Today, I picked up the book and decided to blog about the next chapter: OneWorld. I was pleasantly surprised after reading it. Congratulations to me. Oh yes, there are probably errors and areas that could be developed or corrected, but there always are.
The opening section is all about George’s dad, Michael. I remember having fun writing this, poking fun at myself through his determination not to update his phone. This idea of moving on, whether emotionally or physically, is an underlying theme throughout the book. It is as if I was debating with myself concerning this subject. Do we really need to move on, always? Is it really necessary to have the latest and best? Perhaps when you are young, moving on is good advice. At my age, I am not sure. Updating things is another form of moving on. I enjoyed writing about Michael and his stubbornness not to update his phone system. In a way, he’s a bit like me. This does not mean I wouldn’t love the best and latest laptop. I am sure I could easily convince myself it would improve my quality of life. I am not sure, however, if it would improve my writing skills. At the moment, my daughter is travelling through Asia, and my son is happy in his relationship. These are the life-quality improvements I would buy if I could. So, in a way, Michael is a bit like me.
This sensation of surprise and being impressed by my own work is kind of weird. Telling yourself, hey, wow! That’s really quite good, is odd. Surely, I should remember, right? The fear of Alzheimer’s or dementia swims in the back of my mind. I feel the internet is in the market for selling fear. Luckily, any fears or arrogance of being special that I might get are kept in control by the fact that no one has noticed my writing so far. A sad shame, I guess. It would have been nice to have chatted with someone about what I have written. Imagine what life must be like as a writer. Pretty cool, right? All you had to do each day was sit down and type – to let your mind play with as many amazing thoughts and ideas as it could have. There would be no worries about heating costs or having to buy out-of-date food. And a knock at the door did not mean the debt collectors had come to take the last of your personal possessions. None of that would exist. Instead, you could buy things you didn’t need. Take holidays. Visit family and friends. But the greatest thing about being a writer would be – people would be interested in you and your life. They would ask you how you feel. They would want to spend time with you. You would no longer be like a cow for milking. Needed and used but when of no value left alone.
Another interesting coincidence in this chapter is the way I have added future possible twists. Rumours that the atmosphere was beginning to clean itself and people were beginning to ask questions about the truth of this is just one example. The idea of adding twists, something I have officially learnt through my OU degree course (even if it is only the technical names for such things), actually came from my daughter Linda. I remember her laughing when I told her I had added a few. A lot, in fact, but hey! Stories have layers, right?
The final part of this chapter concerns the title. It is the story of naming the global digital moon known as OneWorld. I remember doing a lot of research into this, trying to find things out, technical information mostly, to make it sound authentic, and then give this ‘data-ball’ its first technical name, followed by the conspiracy name, until finally, I was able to give it, its ‘street’ name, through my short humane story.
At the time of writing this, I don’t think migration was such a problem or at least such a political theme as it is today. The book was finished in 2020, and if you have been following my blog, you may have noticed I am not a fast writer, so there is a good chance this was written a year earlier. I consider myself slow and consistent, like a tortoise. If only I had a race to run!
