Every novel has a hero. And, for me, every hero has a theme song. Whether he or she knows it or not.
Prospect is the hero of The Prospect of My Arrival. I think he would fancy the theme song I have chosen for him. |
The song I chose for Prospect reflects his innocence and curiosity. It's not so much the literal meaning of the lyrics, though certain phrases in the lyrics resonate: "I'm fragile." "You're keeping me down...with your gravity." "I thought that I was strong." "You're on to me." It's more the musical arrangement of the song, and the phrasing of the singer that resonate. I came across this song and artist via Pandora. It's called "Gravity" and the artist is Sara Bareilles from Canada.
The novel is about a human embryo who is allowed to preview the world before deciding whether to be born or not. He is given the chance to meet a range of people representing the best and worst of our species. And to engage in all the basic human interactions we take so much for granted: making friends, tasting things, being surprised or confused, loving, hating, facing fears, having fun, behaving badly. All of this hopefully will prepare him for the big press conference where he is to announce his birth decision. I was inspired to write this book out of my interest in the evolutionary process, and my worry that humans are devolving rather than evolving. At least it seems that way to me based on the wars, politics, intolerance and bad taste in our culture. I am part of the brave new world of self-publishing authors. Thus I am embarking on my adventure to market my book and to make sure it finds its ways into the hands of every single reader who might embrace it. I hope you are one of them. |