{"id":8288,"date":"2018-10-20T16:18:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-20T16:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=8288"},"modified":"2020-02-23T16:34:06","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T16:34:06","slug":"backstory-the-story-behind-a-truth-stranger-than-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/backstory-the-story-behind-a-truth-stranger-than-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Backstory: The Story Behind A Truth Stranger Than Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING: This entry con\u00adtains spoil\u00aders about the nov\u00adel A Truth Stranger Than Fic\u00adtion. Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading at your own risk!<\/em><\/p>\n

Most of my mys\u00adtery nov\u00adels, and my fic\u00adtion in gen\u00ader\u00adal, start from a ker\u00adnel of an idea, a fac\u00adtoid, an image.<\/p>\n

I see or hear some\u00adthing that piques my inter\u00adest, but what\u00adev\u00ader it is I sense it\u2019s just the tip of the ice\u00adberg; there\u2019s a sto\u00adry there. At this point I file it away (usu\u00adal\u00adly writ\u00ading it down, of course), for\u00adget about it and move on with what\u00adev\u00ader I\u2019m cur\u00adrent\u00adly writ\u00ading.<\/p>\n

Some\u00adtime dur\u00ading the win\u00adter of 2006-07, I saw a doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary about the moon that dis\u00adcussed the exis\u00adtence of the iso\u00adtope Helium\u20113 embed\u00added in the moon\u2019s soil, or regolith, and how then-Pres\u00adi\u00addent Bush (\u201cDubya\u201d) had vowed years ear\u00adli\u00ader to send us back to the moon, osten\u00adsi\u00adbly to col\u00ado\u00adnize it and begin min\u00ading the Helium\u20113 for nuclear fusion ener\u00adgy pro\u00adduc\u00adtion back on Earth.<\/p>\n

(NOTE: Because this piece is about the sto\u00adry behind the nov\u00adel, I won\u2019t be going into the sci\u00adence of Helium\u20113 fusion. If that\u2019s some\u00adthing that inter\u00adests you, you can view a page of the Helium\u20113 resources I con\u00adsult\u00aded<\/a>, or you can lis\u00adten to sev\u00ader\u00adal inter\u00adviews<\/a> I gave about the book, or you can read a pre\u00advi\u00adous blog entry<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

As I said at the open\u00ading of this piece,  most of my fic\u00adtion begins with an idea, a fac\u00adtoid, an image. Nov\u00adel\u00adist Vladimir Nabokov sug\u00adgest\u00aded that nov\u00adel\u00adists were like birds build\u00ading nests\u2014gathering twigs and string and bits of fluff\u2014and that it was unclear whether the bird visu\u00adal\u00adized ahead of time the nest it was going to build.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t think birds build\u00ading nests is the right anal\u00ado\u00adgy for nov\u00adel\u00adists; birds gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly gath\u00ader their mate\u00adri\u00adals and begin nest-build\u00ading imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly; nov\u00adel\u00adists tend to gath\u00ader their mate\u00adri\u00adals over years, and speak\u00ading for myself, I think of myself as more akin to the junk col\u00adlec\u00adtor-cum-inven\u00adtor in the orig\u00adi\u00adnal Mad Max films\u2014I col\u00adlect inter\u00adest\u00ading things, things that I sense will be use\u00adful down the road, things that can be com\u00adbined with oth\u00ader inter\u00adest\u00ading things to cre\u00adate some\u00adthing new and spe\u00adcial.<\/p>\n

Sub\u00adcon\u00adscious\u00adly I sup\u00adpose (because a \u201cplot\u201d for A Truth Stranger Than Fic\u00adtion<\/em> was not in my con\u00adscious\u00adness), after see\u00ading the moon doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary in the win\u00adter of 2006-07, I began my col\u00adlect\u00ading, but I didn\u2019t write a first draft of the nov\u00adel until 2013. By then, how\u00adev\u00ader, I was brim\u00adming over with inter\u00adest\u00ading ideas, fac\u00adtoids and images that I\u2019d col\u00adlect\u00aded. Here, in no par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar order, are a few that I\u2019d filed away over those six years:<\/p>\n