Writing my latest book, and fleshing out the scenes I’ve outlined, has really got me thinking about reality versus perception. I’ve often heard that perception drives reality, and my latest book has a little of that mixed in with the story. The futuristic world I’ve created for it has augmented reality that everyone is tied into. That means that literally, every person is tied into the same pleasant view in an overpopulated world. They only see what they choose to see.
That got me thinking a bit about my main character and what he sees. I know what is going on in the background of this story, for the most part. I’ve outlined it and written several chapters. But the main character only knows what he sees. That is his reality. Whether he trusts someone too much or too little is based on his previous experience. That’s like me in my life. Sometimes, I find it is easier to look at other people as if they were treating me the same as people I knew when I was younger. I find myself building up stories in my mind about people I come in contact with that may not be accurate.
For me, right now, it all comes back to the way my main character and other characters in the story handle their perception of others. Part of the growth that can happen in a story is on the outside, by what the character does, but the larger piece, it seems, comes from inside the character. When he defeats the enemy, it is an outward expression of the defeat of an internal, larger enemy. Sometimes, that is a change in their perception. Rather than see the others in the story the way they always have, they take a step outside the comfort zone of what they have always perceived, good or bad.
I think writing stories, for me, is a great way to examine my attitudes about life and change some for the better. At the end of the day, we all perceive reality differently. Books are a great way to see things differently.
Check out some of my books.
Malignance, my third book in my time travel series that began with Resonance and Dissonance, is on Amazon as a kindle and a paperback. That was a fun series to write, and for now, it is completed. I have also placed all three books from that series into one volume titled The Machina of Time.
My fantasy, A Map, a Mage, and a Sacrifice, was a fun book to write. It is set in a world with limited technology, but where sacrifice is a necessary element to magical power. The greater the pain and suffering, the greater the magical power generated. The few mages in power use voluntary sacrifice of the citizens to generate power they use to protect and defend the empire. But their rule may be coming to a close.
If you’re looking for a science fiction story, try my book The Promise of Dust, which takes place in a cloud city floating in the atmosphere of Venus. Or Progenitor’s Legacy: Deceit, which takes place many years in the future on a tidally locked world that orbits a red dwarf and has been reached by humanity in their search for the alien progenitors who seeded the galaxy with nano machines.
If a young adult science fiction is more to your liking, check out my series This New Earth, that starts with Demons of a Dead World and Secrets of a Dead World.
If you are looking for a young adult fantasy, check out my book The Threads Unbound.
DANIEL R. BURKHARD 