Author Archives: J. Allan Wolf

Unknown's avatar

About J. Allan Wolf

J. Allan Wolf is a writer, a physician (OK, retired), a nerdy ham radio operator, and a bad guitarist. (The groupie thing just hasn't worked out very well.) Read his two books, Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe (very science fiction-y) and Zendoscopy (very, very funny but also serious in places and explicit -- don't read it if you're a prude). If you buy my books (print or e-book format at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and elsewhere) I won't have to go without lunches or clean underwear. So, thanks in advance.

Marketing for the Self-Published Author

Leave a reply

The point of this piece is not that self-publishing is a vain and fruitless endeavor. Well, okay, maybe a little (?) vain, but not necessarily fruitless. It’s just that I’ve learned over time how difficult it can be to remain optimistic about sales of one’s opus magnum.

To wit: my two books. Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe was originally published in 2004. A collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, it seemed to me at the time to have pretty good prospects for respectable if not spectacular sales. In fact, I was greatly encouraged when my son-in-law got on a cross country flight and noted that the person seated next to him was reading the book. In spite of this bit of anecdotal evidence and a couple of nice reviews, sales have languished. We’ll get to why in a moment.

My second book, Zendoscopy, was published earlier this year. Sales have been better than with Spacebraid, but still not enough to be considered much of a showing. More puzzling is that feedback on the book has been excellent, including a very nice Kirkus review and the book being a monthly selection for at least one book club.

So, what gives?

The answer, in a word, is probably “marketing”. If I’ve learned anything since Spacebraid was published, it’s that writing and publishing the book account for only half of the job. The other, and by far more expensive, half is marketing. And those of us who self publish find marketing the real stumbling block to significant sales.

There exists a wide variety of marketing possibilities open to the self-published writer: book giveaways (e.g., on Goodreads), book signings, consignment placement in bookstores, book festivals, paid ads, blogs such as this one, YouTube videos, and more. Nearly all either are expensive or, even if not, simply don’t seem to reach a large enough audience unless one is willing to invest a not so small fortune to get the word out.

Let’s look at a couple of the options: book signings and consignment placement. My first attempt to get a book signing was with an independent bookstore in a shopping center minutes from my home. This particular store was in financial trouble and word had it that they might have to close. I spoke with the store’s manager and offered to do a signing in which I’d bring in a supply of books and sell them in turnkey manner for them, donating 40% of what I took in to the store. Despite my offer, which would have cost the store nothing, the manager insisted on 60%. I walked.

My second experience with a signing was much more successful and satisfying. Another local store was holding a signing event open to a limited number of local authors. I applied early enough to make the list. To prepare for the event, I had a couple of self-supporting posters made from jpeg files of my book covers and spread the word via this blog, Facebook, and by direct contact with friends and acquaintances. At the signing, I sold several books and came away reasonably happy.

At about the same time as the second signing, a friend who belongs to a book club read Zendoscopy and liked it enough to make it a monthly selection for her book club. She invited me to appear at the club for a “meet the author” event which went well, and I sold several copies of the book as well as a couple of copies of Spacebraid.

Since then, sales of both books have hit the skids. Neither the publisher of Spacebraid, nor that of Zendoscopy, has done any promotion of the book, although for some hefty fees, they would assist me but not do any marketing on their own. Based upon my early experiences with the publisher of Spacebraid, my impression is that any efforts by publishing houses for self-published authors are of marginal, if any, benefit, and much of what they will do for a price can be done by the author, alone.

These experiences have given me some perspective on how to go about self-publishing one’s writing. If/when my third book is ready to market, I will likely forego the use of a publisher and go directly to e-book format, where self-published works seem to have the best chance for significant sales. It will also make it much easier for me to manage pricing, as I won’t have to go through the publisher every time I want to do a giveaway or price promotion.

