business

We live in a world where joy and empathy and pleasure are all around us, there for the noticing.
― Ira Glass

What if you could actually give a sociopath/psychopath empathy?

That”s what I began to ask myself after watching an episode of Charmed. More specifically, the sixth episode of the third season of the original series entitled “Primrose Empath” (click here). The episode, and the series as a whole, got me interested in the whole aspect of the mind. At the time, I didn’t know about psychology but it still intrigued me. Fast forward to 2019, when I started working on the outlines for the forty-five short stories, I decided to revisit that episode and do a deeper dive while reading up on the core aspects of empathy. And that was only the beginning of my research.

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.
― Wayne W. Dyer

The duality of karma

This is going to be the funniest BTP (“Behind The Pen”) segment that I have ever written. I had so much fun creating the backstory for the main character of this story and, in a beautiful twist, I didn’t even use him that much. And yet, The Jamaican was still managed to pull all my test readers in within the few pages he was introduced in. I count that as a win in my book and for good reasons since I will be using him, again. But, of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. Allow me to explain how The True Colors of Karma came about.

we were like crabs in a barrel, that none would allow the other to climb over, but on any such attempt all would continue to pull back into the barrel the one crab that would make the effort to climb out.”
― Marcus Garvey, Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey

Have you ever been ostracized from your community? Was it because of something that was out of your control? Or, better yet, was it because of your harmless ambition for something precious or greater? This is why Crabs In A Barrel is so important to me. I have been a victim of such ridiculous notions. And it’s not too much of a stretch to say that it has been happening all my life.

“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.”

― Gerald G. Jampolsky, Love Is Letting Go of Fear

The duality of forgiveness.

The funny thing about this short story project is that I am able to explore various subgenres of science fiction while working through various topics and subjects. I always want to give mundane science fiction but didn’t know how to do it because everything I write about has always been dialed up to an eleven. It requires me to work through a more focused setting. That’s how An Overdue Dinner Party came about.

“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones that would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.”

The duality of family

The Family That Preys has a very personal connection to me. Actually, as I’m writing this “Behind-The-Pen” segment, I’ve come to realize that I have been venting about the mistreatment I’d endured by writing. Even worse, everything that you’ve read in that story is in direct correlation to how I was treated in my family. Well, I did dial it up to an eleven like I normally do but the base is still there. Here, let me show you.