Against this rapidly changing backdrop, my stories have increasingly leaned towards fringe or even dystopian scenarios to stay a little ahead of the crush. In my “Crossed Spaces” short story Over and Out, I reference PICs—Personal Identification Chips—for the tracking and control of the population by the GG (Global Government), along with intrusive facial recognition technology that can see a person located and swiftly arrested within minutes of identification. I knew identification chips were a thing in some European countries, but not a widely accepted concept. As for facial recognition software, well, anyone been watching China lately …? However …

Photo Credit: Geralt, Pixabay

Little over a year since writing that story, we see Sweden implanting tracking/status chips into flocking recipients in the name of “safety”. (Really???) Not only is this the type of technology on which social credit systems are built and enforced, but intrusive facial recognition monitoring has even been proposed here in Australia by our leaders, with early reports by news outlets suggesting uses could include “enforcing social distancing, mask wearing etc”. Add to this the latest Digital ID legislation that’s being pushed through our parliament and the governing leaders would have capacity to identify, track and punish anyone who is deemed to have breached government-dictated behaviours through technology that allows citizen connectivity and biometrics monitoring for access to community services, travel and financial “credits”. If adopted, “Division 8, Northwest GG Quadrant” from Over and Out may not seem quite so farfetched. (It’s a fun story. If you haven’t read it yet, you should.)

I could detail other fiction I’ve penned that has become reality, from harvesting human embryonic organs to behaviour-modifying technology. No doubt I’m not the only science fiction author witnessing this trend. Like anything in science, just because we can, doesn’t mean we ought. And like any decision, convenience and fear should never be the driving determinants, but awareness should, and the capacity to see where seemingly beneficial technologies could lead without appropriate regulation.

I’ve a hunch we’ve only seen the tip of “near science fiction” proposed for our societies by certain well-resourced entities. No doubt more reveals will come. Hopefully most of us have our ears and eyes open so we can recognise when bounds are being overstepped, and can thus respond with future generations in mind to foster the good and question what is not.

Foody Fun

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If you’ve read my recent blogs you’ll know Jett was the mystery character for the book give-away. Know what that means? You guessed it, there’s a Jett novella in the works!

Image Credit: Ice cream by RitaE, Pixabay

For those familiar with Jett’s character, you’d know his favourite food is ice cream. It’s been said a writer’s characters often reflect elements of their creator and I must confess I’m a huge ice cream fan. That said, I’ve been on a restricted diet for the past 11 or so months ☹, so I’ve had to be a little creative with my options lately. But never fear: my inner foody is alive and well! 😊

While we’re on the topic of food, I am of the opinion there’s power in connections made around food. We all experience hunger and food is a great levelling field. Even if there is contention between people, a meal provides an opportunity to come together, build relationship and gain greater understanding.

Image Credit: Restaurant by Free-Photos, Pixabay

I think food also can be a mode of communication. An example from my novels is when Blaine sends Sophie a heap of ice creamery vouchers in honour of his bestie, Jett. His thoughtfulness and detail clearly communicate, “I’m thinking about you and I care.”  Even something as simple as getting or making a person’s favourite beverage for them tells them they are important enough in your world to a) pay attention to what they like, and b) think of them enough to take action on that knowledge, and c) you’re willing to invest time together around that drink to build your connection.

What about comfort? Without getting on the unhealthy side of food addiction, it’s a fact that food can offer comfort in given situations. These don’t have to be bad situations, in fact, they can be really positive. Can’t you smell that hearty soup as you walk inside from a cold wintery night? What about stained face and fingers as you pick sweet, juicy mulberries off the tree on a warm spring day? So many memories are connected to the taste, aroma and texture of food. For me, Wonton soup and bubble tea are two foods that have strong associations. Another is chickpea curry, and don’t forget ice cream. The reason these are so comforting for me are the relationships and related memories they represent.