The other thing I’ve concluded is that shorter pieces submitted for publication may be beneficial in getting one’s name “out there”. This past summer, I had an essay published in the literary publication of Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. The piece elicited a remarkable number of responses from people who will shortly receive a distribution e-mail from me mentioning my two books. This may or may not produce sales but, as they say, nothing ventured…

For many of us who self-publish, we are not doing it with the expectation of making a living at it but because we simply love writing. This means that we’re under less pressure than otherwise might be the case. In my particular situation, I can afford to promote my books in careful steps, evaluating the costs and benefits as I go rather than marketing in shotgun and very expensive fashion. In the meantime, I can work on shorter pieces for magazine submission or later inclusion in a short story collection. Will there be a sequel to Zendoscopy? Time will tell…

Book Review: Our Mathematical Universe, by Max Tegmark

Leave a reply

Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2014

At the outset, let me say that I’m not a physicist, although I did major in physics briefly in college. Nevertheless, I’ve had a lifelong interest in physics and, when I learned about theoretical physicist Max Tegmark’s book, Our Mathematical Universe, I figured I ought to read it. Also, it had become a reading project for my wife’s book club, so to keep up with her, I thought I’d better have a look. What I found in Tegmark’s rather long opus was a mix of conventional and speculative physics that left me scratching my head and wondering how such an obviously brilliant thinker could wander so far afield of what, at least to me, appeared reasonable.

Tegmark’s thesis is that we live within a nested set of individually complex universes, each of which he calls a “multiverse” because each contains an infinite number of like, “parallel” universes. He identifies four basic types of universes, stratified as Level 1 through level 4. In his classification, we live in the most basic of the levels, the level 1 multiverse, which more or less consists of the universe that we observe. His level 2 multiverse is one which we cannot perceive because it exists at a distance so great from us that light from it has not yet reached us and, because of his theory of how space is created, may never reach us. Things get weirder at level 3, the quantum level multiverse, and weirdest of all at level 4, where Tegmark’s assertion is that things become purely mathematical, although he pretty much seems to believe that everything is mathematical in the sense that his multiverses all consist at their essence of mathematical relationships.

He takes just under 400 pages to make all of his arguments, as well as to offer his views on life, the future of mankind, and, well, just about everything else you can imagine. Thus, you will understand that in this brief review, I won’t be able to recite and critique all of his arguments and, frankly, some of them I don’t understand, anyway. Let me say, however, that I’m pretty much OK with his level 1 and 2 multiverses, and even with his level 3 multiverse at the quantum level. Where he loses me, and credibility in general, however, is in his attempt to scale quantum behavior from the subatomic/atomic level to the macro scale of our daily existence. I have no problems understanding, or at least following the argument that, say, one cannot know both the position and momentum vector of an electron around an atomic nucleus and, therefore, it must be described in probabilistic terms with the practical result that we view it as a probability sphere around the nucleus. From this, the Heisenberg uncertainty description of observational imprecision, and the work of Schrodinger (his famous equation), Tegmark then extrapolates to the preposterous notion that for every move we make there is an opposite move that occurs in (or creates?) an alternative, parallel universe within our level 1 multiverse but which we cannot and never will perceive. The justification for this extrapolation is never convincingly made, an unfortunate fact given the non-intuitive nature of the assertion.

Tegmark goes on further to look at issues of space-time, and suggests that there is no unidirectional linear streaming of time but only a whole entity of space-time in which everything that has existed or will exist is present. In this view, what we perceive as the flow of time is simply our existence at sequential sections through this four dimensional continuum.

The fact that Tegmark believes his math strongly supports these views does not make them valid. As a theoretical physicist, his ideas do not come from physical experimentation, the actual testing of hypotheses, most of which cannot currently be tested, in any case. Flights of fancy aren’t necessarily gong to be validated, and Tegmark’s extrapolations at the third level and his theoretical fourth level are at least controversial, of not completely wacko.

Finally, Tegmark uses the last part of his book to dive headfirst into a lengthy discussion of perception, current nuclear age morality, and future of the universe. He spends an awful lot of time on the obvious, namely, that what we perceive as reality is merely our brain’s creation in response to the input of our senses and powers of interpretation. Duh. Perception is relative and potentially imprecise. I believe we learned this in high school, and my own retinal disease more than confirms my own distorted, highly subjective sense of reality.

