Very Off Topic (VOT)

Fair warning shouldn’t be necessary.

Recently, an esteemed subscriber to Thinking About Thinking replied to an e-blast with the cryptic:

VOT?

I had to look it up, as I might with many new -isms in the Urban Dictionary.

Off topic?!

I want to resist the tempation to get upset here.

But what about self-expression don’t you understand?

To paraphrase Leslie Gore, “It’s my blog and I’ll cry if I wanna.”

That said, my more considered response would be more to the point (or topic, if you prefer). Much of the time, I’m posting book reviews, mainly about literary fiction. It’s prestige by association, you see.

As the Amazon ads might say, If you like Shakespeare, you may also like Gerald.

Fun fact

Gerald is a Welsh name meaning spear-shaker.

Recent posts were not reviews but musings on topics that at least intrigued me.

The Petrodollar Is More Important Than You Think

and

Is This “Christian Fiction?”

The reasons for my mind straying in these directions were perhaps not obvious to you, but both of these topics speak to anxieties I’ve written about in my novels.

As to the petrodollar, several of my books, including Rubber Babes, Preacher Fakes a Miracle, and Harry Harambee’s Kenyan Sundowner, have subplots that involve international money laundering. If the petrodollar moves to cryptocurrency, it will be awash among funds generated by the likes of cartels, human traffickers, and arms dealers.

As to whether my Preacher Evan Wycliff mystery novels are Christian fiction, that’s a question I’ve fretted about. It should be apparent that I’m not writing for the blindly faithful. If you think that every word of scripture was dictated literally by the divine, both Evan and I would disagree with you, but our explanations based on historical research would have no effect. If, on the other hand, you occasionally catch yourself looking in the mirror and doubting the immortality of your soul - or whether you have a soul at all - you're somewhere between agnostic and fickle, which is understandable, human, and (I’d say) forgivable.

I asked AI to generate a cartoon illustrating VOT without giving the bot any clues about how to render the concept. Here’s the result. Feel free to comment (no restrictions!) or just discuss over a glass shared among friends.

Creating off-topic may stimulate innovation. You might go where no one else would or could. Rock on and fear not!

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