Image Credit: Blackberry by Dieter_G, Pixabay

And let’s face it, food can be fun! Ever heard of the food fight? Or the chocolate game? (Roll the dice and when you get a six you quickly put on gloves, then try to cut off pieces of chocolate with a knife and fork before the next person rolls a six.) Or fluffy bunnies? (How many marshmallows can you fit in your mouth?) Or the baby feeding game? (Someone behind another person blindly tries to put food in their mouth with a baby spoon.) Or pass the donut/lifesaver? (With a toothpick held in their teeth. I always found that one a little unhygienic …)

In my opinion there’s much to be said for the power of food. Even our health can be strongly impacted by our food choices. Nations can be brought to their knees in the name of food. (A sobering thought in our western world of plenty.)

So next time you share a meal, don’t just eat, but take a moment to experience the taste, smell, texture of each mouthful. And if you can, take the opportunity to build a memory with others that will last a lifetime.

Cross Post – Over and Out

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Well, this weekend hasn’t exactly turned out the way I expected …

Yesterday I was SUPPOSED to be in Brisbane for the Omega Book Fair, but our State Government decided to suddenly extend their mask mandate for Brisbane, then last minute, slapped a State capital lockdown on top of that. Sigh. Change of plans …

Soooo, given that has thrown out the coming events for most people, even if they’re not near our State capital, I thought it would be appropriate to share some exciting news.

You may have already heard that Rhiza Edge Press recently released the “Crossed Spaces” Anthology, which included my short story “Over and Out”. What you may not know is recently I had a guest post on the Rhiza website. Today I though a cross post would be a great way to kick off a new week.

Teaser below. Click on the link to read the full blog.

Crossed Spaces: Over and Out — Adele Jones

Posted by Rhiza Edge on 13th Jul 2021

Girl Talk

When a sarcastic, non-conformist, ex-digital security engineer, with a chip on both shoulders is forcibly relocated from Australia to dystopian Houston, Texas, because of a system technicality, what could possibly go wrong? Well, that’s where we meet, Vivia, the main protagonist of my short story ‘Over and Out’, from the recently released Crossed Spaces Anthology.

This story plays out against a landscape of intense government scrutiny and citizen monitoring, where high tech ease and trust in the global government has become the anaesthetic of the new world order. Control of information, harsh public punishments and fear is a means of managing world populations, and hard borders based on global government whims has become Vivia’s norm. Although there are eerie commonalities between this invented world and the rapid changes we’ve witnessed in our society over the past 14 months, this idea started percolating before these changes became full-blown reality. As I was fleshing out the plot and our real-world situation continued to develop, I decided a global pandemic would be a fitting historical justification for the environment Vivia has grown up in—but as the story reveals, not everything is as it seems.

While creating Vivia’s character, it occurred to me that I seldom write a female protagonist. It’s not that I can’t write girl characters, for I do, I’ve just never had any of my female heroes published. Once Blaine (of the Blaine Colton Trilogy) was published, I kind of went with the flow. So when I finally got a chance to ‘write like a girl’ (ha ha), I decided to have a bit of fun. …

Want to hear more? Jump on over the the Wombat-Rhiza blog, and don’t forget to check out the guest posts by the other authors affiliated with this project.

Playing Around

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Did you know I compile playlists for my novels? At the bottom of each Blaine Colton Trilogy page you’ll find a playlist. Never noticed? Just go to each page and scroll on down to find them at the bottom. But so you can keep reading for now, I’ll also add the link to each playlist here:
Integrate
Replicate
Activate

The songs I select for these lists are aimed to reflect elements of the story, especially the hero’s journey of change as they face the forces coming against them.

Currently I’ve signed up for NaNoWriMo to keep me on track for completing the draft of a novella-length story. This story is based on one of your favourite characters from the Blaine Colton Trilogy and for fun (or maybe procrastination …) I decided to put together a short playlist for this story.

Link to this WIP playlist.

Now here’s the really fun part.

If you can guess which character this story is about, comment below with the name of that character and why you think it’s them for a chance to win a copy of one of my novels. (You can also add which novel you’d like to read in the comment too.) If I get more than one correct answer, I’ll do a random selection, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

So the deal is: you’ve got one week to comment with the name of the character and why you think it’s them, along with which of my novels you’d like to get your hands on. (BTW you can also gift the prize to a friend, if you’ve already got all my books.)

