Since I am currently embarking on a journey to rework my original novels to fit with my science fiction world, I thought a word—or 499—about the origin of Last of Her Kind would be appropriate.
When my husband lay dying in the emergency room, I held his hand and made a promise to take care of our kids. At the moment, the promise was my focus. In the days to follow, the reality of carrying out that promise hit me hard.
Some months later, I took the kids to a movie, Noah. Mr. Crowe’s stellar acting reflected my inner struggle rather well—as Noah struggled to know the will of God. Life. Death. To act or not to act. Impossible situation? No problem. Keep moving. Live—even when you haven’t a clue what that means exactly.
A few days later, an old friend called to offer her condolences and reminded me of a book, Last of Her Kind, which I had written years before. I never bothered to publish it and had put it out of my mind. But she insisted that it had stayed with her through the years and recommended that I rewrite it.
After a Masters degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment, I wrote not only the novel (And rewrote it three times) I also wrote the screenplay (Very different skill set, by the way.)
After LOHK I moved the storyline forward into Newearth: Justine Awakens, still serious but lighter, a bit more humor, and a whole lot more fun. I’m working on Newearth: A Hero’s Crime and rewriting my original novels to reflect the wider universe, because, of course, my universe has grown by leaps and bounds these past four years. For example—fun fact—duck tape has definite limitations.
And the sunrise paradox?
Picture a sunrise or a sunset—whichever you prefer.
Its beauty can bring the human soul to its knees.
Now go higher…
The Earth is round. In fact, the sun is setting and the sun is rising every moment of every day.
The sun has risen.
The sun has set.
The sun is rising.
The sun is setting.
Now, go higher…
The sun is fixed in space. It has never risen. It has never set.
The sun has risen.
The sun has set.
The sun is rising.
The sun is setting.
The sun has never risen or set.
So much depends on where we are. What we perceive.
Last of Her Kind, the Newearth novels and the OldEarth novels reflect (well I try) a universe of paradoxes. As Russell Crowe portrayed the struggle to understand what is perhaps a mystery beyond our comprehension—the question isn’t how will we find the answer? The answer is—live anyway.
