Our minds are adept at pattern matching, and so we see clouds and imagine we see animals, we look at burnt toast and see Elvis Presley or the Madonna, but these illusions are not limited to sight, they occur with sound as well, and that’s all that back masking is, our minds trying to find patterns amid chaos.
At some point, we will make contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial species. It’s not a question of if, but rather when and how. We already know life can flourish in outer space. Earth itself is the proof. If life can evolve here, it can develop elsewhere around another of the estimated seventy thousand million million million stars in the universe (that’s 70 sextillion or 7 followed by 23 zeros).
The question is not whether we will make contact with ET, but when, and will we be ready to deal with them without cultural baggage? For us, it is all too easy for culture, religion, politics, and tradition to muddy the waters and inject uncertainty where there should be clarity. My Sweet Satan is intended to highlight that dichotomy, that our curiosity can lead to unfounded fears.
Jason, or JCN to use the acronym from which his name is derived, was a nod to the late Arthur C. Clarke. Aficionados of Clarke will have noted the similarity between Jason and HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although Clarke denied the rumors, fans have long suspected HAL was an acronym based on IBM, with each letter in the acronym being rolled back by one. As a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke’s masterpiece, I named the artificial intelligence aboard the Copernicus JCN, being one letter advanced from IBM. If you picked that up, I hope it didn’t spoil the surprise. Oh, and just as HAL recited a nursery rhyme as he was powered down in 2001: A Space Odyssey, JCN recites a nursery rhyme to taunt Jazz as she’s running out of air.
I grew up listening to Casey Kasem and the American Top Forty, and was saddened to hear he passed away earlier this year. In light of that, I modeled the DJ in this story loosely after Casey. I've been careful to honor his memory, while not using his name for commercial gain. I've been in touch with his daughter, Kerri, and given her the opportunity to review this tribute from an old fan of Casey's. I'd like to think Casey would have gotten a kick out of playing a role in a science fiction story like this.
The cover image is of Russell Schweickart conducting an EVA during Apollo 9, and is used as an image in the Public Domain, under the Creative Commons license. Schweikart is standing on the porch outside the Lunar Module, on day four of an Earth-orbit mission in preparation for the mission to the Moon.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this novel. Independent writing is a tough gig. You won’t see banners advertising My Sweet Satan on the side of a bus or on a billboard in Times Square. I doubt you will ever see this book in a bookstore. Publishers just aren’t interested in my writing, so it is incredibly difficult to reach out to new readers. If you’ve enjoyed this novel, please tell someone about it. Word-of-mouth is the only advertising strategy I have, so I deeply appreciate your support.
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Other books by Peter Cawdron
Thank you for supporting independent science fiction. You might also enjoy the following novels also written by Peter Cawdron
SILO SAGA: SHADOWS
Shadows is fan fiction set in Hugh Howey's Wool universe as part of the Kindle Worlds Silo Saga.
Life within the silos follows a well-worn pattern passed down through the generations from master to apprentice, ’caster to shadow. "Don't ask! Don't think! Don't question! Just stay in the shadows." But not everyone is content to follow the past.
http://www.amazon.com/Silo-Saga-Shadows-Kindle-Worlds-ebook/dp/B00HDQV422/
THE WORLD OF KURT VONNEGUT: CHILDREN’S CRUSADE
Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece Slaughterhouse-Five: The Children's Crusade explored the fictional life of Billy Pilgrim as he stumbled through the real world devastation of Dresden during World War II. Children’s Crusade picks up the story of Billy Pilgrim on the planet of Tralfamadore as Billy and his partner Montana Wildhack struggle to accept life in an alien zoo.
http://www.amazon.com/World-Kurt-Vonnegut-Childrens-Crusade-ebook/dp/B00JFHIMQI/
THE MAN WHO REMEMBERED TODAY
The Man Who Remembered Today is a novella originally appearing in From The Indie Side anthology, highlighting independent science fiction writers from around the world. You can pick up this story as a stand alone short or get twelve distinctly unique stories by purchasing From the Indie Side.