There’s more in the book than I’ve described. For example, his discussion of the probability of other intelligent life in our level 1 niche is interesting but, in the end, his main thesis, that we live in universe of universes that we cannot perceive, and that these universes are at their essence mathematical entities, leaves me a bit bewildered. It’s fairly easy to throw out ideas about things no one can test (not the definition of the scientific method!), and his insistence that the mathematical relationships do not define reality but actually constitute it, require a stretch of imagination – or a degree of brilliance – well beyond me. The book is fascinating, but I’d take a lot of what Tegmark proposes with more than a grain of salt. At least, so says this non-physicist.

Recommendation: Read it if you’re a physics junkie and up for a fascinating slog.

A Dilemma

Leave a reply

For those who’ve wondered why my postings have been spotty over the past few weeks, I can now say that it’s because my wife and I were traveling in Japan and China. Although I’ve never suffered from jet lag with prior trips, including several to Europe and one to New Zealand, the return trip from Hong Kong last Friday really left me feeling dysphoric and exhausted.

I had planned to do some writing during the trip, but our itinerary was heavily scheduled, and I had no energy to do anything but climb into bed at night. Ergo, no writing of any consequence. I did manage to get two brief blog entries written, but due to unreliable internet connections in China, one wasn’t posted until just after getting home.

As we are now well into the fall season with summer travel over (we were on the road for most of July, too), I am gearing up for a renewed marketing push for Zendoscopy. In addition, I’m kicking around several ideas for my next book and, in the process, confronting a bit of a dilemma.

The problem isn’t writer’s block. Rather, it’s indecision. My first book, Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe, was a collection of science fiction, horror, and fantasy stories. Zendoscopy is written as a series of connected stories rooted in the realities of growing up in the 1950’s, ’60’s, and ’70’s. The dilemma, then, is that of which path to follow for book 3. I very much enjoy writing in both genres, but to maximize my chances of name recognition and sales success, I need to pursue one or the other type of writing. There are very few Stephen Kings in the world, writers who are able to cross genres with great success. Making my decision more difficult is the simple fact that, although sales of my books have been modest, the feedback and reviews for each have been good.

As I wallow in indecision, I’ve written the opening of a sequel to Zendoscopy as well as a few short sci-fi/horror/fantasy pieces. I don’t know how this will ultimately resolve, but readers of this blog will be the first to find out — right after I do.

This week’s annoyance: None! I’m just glad to be home.

On Writing “Just for Fun”

Leave a reply

On Writing “Just for Fun”

I was talking just the other day with a fellow who, upon hearing that I write, happily told me that he writes, too. “Great,” I said. “Where are you selling? Amazon.com? Amazon Kindle? Nook?”

“Oh, no. I do it just for fun.”

So, I asked him what he had written, and/or was writing. His answer? Six documentary books and working on his first novel. Yikes!!! Six books, all unpublished? Who does he think he is? J.D Salinger?

Maybe it’s just my own bias, but I can’t imagine writing six books of any kind and not publishing. Ever. Anything. Long before I published Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe, I had tested the waters with articles for magazines, letters to the editors of newspapers, and lots of articles for organization newsletters. OK, I certainly received my share of rejection notices, some from the finest of publications, but I kept writing and submitting, eventually building up a nice portfolio of published work and, in the process, polishing my writing style. Was I, then, a great writer when I published Spacebraid…? Sadly, no, but I’m still proud of it and of the mostly positive reviews and feedback I received when it first appeared. And when I published Zendoscopy? A realy good review from Kirkus and lots of positive feedback, as well as better early sales.

There is, to be sure, both effort and expense associated with self-publication, but there is also great satisfaction that comes with seeing one’s hard work born into real life on the page, whether as hard copy or electronic text.

Six unpublished books? Jeez, guy! Get your work proofread and edited and get it into print. What are you waiting for?

