Introduction

Welcome to my attempt to slide into our fractured public discourse. I am doing so now, like others out there, because there are times when it is important to speak up. Maybe if the chorus grows big enough, it can bring about change. If not, it must be documented for history that many of us refused to keep our mouths shut.

Speaking up now does not simply mean we all sat by silently over the past years and just watched, but as the stakes rise, so too must our voices. What is going on cannot continue. Many of our institutions are damaged or broken. Americans expressing their rights are dying at the hands of those who swore to serve and protect. Faith in government, and in particular democracy, is at such a low in this country that some people are giving up on it. The divides between us seem beyond repair.

So what more do we do about it? I won’t pretend I have that answer. If I knew, I would have tried it or shared the secret long ago. My past efforts, modest as they were, have not felt sufficient to make the difference I hoped for. And that is what brings me here in this new capacity. This is my next endeavor to engage in the community of us that believe we’re on the wrong path.

Convincing people one at a time is difficult. Many of us try respectfully with family, friends, and colleagues. We search for common ground. We work to get past political affiliation and connect on core American ideals. We have not yet won over enough hearts and minds, but we must keep trying.

In recent weeks, some have shown great courage in trying to hold everyone to account, no matter their position or power. Those people who are protecting the most at risk of us are doing the greatest work. The rest of us must find ways to support these heroes and each other. The best way I can think of to help at this moment is through the written word.

Back in 2019, as a hobby, I began writing a story about a near-future United States starting to break apart. The focus of my tale was on the 2026 and 2028 election cycles. I had never written anything serious before. That was one of the reasons why I worked on it intermittently over the years. My motivation to return and finish it increased as the 2024 election came and went, and as many of my fears that first motivated the story felt less abstract.

It was not written as a forecast of the future or a road-map of the way forward. However, I do think there’s a power in literature to discuss as a society what we struggle to dissect individually: fear, complicity, exhaustion, and the quiet ways democratic norms erode. I look forward to whatever way my first book can weigh in on it all and to continuing the conversation beyond the pages.

The work is just beginning. More soon.