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a novel in the making

March 17, 2023

I have been writing a novel in my head for years now. I once read something along the lines of “if you can’t find the perfect book to read, then write it yourself” … and now that I looked this up I found the author of this quote to be the late Toni Morrison… I had no idea who this was. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported in 1981 that, in her speech to the Ohio Arts Council, Morrison uttered what is now one of her most famous quotes:

“If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

For some time now, maybe 7 years to be precise, I have started to gather pieces of writing I have done over the years. These include old poetry, existential questions, observations of my surroundings. Some are dreams, and half of those are fever dreams… night terror producing fever dreams.

When I wake up from a vivid dream I tend to write it down in as much detail and coherence as possible. Furiously typing these into my phone, full of typos thanks to my half open sleepy eyes and fat fingers. Dreams are not the only things I noted in the early hours of the morning. When I was younger, I partied a ton. Needless to say, I consumed a lot of substances which lead to rants in my head during sleepless nights. I also wrote those down and made some sense of the word vomit into my phone.

For years, I kept a notes app full of these random blurbs. I figured they could potentially make for fun parts of my novel. Below are the titles of some of these blurbs, dating back up to 12 years ago. Not to give away what future blog posts may be ;)

• 1950s

• Miscommunication

• Sentence structure

• Timelessness

• Robot Rock 11.21.09

• Words: Dated may 12 2010

• Life from the backseat

• Socialization Practices

• Walking crying dead clues

April 27th 2010 236 am revisited

• 8.25.10 Live form the center of the earth 7 light years below sea level we go

• Way points (fast travel) and anecdote

• Zombie car pile camp out dream

• Pranks, Banana bread and Emitters

• Party at a 5th floor apartment with an open back porch / staircase to the alley:

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The novel itself began somewhere back in 2015 or 2016 while I was listening to a song by Mathew Herbert called take me back.

I was riding around UIC where I was working on my masters degree in Urban Planning. I remember clearly passing a bridge on my bike, while experiencing a sort of vision, a flash of a future where people would share music by just passing by one another. Difficult to explain, I perched myself on the curb, and started taking notes so as to not forget what I was thinking, experiencing, feeling, and wanting to do. So, I put the song on repeat (as you should right now) and wrote this:

Inspired by the song “Take Me Back” by Mathew Herbert in the album 100lbs.

In an island somewhere on planet earth’s defunct waters where people learned to “share” at a very young age. Socialization no longer was what postmodern mothers had been instructing their children. This was a time in the third wave of the information revolution. Social circles had become shared-space and mind-melds. The 3W’s had ingrained dreams of a neo-capitalist normalcy once more. Children grew up sharing their life book with everyone from the moment their plinthome instructed their oratory skills.

Introduction?

This is a story of [a person yet to be named] who invents a device that allows sharing music with everyone more effortlessly. The device would take over nearby people’s sound devices and play whatever it was the wearer of the sharing device was listening to as they passed by another person.

The main problem in the story involves [the PYTBN] sharing their device with the wrong people. These people take PYTBN’s invention / device and use it for evil-doing. They attempt to re-instill an old economic system called capitalism that hadn’t been practiced for over two hundred years. They do so by using PYTBN’s device to influence a new way of thinking. The evil people mass produce this device and use civil spies to “share” information and brainwash people through diction, and music from over two hundred years ago.

The people of [the island that would one day become Eutobaria] rise up against this secret machine trying to dismantle their sharing society. They discover the secret invention PYTBN created, its power and magic, and help PYTBN track down the evil spies – with a process similar to a voight- Kampff test.

March 5th 2026 EDIT:

S.H.A.R.E. Synopsis:

This is the story of Harmony Wilde who invents a gadget that allows sharing music with anyone effortlessly. Music, in planet SSK-2084, is contraband, as anything creative or imaginative is now forbidden by law unless it “directly benefits the well being of all citizens”. The gadget was designed to take over nearby people’s sound devices and play whatever Harmony was listening to as they passed by another person. In hopes to find others who’d be willing to give into the music. The gadget would infiltrate their nervous system in ways no other mind meld device had ever done. The immediate connection one would feel when the gadget worked, gave each person a sense of familiarity one could only read about in the care olympics era of planet earth (where care and consent rhetoric, chosen family, safe spaces, and cancel culture were rampant practices). However, this gadget would only work when certain circumstances were met.

Harmony, as any classic superhero, will need to learn how to control this newfound power. Overwhelmed by the experience of sharing their music with multiple people for the first time, it is with the help of a few willing and patient beings that Harmony learns the ropes of this gadget. However, there are powerful forces at bay, a machine stealing joy from Harmony’s hometown as they are propelled into a new dimension of wonder and discovery.

How will Harmony and their friends beat the machine?

Share Hardships: Accord Resonant Experiences

This highlights the idea that when people share hardships, they develop a mutual understanding and empathy that allows them to connect on a deeper level. The experiences they share resonate with one another, creating a strong foundation for mutual support, solidarity, and lasting connections.

In Eutobaria— the city this story takes place in — this is a mechanism of manipulation, raising children with fear; MOTH implements S.H.A.R.E. as a socializing and educational system, through torture-like life experiences.

On an island somewhere on a planet’s defunct waters where people learned to “share” at a very young age. The notion of socializing infants is no longer instructed as postmodern parents did. This was a time in the third wave of the information revolution. Social circles had to hide in neglected spaces and only find themselves in mind melds. The 3W’s of an old planet had deeply ingrained dreams of a Network State, this however, did not work on the bubble colony, planet SSK-2084.

And that is what started it all. There’s a lot to be modified, edited and rewritten but this one scene that popped into my head was the catalyst for a novel accompanied by a playlist. As my life is nothing without my personal Original Sound Track, I wanted this novel to reflect this very real aspect of my everyday. I refuse to do anything without music playing in the background, mind you it happens a lot, but I try to blast some music whenever possible. Reminds me of when I was a child doing house chores with my mom. Never did a day go by where we didn’t play music while doing shit around the house. I went on to experience life with music and expected everyone else to do the same, and I come to realize this is not the case. So I appreciate those of you who do appreciate creating their very own OST =)