Speech That Drives Me Crazy

Leave a reply

   The smiling young waiter was taking our order. “I’ll have the veggie burger with cheddar and mushrooms.”
  “Awesome!”
   What I want to say at this point is, “No, that’s not awesome. Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon is awesome. The Grand Canyon is awesome. And in a different way, the threat of nuclear war is awesome. A veggie burger, even with cheddar and mushrooms, is most definitely not awesome.” Instead, I grit my teeth and say nothing.
   We seem to be in an era when hyperbole has become king and when the original meanings of words are getting lost.
Then, other words are losing meaning entirely. A good example of this is “basically”, which seems to be used ever more frequently and with ever decreasing relevance to the subject at hand. It’s “basically this,” and “basically that,” and “basically I,” and on and on.
   Then, there’s just plain misuse. People say “literally” when they mean “figuratively”. “Mitigate” when they mean “militate”. (Yes, I’ve harped on the mitigate/militate confusion in a past posting.)
   There is a difference between dynamic evolution of language and simple unthinking and ignorant usage, and there’s little excuse for the stuff we’re increasingly hearing. Call me a curmudgeon, but I still find beauty in a well executed phrase and correct English usage. Moreover, I doubt sincerely that I’ll ever think of a veggie burger as awesome.

A Few Words About Education

Leave a reply

   I’m a leading edge baby boomer, old enough to be able to reflect upon a few things. Right now, I’m reflecting on the state of American education. Spoiler alert: it’s depressing.

   Our parents’ generation invented the modern computer and sent us to the moon. My generation created the personal computer and invented the internet, as well as a whole lot of technology that goes with it. Somehow, the two generations achieved great technical advances, despite coming up through an educational system that stressed the 3 R’s and eschewed gimmicks.

   Now, it’s 2014 and, as a conservative estimate, about a third of entering college freshmen need remedial work in math and reading, which means that our public schools are turning out thousands of young adults who lack specific subject and critical thinking skills. Ever watch Jay Leno’s Jaywalking bits with their pathetically ignorant young people who know nothing of history, geography, and current events? Yes, those were real, not scripted, interactions.

   What’s truly amazing about all this is that very little useful is being done to solve the myriad problems we’re facing in public education. To wit:

  • The bungled attempt to provide 600,000 software-rich iPads, one for every student, teacher and administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School district: It now appears that the contracting process was tainted, only a fraction of the units were acquired, and in those the software was defective or inadequate. Further, no one really had any clear idea of what to do with the devices, which students quickly learned to re-program in order to surf the internet and access social media.
  • Art and music programs have been phased out everywhere: This has led to the loss of important elements of what should be the cultural education of our youth. The reason: the American public doesn’t value cultural awareness and the arts as an integral part of individual development.
  • Physical education programs have largely vanished: Students are becoming couch potatoes, the only well developed muscles being those used for texting, in bad English of course.
  • Courses emphasizing the development of non-academic but important life and vocational skills have been phased out: Where are the shop classes that used to be available in junior high and high school? Print shop, metal shop, handicrafts, electric shop, auto mechanics? These were classes that prepared some for further vocational training and allowed the rest of us to acquire skills and understanding of the stuff that daily surrounds us.
  • Overemphasis on “teaching to the test” and a lack of emphasis on writing: Along with the decline in reading skills has come a decline in writing skills. Multiple choice tests are not tests of critical thinking. Essay based examinations requiring analysis of what has been read are. This is one area in which improvement may be coming with the Common Core requirements, but only time will tell.
  • Recent decisions in some schools not to teach handwriting: Really???

   Okay, I’m going to generalize here, and I know well that this doesn’t apply literally across the board to all young people, but the result of the failure of our educational system is that many in the current cohort of graduating high school seniors have become users with little knowledge or understanding of the underpinnings of society and technology. These people will be the leaders of tomorrow, and their ignorance of history, culture, geography, politics, and culture is frightening.

   So, what’s the answer? I’m convinced that it doesn’t lie in the present direction being followed by our schools. I’m no Luddite, but I truly believe that there’s no guarantee that giving every student an iPad, even with functional software, is going to produce an educated generation. Why not take the billions being earmarked for all this technology and faddish teaching methods and invest in adequate textbooks, reopen closed school libraries, restore art and music programs, restore physical education programs, and reopen vocationally-oriented shop courses? If all those things along with solid emphasis on readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic got us to the moon, it sure ought to help us to restore the world competitiveness we once had but have lost as other countries, especially China, have captured from us in recent years.

