If you read my September newsletter, or have been regularly looking at my website over the last three months (which is totally normal thing to do of course--what's Google got that my website doesn't have?), then you may have heard distant rumblings about a new project called "The Monadic Broadcast".
Well, I have just finished the first draft of that book, and I'm finally at liberty to divulge what it's about!
Firstly, the stats, because for me finishing a book is a bit like having a child. (Well, publishing would be having a child--this stage is like announcing the pregnancy.)
Anyway, The Monadic Broadcast's first draft clocks in at 105,448 words--making it first equal in terms of longest books I've ever written. The final product will probably be considerably shorter: I plan to chop at least 20% during the rewrites.
I spent 54 total writing days on the project, writing five days a week from August 3rd until October 15th. Here's a graph of my daily word count:
So what the hell is the book about? I've been keeping that secret for now because, in my experience, the more I talk about a work in progress the less likely I am to finish it. But now that's it done...
"The Monadic Broadcast" is, basically, a straight, stock-standard time travel story, and probably the first book I've ever written that neatly fits into a single genre. The book is very heavily inspired by works of Arthur C Clarke and Philip K Dick - in other words, it's me writing what I like to read.
Most of the book is set in New Zealand and centres around a young man who discovers one day that he has been transported 50 years back in time and has to adapt to life in the past. He also happens to have a smart phone from the 21st century on him and, to his surprise, his phone keeps connecting to a mysterious wi-fi signal, despite the fact that wi-fi and the internet haven't been invented yet.
Pretty standard sci fi/time travel stuff, right?
Nice, safe, dare I say it... cozy! And not at all full of strange surreal imagery, existential dread, references to Leibniz and Gnosticism, musings on philosophy and theology and explorations of both quantum physics and metaphysics. Because I totally wouldn't do that, that's just not my style*.
(* DISCLAIMER: That is 100% my style and I totally did do that.)
I will also add that this is the least cynical thing I've ever written. Or said. Or thought. Or done. No, I'm not being sarcastic: After my last two books, I wanted to challenge myself to write something that contains a modicum of hope.
So when can you hope to read it?
Well, the first draft is... pretty rough. All first drafts are but this one is even rougher than usual. It's probably going to take me at least two years to hammer it into a publishable shape--but if all goes to plan, hopefully I'll have it out to you by around 2027.
Until then--stay tuned, because the Monadic Broadcast has now begun transmission!