Something New And Quirky

     Many people think of boredom as a curse. I can’t imagine why. Boredom has been the source of all my best ideas... well, all right, some of my worst ones, too. Still, I find it a fertile medium for new and unexplored possibilities.

     Some time ago, Smashwords, where I first published my books, offered its writers space in which to post “interviews.” Mind you, Smashwords personnel didn’t conduct any interviews; they just gave you a space for one. Being a whimsical sort, I posted an “interview” with various of my fictional characters:

    Q: Mr. Porretto, just what is going on here? I didn’t ask to have my office jammed with all these bodies.
     Fran Porretto: Rather than do a “straight” interview, which tends to bring out my discursive nature, I thought I might change things up a little. So I rounded up some of my favorite characters and brought them here so you can talk to them. Enjoy! I always do.

     And so on.

     Well, just a few days ago, I got into a conversation with writer Abigail Lakewood, who also reviews books on Substack. Somehow, she caused Substack to start another account – for my old protagonist Armand Morelon, of the Spooner Federation Saga. It probably happened because I masquerade as Armand on X.

     Well, I was just a little bored at the time, so I wrote this:

     Good morning / afternoon / evening / night / whatever. If you’ve never made the acquaintance of a planetary Overmind before this, it can be a little overwhelming. But then, think of me! I have the whole of Hope to supervise. It can be quite busy, now and then.
     But enough of that. Hope, if you’re not yet aware of it, was settled in the Terrestrial 27th Century by a group of anarchists. They were driven from Earth under the threat of extinction by the States that oppress that unhappy world. They had to re-engineer a wandering planetoid into a starship to do so.
     It was quite a trip...

     And so on.

     But that got me thinking: Why not have Armand’s site be a place where characters from fiction – my own and perhaps that of others, as well – can get together to shoot the breeze? It could be good exercise for the imagination. Mine could use some, just now.

     So hold onto this link, and visit every so often. You might get a few laughs out of it. A laugh is something we can all use, no?