So, You Want to Write?

1 Reply

   Recently, I had a discussion with an acquaintance who was curious about my writing methods. Among other questions he asked were these:

  • How long did it take for me to write my two published books?
  • Did I have a thorough outline of my books or the separate stories in them before I started writing?
  • Did I write every day?

   These are common ,if naïve, questions of the sort writers get all the time. In my case, the answers were, respectively: years, no, and no.

   During the course of our chat, he volunteered that he’d really like to write a book but probably never would because he isn’t a very skillful writer and because he has a lot of imaginative ideas that mostly come to him in dreams which he cannot clearly remember shortly after he wakes up. (I recommend keeping a pad and pencil at the bedside.)

   I’m a self-published author with low volume sales, so I suppose I could be criticized for daring to give personal advice to an aspiring writer, but the fact has never stopped me in the past, and so I did provide some counsel. First, I told him that the length of time it takes to write a book is variable. In my own case, it was several years for each of the two books (Zendoscopy and Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe) partly because I was working as a physician and only writing in my spare time, and partly because the books contain separate, discrete stories or episodes written at different times and then anthologized. In the case of Zendoscopy, the connected episodes were initially written to be freestanding short stories but then re-written as my concept for the book later developed.

   Some writers cover walls with detailed plot outlines indicating linkages between the elements of their stories and providing continuity and overall coherence. I tend to be another kind of writer. I rarely know where any given tale will lead when I write its first sentence. Once begun, however, I watch it evolve as I write it. And although I may have some vague idea of where I’m going, it’s rarely fixed and immutable. Of course, there are exceptions.

   Two examples from Zendoscopy illustrate these usual and occasional modes: In “Icarus Alt and the Swan Dive of Death”, I did, in fact, know precisely how the story would evolve before I wrote a single word of it but, more typically for me, in “Effie Mae Does Me a Second Favor”, I didn’t have the barest clue of what it was really about until I typed the last period.

   In other words, occasionally I know where a story is headed, but mostly I don’t. Suffice it to say that there aren’t any rules, and when I don’t know where I’m going, I just keep writing and allow myself to be surprised.

   As for the question about writing every day, I pretty much do write something on a daily basis. Sometimes it’s just a single sentence with an idea. Sometimes it’s a letter to the editor of a magazine or newspaper. Sometimes it’s part of a short story or an essay. And sometimes it’s an article for this blog. For the record, e-mail doesn’t count unless I’m being really creative.

   The more one writes, the better one becomes at doing it, so even if one only writes a single sentence every day, it’s worth doing to develop both discipline and syntactical skill. I’d also urge anyone (you!) who wants to write to read as much as possible. There’s nothing quite like seeing how other writers use language to help you in developing your own personal style and voice. And when you’re banging out text on your word processor, be sure to use spell check and be comfortable enough with English grammar so that when you break the rules, you do it intentionally. If you really need help with grammar, you can use the grammar checking utility in your word processing program, although I’ve found that it isn’t always correct in its suggestions for change. Much like the GPS system in my car, which if followed too slavishly, can lead me right into a large body of cold water.

   Finally, and most of all, if you want to write, start writing! From experience, I can tell you that it’s addictive. Once you start, you may not be able to stop.

Today’s annoyance: People who don’t know the difference between insure and ensure.

On Writing What You Know

Leave a reply

Traditional advice to new writers is to “write what you know”. This is sometimes much easier said than done. For instance, if you’re set on writing the Great American Novel, and if that novel is going to be about living with polar bears in barren arctic wastes, knowing nothing about polar bears or the arctic may prove somewhat of a hindrance.

In my own case, there are several things I know a lot about: medicine (I’m a retired physician), amateur radio (I’m a long time “ham” radio operator), radio controlled model airplanes, computers, playing the guitar… In other words, I know a lot about stuff that, perhaps other than medicine, doesn’t lend itself very well to writing the GAN. And medicine has, in a manner of speaking, been done to death in novels. Everything from Love Story to The Andromeda Strain. It’s hard to be original these days.

