Greener Grass

Author's Note

Thank you for checking out Greener Grass. After writing this story, I realized  I had only scratched the surface of a much larger story. The idea of taking someone from our time and propelling them to a world free of death, disease, hunger, religion, nationalities and want intrigued me. Esentially what I was shooting for was the world as described in John Lennon's song, "Imagine." For Greener Grass I wanted a "Twilight Zone" type ending, and so Dan Sturges was created as a caricature and designed to be unlikeable. Afterall, I didn't want to forever imprison a character I loved. I also wanted to show that this "utopian" world free from most of humanities ills still exhibits intolerance and believe the means justifying the ends and while they seem enlightened, they resort to draconian measures that would be more in line with people from 2,000 years in our past.

A character like Dan was fine for the short story, but for a full-length novel I needed someone who despite their flaws and regrets (or maybe because of them) could be someone we all could identify with and root for. I also wanted to do something different with the world of the future.  Yes it would share some of the traits from Greener Grass (lack of disease, religion, nationalities, and want), but I also wanted to show that after eliminating all the things we rail against, how do we find meaning. I wanted to create a future that would be viewed by some as a utopia, but for others anything but. With these things in mind, I created a full-length novel, Hollow World.

In this novel, I once more propel someone into the future, but there is much more going on then can be covered in a short story of 7,000 words. I wanted to write a story in the vein of "classic sci-fi" such as the books by Asimov, Wells, and Heinlein, which I loved as a teen. Hollow World is social science fiction and is designed to be thought-provoking. My goal wasn't to present my opinions on what is heaven or hell, but rather present a picture for each person to interpret based on their own believes and the things they value. I wanted to expore issues of individuality, what true love is, and the price of paradise. Plus I wanted to spice things up with a murder mystery and conspiracy plot.

If any of the above sounds interesting to you, then please checkout the extended preview of Hollow World here on wattpad (http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/16980145-hollow-world-extended-preview) , and if you like that and want to read the rest of the novel, you can find it at fine bookstores everywhere.         

In addition to Hollow World, I have three fantasy series based on a pair of thieves known as Riyria. If you would like to check these out I have three free short stories here on wattpad and of course the full-length novels.  They are:

•  The Thieves - a short story which can be found here on wattpad, where a band of thieves chooses poorly when they attempt to rob Riyria. (http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/16976000-the-thieves) 

•  The Viscount  - another short story which can be found  on wattpad. When Royce attempts to teach his idealistic partner a lesson, will he be the one schooled? (http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/1677625-the-viscount)

•  The Jester - a short story on wattpad which shows Royce and Hadrian that the choices they make determines the future they find. (http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/16977840-the-jester)

Then there are my full-length Riyria novels:

THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS

• Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations #1 & #2)
• Rise of Empire (Riyria Revelations #3 & #4)
• Heir of Novron (Riyria Revelations #5 & #6)

THE RIYRIA CHRONICLES

• The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1)
• The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2)

I do hope you check some of these others out.