The Spies of the Future

I walked into the living room and switched on the TV. I picked up a newspaper at the same time. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do — watch TV or read the newspaper. The newspaper won, but I didn’t switch off the TV. 

I can’t remember what changed the balance of power, how the TV won my attention, whether it was gradual or sudden.. But I remember my jaw dropping as each line the narrator spoke sounded more and more incredible.

The newspaper was discarded. But not before I checked the date. Was it April Fools’ Day?

The TV show was about something called “remote viewing”. Apparently both sides of the Cold War sank millions into developing a technique known more popularly as “psychic spying”. Was this real? Provable? Or just a result of Cold War paranoia?

When I began to think of writing about a futuristic world of spies, this strange TV show came immediately to mind. I wanted to create a world somewhere between John Le Carré and Ray Bradbury. Taking remote viewing a step further would provide the ideal springboard to the world of Edyl.

The documentary "The Real X-files — America's Psychic Spies" is on youtube. Make of it what you will.

“Edyl - The Reading Department” is FREE from online bookstores and as an audiobook on iTunes.