So, what’s the writer to do? Should the polar bear be a guitar player in a rock band? Probably not, but working what you know into your plot in some basic way can often be useful.

In my book, Zendoscopy, I tell the story of Sherman, a square peg sort of kid whose character is somewhat elaborated upon by showing his involvement in ham radio, something I know about. I also used ham radio in my story, Spacebraid, the anchor story in Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe. Neither story is about ham radio, but using it as a device to illustrate character or upon which to hang a plot turn was very useful.

Overall, as a generalist by nature (some would say dilettante), I know a little about a lot more than a lot about a little, except in a few areas. Those few areas in which I do have pretty deep knowledge mostly (except for medicine) don’t lend themselves to anchoring a whole novel, but as a generalist, I find strength in writing about broader issues. Thus, the coming of age story in Zendoscopy, or the ecologic catastrophe in Spacebraid. In other words, I took my general world view and knowledge, hung the plot on it, and then spiced it up with the smaller specifics about which I know a lot and which would likely ring true to the reader.

Having said this, I would add that there’s nothing wrong with writing about just what you know, as long as you are targeting it for a similarly oriented audience. So, I’ve written about radio controlled aircraft for a modeling magazine targeted to people who fly radio controlled airplanes. And I’ve written about ham radio for publications aimed at amateur radio operators. But those pieces were not novels.

So, what’s the bottom line? It’s that if you’re writing a novel, after settling on your overall plot, there’s every reason to sprinkle it with what you know to add color and depth to your characterizations or unexpected twists in the story line. Of course, unless you’re writing fantasy, keep it believable. You may not get far if your gritty detective story has a scene with a polar bear playing “Light My Fire” on a ukulele in Maui.

Book Review: The Passage Trilogy’s First Two Books

Leave a reply

   The Passage and The Twelve are the first two books of a planned trilogy by Justin Cronin, a prior winner of the Hemingway/PEN, Whiting, and Stephen Crane awards. The third book of the trilogy has yet to appear, but has been variously announced for late 2014 or sometime in 2015.

   I can’t remember who first recommended The Passage to me, and it took quite awhile – more than a year, I think – before I finally began to read it, but once I did, I was immediately sucked (yes, sucked) into the apocalyptic world and multilayered story created by Cronin.

   Let me begin by saying that, if you think you’ve had enough of vampire stories in recent years, you probably haven’t read The Passage and The Twelve. The plot has nothing to do with Transylvanian castles, swooning maidens with fang bites to the neck, the need for native soil, or lush romantic views of New Orleans. No, this is something completely different.

   What Cronin has concocted is a nightmare of Frankensteinian proportions in which, in the military’s attempt to create a race of disease-resistant, superhuman warriors, things go wrong, the monsters becoming more than anyone could have anticipated. Grossly physically altered humans, vampiric in their need for blood and indiscriminate in the swath of destruction they create while killing or “taking up” most of the rest of humanity, the world, or at least, what we are shown of the United States, is completely devastated. Except (of course), for some hardy survivors. And thus the stage is set for a quest as a band of brave survivors sets out to try to destroy the rapacious predators that humans have created.

   Okay, now, I get it. You’re thinking, I really don’t need this. It sounds just awful. But the truth is, it isn’t. It’s terrific, with minutely detailed character descriptions and an emphasis upon what it is to be human, to be connected to others, to have a common purpose, and to pursue it with great dedication. This is a book not really about monsters. It is about people and about purpose and love. At almost 800 pages, it is also very long, and it ends with the setup for the second book, The Twelve.

   If the first book concludes with the heroes’ mission still in its early phase, the second book takes us much farther along and into the lives of survivors not acknowledged in The Passage. It is a world in which those who could rise within the vacuum to seize power and abuse it have clearly done so, and it is up to our band of friends both to liberate those oppressed by humans as well as to chase after the monsters. At its conclusion, we are prepared for the not yet released final book of the trilogy, City of Mirrors, in which the ultimate battle will surely take place.

