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Cryonics

One of our garden's visitors


A friend challenged me to sum up the themes of my novels in just two or three words. After a few moments, I said that Tamsin is about making choices, Rowan is about taking responsibility, Bethany Rose is about overcoming adversity;and Fabian is about taking control. It was an interesting exercise as I'd not consciously thought about it before. Have a go yourself, either with something you've written or with a few favourites novels.

If you're wondering what's happening on the writing front: (a) I've nearly finished correcting the proof copy of Bethany Rose; (b) the Seaside Stories anthology is still receiving a few submissions; (c) I'm selecting and completing work for another short story collection; and (d) there was an article about cryonics in Marie Claire magazine's August issue which featured me and two friends.

I hadn't known the relevant magazine issue had come out until Freddie told me. She and I have been friends since high school. She said the article was nicely written and the photos were good. I said I hoped the article didn't make cryonicists sound like fruit-cakes but she assured me it didn't.

Of course many people will happily believe that cryonicists really are weird or are wasting our money, and that is their choice to make. Maybe cryonics won't work; I doubt if any cryonicist is unaccepting of this. But maybe it will work - along with the intended nano-medicines and nano-technologies to restore full health and youth- in which case we've achieved longevity while the sceptics will be dead. Like I said in the Marie Claire article, someone has to be among the first to give new technologies a chance. How else do you suppose that procedures like heart or brain surgery, organ transplants, keyhole surgery, laser surgery on eyes etc., were able to be developed, if not via people who embraced the possibilities of both failure and success?

My personal philosophy extends beyond the maintenance of this flesh-and-blood body, however. You'd only have to read my novels to recognise this.

So - to return to my opening subject - what is the theme of cryonics? That's simple. It's life.

I Want to Live Forever - t-shirt from Spooky Cute Designs

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