A New Project

Recently my girlfriend's adult son and his girlfriend, Tess, moved in with us. One night Tess and I were chatting, and I began describing for her the conspiracy theory I made up as the foundation of my novel, Five Secrets. I explained how I rooted the conspiracy in the same historical "theories" that form the basis of the plot of The Da Vinci Code and the National Treasure movies, how the geography and the landmarks and history I borrowed to flesh out my concept are all true to reality, and how a video I made several years ago describing the theory (complete with a skeptic's note at the end) had made its way onto several conspiracy chaser websites.

When I finished, she told me that even though I explained that the conclusion I drew was nonsense, the evidence was so compelling that it left her with a feeling of "Maybe though."

This got me to thinking that I should write another non-fiction book debunking my own fictional account in the vein of The Da Vinci Hoax, a book put out by Catholics concerned that the Dan Brown novel's premises might lead their flock astray. My take, however, would be broader in scope. I plan to first describe the evidence for my own "theory" in earnest, only debunking it afterward in the broader context of the need for skepticism and the dangers of earnest credulity.

I also hope to construct a PowerPoint/Ted-Talk-style presentation in which I lay out the evidence in context, and then challenge the audience to tear it apart, finally concluding with my own dismissal of the theory I invented and a challenge to any audience members who have bought into such ideas as: false-flags, Cryptids, science denialism, trutherism, etc; with a skeptical eye, because if I can invent a compelling conspiracy theory from scant evidence and wishful thinking anyone can.

I'm working on the PowerPoint now, and when finished I'll create a video of it to share with followers of my newsletter. So sign up now. Link in the sidebar.

So that's my current project. I'll keep you all updated in future installments on this blog.

P.S. For a limited time you can download Five Secrets, the novel that started it all, from Amazon for just 99¢