A few
years ago (quite a few) while reading Allison Van Diepen’s The Vampire Stalker, I heard about Literary Physics or Quantum
Fiction, if you will. And mostly I thought – huh? This concept that writers channel the multiverse and are not creating fiction, but relaying a
glimpse from an alternate universe is somewhat insulting to every writer who
spends an inordinate amount of time trying to get something alien right. Research
is hard work. Perhaps not physically taxing, but on occasion time consuming and
emotionally draining.
Though I
sometimes let myself believe there is strength when writing about something you
know and have experienced and some authors often underscore that belief. Writers
who expose themselves, who strip themselves to the marrow of their souls, are
very rare. Seth King is that guy. Every dedication, author’s note and even the warnings – tell us something about who
he is. If those things weren’t enough then there are those glimpses of a person
that are always revealed when they write.
As for
me, my stories are more often than not set in New York. And when I say New York
I actually mean Manhattan. If I can’t get there by subway, I can’t get there (unless my sister is driving). This
big little island is the sum total realm of my actual experiences. When I reach
beyond the scope of my world I sometimes make it to the Bronx. When I go
further it takes a lot of hard work and still remains mostly in the confines of
places where I’ve been.
But then
Andy Weir has never been to Mars so I reevaluate my bias. Never once imagining
Mr. Weir traipsing along the multiverse and stumbling upon Mark Watney. And
though I’ve likened Frank W. Butterfield with a time-traveler, I never once
imagined him fending off Morlocks. 
I firmly believe that Literary Physics takes
away too much from the authors and fails to acknowledge the hard work and
research that goes into creating a truth outside your realm of experience.
Though without
the metaphysics, I’m still waiting for HBO to option “An Unexpected Heiress.”
That
said, I kind of love the ideas of quantum
physics, but wrapping my head around some of the concepts without the aide
of direct instruction is kicking my posterior. There are times when I feel on
the cusp of understanding some elusive concept and then given its abstract
nature it slips away. Tormenting and/or frustrating I try to capture the
thought that never coalesced only to discover my limitations and I let it go. I
sleep on it because sometimes waking up with an epiphany is genuine evidence of
the wonder of the human brain. It worked for me with coding and quadratic
equations not so much with systems and functions and certainly not with quantum
physics – but there you go and here I am.
 |
| Madeleine L'engle |
Let’s be
honest though, there’s never been a need for me to know or understand photon
frequencies and wave vectors. Those things were never a requirement when I was
writing “Equilibria.” I won’t insult the memory of Madeleine L'engle by
equating what she did with what I did, but she was an inspiration.
Quantum
Fiction (not
physics) is an idea, an interesting idea that when used in fiction can sometimes
make me smile – but imagination is limitless and fruits of labor are sometimes
words on a page and nothing more … though so very much.
© Lillian Carrero
