Now that I've written a novel that's futuristic (while not really being set in a future), I'm finding lots of weird little parallels to stuff in the world to what I thought were some pretty bizarro invented scenarios. My novel The Amateurs comes out in 2017, and in the Quill & Quire and Publisher's Marketplace announcements last month it was described as a novel of nostalgia, loss, and the possibility of starting over in a world where time-travel portals are as ubiquitous as televisions. (Or refrigerators.) 

Exhibit A: The Smelly Fridges of Fort Mac
My editor at Knopf alerted me to this article about fridges that were abandoned during the disastrous fire at Fort McMurray. There are some parallels The Amateurs, where those remaining have to deal with all kinds of rotting sludge left behind. 

From the CBC: 

"Perishable food locked in an unrefrigerated box for a month sitting next to the heat of a giant wildfire breaks down quickly. Now, all that food is toxic goo...The movers tape the appliances shut before moving them to prevent an accidental opening. But it's still a messy and difficult job. Matt Walsh, one of the movers, says the tape may keep the doors shut, but the liquefied food can still escape." 


Exhibit B: Elon Musk Thinks We're Actually Some Other Guy's Simulation
And this bit of thought experimentation, from one of the most interesting tech guys, has fascinating parallels to my novel also. As Ezra Klein of Vox.com puts it, according to Musk, "Though we think we're flesh-and-blood participants in a physical world, we are almost certainly computer-generated simulations living inside of a more advanced civilization's video game." 

Well, it's a fascinating proposition, and might help
​to explain why I found playing The Sims so depressing. 

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