   In this review, I’ve purposely not described any of the characters in the stories, for to do so would greatly diminish the pleasure the reader will have upon meeting such completely delineated individuals. Beyond that, to describe or even hint at what happens to several of them would give away much of what makes the saga so interesting since, again, the two books are far more about the people than about the (shudder) vampiric creatures.

   Upon finishing The Twelve, I was disappointed over the delay in appearance of City of Mirrors. I can assure you, however, that I’ll be reading it as soon as it’s released.

Assessment: Highly recommended

 

Reminder: Don’t forget my two books:  Zendoscopy and Spacebraid and Other Tales of a Dystopian Universe, both available online in softcover and e-book (Kindle) format.

Not Lost in America

Leave a reply

   We’ve just returned from a three week odyssey – ROAD TRIP!!! Remember that movie, Lost in America? Yeah, “Just like Easy Rider.” Well, except that we didn’t do it on motorcycles but in an Acura ILX. We were going to take the SUV, but 50 feet from the driveway as we were heading out, the air conditioner failed, and we were not going to drive across the country in the middle of the summer without air conditioning.

   Now, this wouldn’t have been such a big deal except that a) I’d had the SUV in for $1100 in maintenance three days before we were to leave and, b) the car was loaded to the gunwales with not only our baggage for three weeks, but my travel guitar, boxes of stored stuff we were going to deliver to our kids in the Midwest, and even a child’s rocking chair. Successfully transferring all that stuff into the ILX was a miracle achievable only by my wife. I’d probably never have gotten it all in on my own. Of course, her tolerance for smushing is greater than mine.

   Anyway, after the initial setback, we were on our way. I’m not going to describe the trip in detail, although it was lots of fun: 5600 miles in three weeks, visits with the kids and grandkid, and lots of sightseeing both on and near I-40 (Route 66), I-80, and Nevada 50 (the loneliest road in America). How many people have been to the Cadillac Ranch? Carhenge? (You can Google them.) Other sights: The Devil’s Postpile National Monument near Mammoth, ancient bristlecone pines near Big Pine, Scott’s Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock in Nebraska, the Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park, Palo Duro State Park near Amarillo, TX, Taliesin (for all you Frank Lloyd Wright fans), and more.

   But that’s not what this blog entry is really about. No, it’s actually about the two Americas that we experienced as we traveled (and have noted on prior travels), one being the Northeast and West coastal areas and large cities of America, and the other being much of the South and, specifically on this trip, all the more sparsely populated interior areas that we traversed. In our severely polarized country, the cultural dividing line is abundantly clear.

   Being West Coast liberals, we were struck by much of what we saw in the country’s interior: a culture of religion, guns, tobacco use, poor diet and obesity, and overwhelming Republicanism. As for the Jesus stuff, smoking and obesity, I can only wonder over how so many people can be either oblivious to, or ignorant of, science, medicine, and nutrition in the 21st century.

   The Republican political affiliation is easier to understand, however. These are people who don’t face the concerns of those living in the larger urban centers, whose lives often revolve heavily around high school sports and other local events, whose daily exposure is to an America that does not mirror the reality of the larger country and world. Living in a cocoon and thus prey to the manipulations of equally ignorant but power-hungry Republican politicians, it’s no wonder they vote the way they do. Except…that these people aren’t really stupid. So why do they so often vote in a way that’s counter to their best interests? Many of them would benefit greatly from universal health care (and “Obamacare”) including readily available family planning services, food stamps, a livable minimum wage, the Women’s, Infants’, and Children’s (WIC) program, among others, and yet they support politicians who consistently oppose such programs. And why, in the face of unacceptable levels of firearms related deaths, do they oppose background checks and support the NRA?

   One is led to ask, what’s wrong with these people?

   I don’t have the answers to all these concerns. I only know that the severe polarization we face today isn’t healthy for the nation. The reflection of this, aided and abetted by the demagogues of Congress, is a society headed for third world status. Unless contemporary Republicanism can find a way to rise above its philosophical dependency upon the maintenance of a sheep-like underclass that is willing to support it despite self-inflicted harm by doing so, things are going to get much worse. Eventually, anger and frustration boil over, and no one needs to be told what can happen then.

   But, oh, apart from the foregoing, our trip was wonderful.