Aphelion

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McCamy brings us mysteries, questions about life, and death, and states that may be neither, or may be both.

The questions in this story are about what happens to living things when (and sometimes before) the Earth changes. Some creatures remain as they've been, some change in predictable ways, while others show new traits far beyond our ability to have predicted. But nothing is certain or entirely known; every change has questions attached to it.

That lack of answers seems reader-magnetic, especially as it stands out against a writing style that's almost stark in its plainness. McCamy is clever; she knows that a story is easily forgotten when it answers all the questions.

Delicate, spooky and complex.

The author informs me that this story is related to a number of previous tales featuring her unusual version(s) of the ubiquitous supernatural creatures that appear in this story (including "Vishnu's Beer Garden", which is probably included in our Beta (Gamma? Upsilon?) Author Index). Given the unusual viewpoint and ... evolution ... of the protagonist in "Mind of Winter", I didn't make the connection. (It's been a while since I read the other Taylor stories she cites as world-mates to this one.)

Verse wrote:Ha! There are no coincidences:

http://www.downloadtheuniverse.com/dtu/ ... lence.html

Since McCamy's story is related to the theme of epigenetics, this struck me as tangentially relevant.

Following links is so much fun . . .

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovi ... reat-ceos/

Reading the above article astonished me. In my novel, I have a bad guy who openly describes himself as a sociopath, but he meets the description of psychopathy in the Forbes article, and fits all the descriptors with scary accuracy. Oddly, I never studied psychopathy, but it seems true that "you know it when you see it."

Lester Curtis wrote:

Verse wrote:Ha! There are no coincidences:

http://www.downloadtheuniverse.com/dtu/ ... lence.html

Since McCamy's story is related to the theme of epigenetics, this struck me as tangentially relevant.

Following links is so much fun . . .

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovi ... reat-ceos/

Reading the above article astonished me. In my novel, I have a bad guy who openly describes himself as a sociopath, but he meets the description of psychopathy in the Forbes article, and fits all the descriptors with scary accuracy. Oddly, I never studied psychopathy, but it seems true that "you know it when you see it."

... or "it takes one to know one"...

... or "it takes one to know one"...

Hey, watch that, ya ornery pill.

Actually, no, or I'd have had a high-paying career doing something nasty, and publicly smiling about how it's "good for the bottom line."

Now I have a little better understanding of why I'm in the 99%.

Stories by McCamy are always worthwhile readings. She enters into another dimension with her writings, and opens up possibilities that are thought- provoking. And when writing in the first person, we get right onto the stage and next to the actors, so to speak. I heard that explanation of first-person writing once and always liked it!

The thoughts and feelings projected by McCamy are poignant, and they hammer home that Earth is changing drastically. And that its inhabitances are adapting.

The adopted dog, Sylvester, is taller than she is. I wonder if it’s taller when standing on its hind-legs, or taller when standing on all fours? In this story that’s a point to consider.

Before I started my critique, I read the others, which I don’t do very often. And I concur with them, but in varying degrees.

She mentions ‘Hydraulic Fracking’ and here in Pennsylvania that’s becoming as common as coal-mines once were. There is concern about the consequences of large-scale Fracking operations, and its impact on the water shed. Also, we have many abandoned coal-mines under Western Pa., and I’ve never heard about a study and its conclusion that investigated how Fracking and the abandoned coal-miners together would affect the environment.

I always look for symbolism in stories, or events related but in an abstract occurrence which sometimes the author doesn’t realize that he/she interjected. In this story, we have Keisha as an artist and owner of an art -gallery. And the more I think about the writing of this story, the more I realize that it seems to be a painting of words!

I’m wondering what others might think!