What to do? I realized that about the only way to introduce familiar characters one by one without boring the old reader was to have a new protagonist. That is, a new viewpoint character. Then the new readers would learn about the old characters as he did, and the old readers would learn about the new character as the old ones did. With luck neither new nor old readers would catch on that they were being managed. By the time they got to this Author’s Note it would be too late; they would already have enjoyed the novel. No problem with reviewers; they don’t read Authors Notes, being certain that they already know what’s in them. Critics? There’s no hope for them anyway. As the American poet Sidney Lanier put it: “Swinehood has no remedy.” And so it came to be that Wetzel became the main character. I filled in his background, as telepathic were-unicorns are not common stock, then brought him into contact with the others for the main story. You know the rest.
There are a couple of elements that distinguish this novel from run of the mill junk. One is the theme of saving a threatened species from extinction, especially a bug. Many folk think that bugs exist to be stepped on. But bugs aren’t all alike. The other is the particular form of LadyBug. She is not only telepathic, she is overtly fractal, looking like the central figure of the Mandlebrot set. That is special indeed.
This has been covered glancingly in the novel, but I’ll try to clarify it further here. Fractals are everywhere in geology, nature, and life. We live in a fractal world; we just didn’t know it until recently. Clouds are fractal; coast lines are fractal; trees are fractal; the human body is fractal. Put so simply as to threaten accuracy, a fractal pattern is an elaboration of an existing form, endlessly extended. Any part of it resembles the rest of it; scale becomes irrelevant. Like the fleas that have smaller fleas biting them, which in turn have smaller fleas, ad nauseam, any simple pattern can have elaborations of its outline, which in turn have elaborations, and so on. The Mandelbrot set is a fractal pattern whose basic shape resembles a bug, and whose extensions become ever more intricate and ultimately beautiful. Math and art overlap wonderfully. I get drawn in again whenever I look at the Mandedbrot set, fascinated by its devious symmetry. It has been said that fractals represent half a dimension: if you have a two-dimensional picture, its fractal outline becomes longer the further the iteration proceeds, without ever quite reaching the third dimension.
So what use is it? As it turned out, fractal math helps in the design of airplanes, the understanding of global warming, medical appreciation of the human heartbeat and bloodflow through the kidneys, the special effects of blockbuster movies, cell-phone antennas, and a myriad other practical applications. So if this novel helps alert more people to the beauty and use of fractals, that’s great. You can learn a lot more about them via the Internet if you’re interested. Just do a Search on “Fractals” or “Mandelbrot set.” If you’re not amazed by those pictures, you’re not the kind of reader I want to cultivate.
So if you should encounter a ladybug, take a good look at her. She just might be a fractal scarab masquerading as a ladybug to avoid the complications that discovery of her real nature might generate. If you look hard enough to penetrate the illusion, you might see a living Mandelbrot set. If you cultivate her acquaintance, she might even lend you her telepathy. But probably not.
And a note of appreciation: for Rudy Reyes, who proofread the manuscript, catching a number of errors I had missed.
Readers interested in learning more of me and my works can visit my hipiers.com web site, where I have a monthly column, information about my books, and an ongoing survey of electronic publishers and related services. Or my new blog site, where I post tweets and assorted thoughts on this and that. piersanthonyblog.blogspot.com/.
I don’t yet know whether there will be further Trail Mix sequels. That depends on the reception of the first two novels. But it’s been fun getting together for these.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Piers Anthony
ISBN: 978-1-4976-5726-7
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Piers Anthony, Beetle Juice
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