A reader of my novel, The Calendar, asked me why there were so many characters in the book.
There are so many books written about the end of the world caused by war, climate change, alien invasion, and collisions with asteroids or comets. Yes The Calendar features a massive rock codenamed Goliath on a possible course to intercept Earth. Long-range monitors detect it plunging through space on a path toward Earth. Will it miss Earth, deliver a glancing blow, or destroy Mankind? And how will people react to the news of Goliath? Or will they be told? Goliath, then, is the overarching narrative that encompasses the actual stories of people’s reactions.
But what are those stories, and who are the characters within them?
The scientists who first detected Goliath differed on whether to inform the public. One continually argued that the asteroid would miss Earth. The President’s National Science Advisor struggled to rebuild a shattered relationship with his own son. A hard-charging lawyer gave up climbing the firm’s success ladder to find her lost love before it was too late. A scientist with a teenage daughter was shocked when a foreign government released his missing wife after many years. The parents of a gay daughter kicked her out of their home. She wandered until her brother found her and took her home. The President of the United States recalled all ambassadors, closed foreign embassies, and military stationed abroad, as his daughter was about to be married. An armored car robber who had fled the country wanted to return home to see his mother one last time. A billionaire turned his new ultra-luxurious hotel into a homeless shelter to provide them with final dignity. One woman took her violin to hospitals and nursing homes to play for the elderly and those who were alone.
There are many more individual stories in the book worthy of reading and asking oneself, “What if everything and everyone you cherish vanished in a heartbeat? What if you could not save those you love? What if all your dreams and hopes of a brighter tomorrow were never realized? What would you do?”
Read The Calendar and learn what others might do.
Long-range monitors detect a massive rock plunging through space on a path toward Earth. Will it miss our planet, deliver a glancing blow, or destroy Mankind? And how will people react to an uncertain future? Or will they be told?
What if everything and everyone you cherish vanished in a heartbeat? What if you knew the very day your world would cease to exist? What if you could not save those you love? What if all your dreams and hopes of a brighter tomorrow would never be realized?
How would you react if there was nothing you could do to delay it or prevent it? What would you do?
Prepare yourself for the upcoming end of all that is right and wrong. Prepare yourself for the fear and uncertainty of the unknown. Prepare to feel the tension grow and grow.
Prepare to read The Calendar.