Dialogue Excerpt from Chapter 2 of Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor

In this excerpt from Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor, Spencer is explaining to his friend and coworker Jack. Spencer notices a couple of strangers working in the field across from his house. I walks over to investigate and notices one of them has a gun. When Spencer sneaks away, something under an unusual bush by his house distracts him. Jack, who always has some wild theory, keeps throwing in his two cents worth.

(Jack asks.) “What do you mean ‘something under the bushes’?”

(Spenser replies. ) “Remember the flash I told you about. Well, there was this reflection, or a flicker of light, like somebody shined a flashlight in the corner of my eye. I don’t know what it was, and I’m not even sure why I care. I suppose it could’ve just been a trick of the light, but you should’ve seen it! I swear it had a direct connection to my thoughts. Like it was telling me everything will be all right.”

Jack stayed uncharacteristically quiet for a minute, before he offered his opinion. “I know what it was.”

“Okay genius, what was it?” Spencer knew one of Jack’s extraordinary explanations would follow.

“The two guys in the woods were probably aliens from another planet! And they didn’t have a regular gun; they had a mind control gun. They must have shot you with a thought ray and that’s what flashed. I bet you’re under their control right now. Yeah, if those two guys are as big as you say, and one of them had a name like Gustav, they have to be from another planet.”

Spencer grabbed his chin and looked down, pretending to consider the out-of-this-world theory. He went back to work without responding.

Jack continued to nudge him from his catatonic state. “They could have been ghosts! Yeah, that’s more likely than aliens. I bet they were ghosts. You’re probably under the influence of some supernatural force from a fourth dimension.”

After another make-believe thoughtful pause, Spencer still did not reply.

A few minutes later, Jack followed with yet another theory. “I know. I know what it was… Bigfoot! It must have been Bigfoot. You know Yeti. Sasquatch! The Abominable Snowman! Those two guys must have been Bigfoot hunters, and they didn’t want you moving in on their catch.”

Another short moment of silence followed before they both broke into laughter.

Spencer shook his head. “I’m glad you have it all figured out. Let me get this straight. You think the flash came from the ghost of an alien Sasquatch named Gustav, right?”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “It could happen.”

Read the entire scene and learn what it is Spencer saw under the bush in Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor.

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Take a look at the scripted version in the video below. It shows the whole scene, so it starts a little before this dialogue. You can skip ahead to 2:04 or just watch the whole thing. The characters and setting are not accurate, but it captures the mood of the dialogue rather well.

What is Speculative Fiction?

People often ask me, "What is speculative fiction?" Like all fiction, I like to tell them, it answers the question, "what if?" In speculative fiction, the question is, "What if anything imaginable were possible?" In my stories I've asked questions such as; What if a percentage of light speed travel is possible. What if time travel is possible? What if supernatural monsters are real? What if someone could physically enter the dreams of another person? What if hatred could manifest itself in a biological presence? What if a man discovered a portal between heaven and hell? These are only a few of the questions that have made it into my stories. I have hundreds of questions such as these that have the potential to become future stories and novels.

I know this concept seems like it could be infinitely wide-ranging, but I believe that is what speculative fiction should be. No restraints. Technically, speculative fiction encompasses the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. But even among these three, there are many subgenres. Wikipedia defines it as, " an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.

According to Google, to speculate means to form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence. They define speculative as engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge. Those are fancy ways to say, "making stuff up." That's what we do when we write speculative fiction. I know some "hard science fiction" fans and writers that might disagree with that, but it's still taking what is known or possible and filling in the blanks. Some relevant synonyms might be conjectural, theoretical, hypothetical, or abstract. Put the word fiction after any one of those and it could probably be considered a subgenre of speculative fiction.

GreenTentacles.com attributes the creation of the term "speculative fiction" to Robert Heinlein (one of the big three science fiction writer of all time along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark) in 1941. DictionaryReferance.com gives a precise definition, "a broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. That makes it easy. Right?

Well, I'd better get busy writing. If you want to know more about my speculative writing, stop by my website. In the meantime, what's your favorite speculative genre. Or, if you want to be more specific, who is one of your favorite speculative fiction authors or what is one of your favorite speculative works?

"Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor"

This weekend is the official launch of "Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor." In James M M Baldwin's first full length novel a devoted husband and father risks his family’s security to prevent a powerful doctor from controlling a mystic portal initiating a global storm threatening humanity. Spencer Murdoch unearths a supernatural portal beneath his home and discovers an ancient being guarding a gateway between heaven and hell. Spencer must find the person predestined to enter the portal before the mysterious doctor can use it for his own power.
You can participate in the book launch by getting your copy at the following locations.
Amazon, paperback and Kindle edition
Barnes and Noble/Nook
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Don't forget to visit me at Facebook or you can send me an email at jamesmmbaldwinauthor@aol.com

Thanks
Jim