I’m editing this post to add a little hint here (well, kind of a HUUUGE hint). The character in question has their name on the blurb of one of my books. 😀

If you are the lucky recipient of this prize, you’ll receive either one paperback copy of the requested novel if you live in Australia, or if you’re internationally based, I’ll send a Kindle version to your reader. Don’t forget, if you already own the set, you can gift your prize to someone you think would love to get their hands on a copy for themselves.

Ready? Go!

Some Kind of Human

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PLEASE NOTE: This blog contains details that may distress some readers.

They say reality is stranger than fiction, and recent reports based on information acquired through ‘Freedom of Information Act’ suits revealed that is consistently true.

As you may know, my young adult novels are near science fiction. This means these stories are based around science that feels like it could happen, but in reality pushes out the boundaries of what is actually possible. That is, unless science catches up. Unfortunately, when you write stories exposing the underbelly of bioethics, that’s not always a good thing.

Replicate is the second novel in the ‘Blaine Colton Trilogy’ and it broaches the issue of embryonic cloning (hence the title). This sees Blaine accidentally uncover an international crime syndicate that appears to be selling off embryonic body parts—amongst other things. Fiction, right?

Actually, this idea was sparked by genuine reports of foetal-organ-trafficking. As I delved into it, there was clear evidence that this was occurring. Around the time of Replicate’s release, a report detailed the NIH had received funding to purchase human brains and organs from aborted babies to “spare mice pain and suffering”. This is despite the fact unborn babies feel pain and are not offered pain relief as they are dismembered during abortion procedures. The same article explained how there was an organ-processing service that would collect the bodies of aborted babies from clinics, dissect out their organs for individual packaging, then send those tissues to labs for research. Some even sent whole heads to “preserve fragile neural tissue”.

This practice of organ harvesting for profit was again reported in April 2017 with admissions of price haggling over “specimens” from unborn babies as old as 24 weeks in utero. Fast track some years …

In June 2020, The Federalist reported that witnesses made statements under oath revealing “women’s healthcare” providers had dissected organs out of babies born alive. (Apparently some babies ‘“just fall out” of some women in the operating room’. Like, what?!) More recently, information acquired under FOIA included a price list for—you guessed it—body parts of aborted babies.

Photo Credit: Stillborn, Nicci Coertze Kruger from Pixabay

Cuts a little close to the bone, true? But it gets even more bizarre …

April this year Judicial Watch released an article detailing FDA purchases in recent years of fresh “foetal organs” to create “humanised mice” for the testing of biological drugs. (Yep, you read that correctly.) Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR) based in California was contracted to supply human foetal tissue “with a gestational age of 16 to 24 weeks”. In March 2019 a lawsuit ordered HHS to release records about harvested tissue from aborted babies, with ‘… [t]he court [finding] “there is reason to question” whether the transactions violate federal law barring the sale of fetal organs.’

And yet … (Do we EVER learn???)

In April 2021 the Biden administration reversed President Trump’s policy that protected ‘… preborn Americans from the callous dehumanization of organ harvesting and further desecration of their bodies in research disguised as “science.”’ In June 2021 The Federalist report revealed boards overseeing human foetal tissue research, with the power to block research proposals for ethical reasons, were shut down. Also, the Centre for Medical Progress revealed shocking reports of NIAID at NIH funding studies that involved stitching the scalp of 5-month-old aborted babies onto rats for experimentation, along with killing infants delivered alive for harvesting of livers. And it gets even weirder, with other reports of guidelines for research surrounding the creation of human-animal (otherwise known as ‘chimeras’), and more.

Photo Credit: Animal, Tibor Janosi Mozes from Pixabay

Even in light of my latest work in progress, where aborted children are being misused for a hellish, high-tech ploy, these above examples make my science fiction seem tame. I will not destroy the plot twists for you in the event this story gets published, but these organ-trafficking reports deliver alarming parallels to a number of elements in this new story. This unthinkable commoditising of the most vulnerable humans in our world makes me wonder when we’re going to stop and allow the horror of what this truly means to seep in. Large numbers of these are children who would have had an excellent chance of survival outside the womb. And yet, they are reduced to just another ‘cut of meat’ for the butcher to serve to their clients.

As always, the truth is much stranger, and significantly more horrifying, than fiction.