Kareem wakes with a headache. A bloody bandage wrapped around his head tells him this isn't just another day in the Big Apple. The problem is, he can't remember what happened to him. He can't recall anything from yesterday. The only memories he has are from events that are about to unfold today, and today is no ordinary day.
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Remembered-Today-ebook/dp/B00IR9XWGU/
ANOMALY
Anomaly examines the prospect of an alien intelligence discovering life on Earth.
Mankind's first contact with an alien intelligence is far more radical than anyone has ever dared imagine. The technological gulf between mankind and the alien species is measured in terms of millions of years. The only way to communicate is using science, but not everyone is so patient with the arrival of an alien space craft outside the gates of the United Nations in New York.
http://www.amazon.com/Anomaly-Mr-Peter-Cawdron/dp/1478175559/
THE ROAD TO HELL
The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
How do you solve a murder when the victim comes back to life with no memory of recent events?
In the 22nd century, America struggles to rebuild after the second civil war. Democracy has been suspended while the reconstruction effort lifts the country out of the ruins of conflict. America's fate lies in the hands of a genetically-engineered soldier with the ability to move through time.
The Road to Hell deals with a futuristic world and the advent of limited time travel. It explores social issues such as the nature of trust and the conflict between loyalty and honesty.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Road-to-Hell-ebook/dp/B005OJF10Q/
MONSTERS
Monsters is a dystopian novel set against the backdrop of the collapse of civilization.
The fallout from a passing comet contains a biological pathogen, not a virus or a living organism, just a collection of amino acids, but these cause animals to revert to the age of the mega-fauna, when monsters roamed Earth.
Bruce Dobson is a reader. With the fall of civilization, reading has become outlawed. Superstitions prevail, and readers are persecuted like the witches and wizards of old. Bruce and his son James seek to overturn the prejudices of their day and restore the scientific knowledge central to their survival, but monsters lurk in the dark.
http://www.amazon.com/Monsters-ebook/dp/B009YP1GXM/
FEEDBACK
Twenty years ago, a UFO crashed into the Yellow Sea off the Korean Peninsula. The only survivor was a young English-speaking child, captured by the North Koreans. Two decades later, a physics student watches his girlfriend disappear before his eyes, abducted from the streets of New York by what appears to be the same UFO.
Feedback will carry you from the desolate, windswept coastline of North Korea to the bustling streets of New York and on into the depths of space as you journey to the outer edge of our solar system looking for answers.
http://www.amazon.com/Feedback-Peter-Cawdron-ebook/dp/B00IBP8II2/
GALACTIC EXPLORATION
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This volume contains the novellas:
• Serengeti
• Trixie & Me
• Savannah
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XENOPHOBIA
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Dr Elizabeth Bower works at a field hospital in Malawi as a civil war smolders around her. With an alien space craft in orbit around Earth, the US withdraws its troops to deal with the growing unrest in America. Dr Bower refuses to abandon her hospital. A troop of US Rangers accompanies Dr Bower as she attempts to get her staff and patients to safety. Isolated and alone, cut off from contact with the West, they watch as the world descends into chaos with alien contact.
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LITTLE GREEN MEN
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The crew of the Dei Gratia set down on a frozen planet and are attacked by little green men. Chief Science Officer David Michaels struggles with the impossible situation unfolding around him as the crew are murdered one by one. With the engines offline and power fading, he races against time to understand this mysterious threat and escape the planet alive.
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Green-Men-Peter-Cawdron-ebook/dp/B00ET56DHG/
MERCHANDISE
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Table of Contents
MY SWEET SATAN
Synopsis
Chapter 01: Awake
Chapter 02: Confusion
Chapter 03: The Message
Chapter 04: Perspectives
Chapter 05: Burn
Chapter 06: Lost
Chapter 07: Bestla
Chapter 08: Ana
Chapter 09: Cleaners
Chapter 10: Mike
Chapter 11: Satan
Chapter 12: First Contact
Afterword
Other books by Peter Cawdron
My Sweet Satan Page 30