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It is always a challenge to write about
the future. Every author harbors some small hope that his or her assumptions
and predictions will be proven true through the years. Everyone wants
to be Nostradomus. So some authors will write about a future beyond their
time, so they will never see how wrong they were. Some authors pick a
closer time, so they are more likely to get it right. Some authors consult
experts, make detailed calculations, study history, and examine every
possible future. Some just think of one thing to write about and pick
their favorite year. Perhaps they are the smarter ones; they don't even
try to get it right. I have made a few basic assumptions and let my imagination stretch them as far as they'll go. Most of the "technology" you encounter in this novel is very unlikely to exist in the next century, but I added what I thought convenient for the plot of the novel. I also believe that wild, far-out ideas have a place in every work of futuristic fiction; no one can ever say how far technology will progress in a given period of time, but it is quite likely that something unexpected will come up. Who could have predicted the camera phone in 1970? Yet, nearly everyone expected to be driving in computer-controlled, flying cars by the end of the century. Alas, here we are driving the same old cars and taking pictures with our cameras. However, the future is only the setting of this novel, not the reason it exists. Once again, it was simply convenient for the plot to remove ourselves from the events by a few decades. The true meaning of this novel is as real or imaginary today as it will ever be. This is a book about dreams and the realm of the mind. Some call dreams windows to see into the future, some say they are random thoughts in a sleeping mind, and others assign an even deeper meaning; perhaps dreams are visits to another world, a chance to travel beyond the boundaries of human perception and physical reality. That is the world in which the heroes of this book will find themselves -a world called Elsewhere. Of course this theme begs to be expanded upon. Where else might we find more than meets the mind's eye? Surely there are many of these "Hidden" worlds to be explored. Of equal interest is the history leading up to the events of this novel, which unfortunately found little chance to show itself in all but the first few chapters. I invite every reader to send comments and suggestions to the editor. This is only my first novel, but I don't intend for it to be the last. -N. G. English July 2004 |