Friday, February 18, 2011

Why I Wrote Them


Why I wrote the books I wrote and when I wrote them:

Back in 2002, my intention was to begin a new career, writing science fiction novels that were based on my own observations of life, the world around us, and that vast unknown we call "the universe". I used fictional settings in all my novels, referenced by real places to add credibility and believability to my tales of supernatural wonder and the eternal conflict between good and evil. I also gave carte blanche to my seemingly boundless imagination. The result, I think, is a highly readable, even believable, blend of science fiction, action/adventure, humor and, yes, even a little romance.

The Science Fiction for Thinkers collection is not your typical genre sci-fi. And it's definitely not horror or fantasy, which are often billed as science fiction. In my sci-fi there are no superheroes, no capes and swords, no castles and princes, no dragons or warlords, no flying waffle irons or, heaven forbid, vampires. My heroes are everyday men and women, the atypical protagonists whose antagonists are often exotic creatures with unbridled personal ambition.

Science Fiction for Thinkers has a little something for everyone. But the biggest offering is "hard science fiction" that includes exciting high-tech wizardry and cutting-edge concepts about life, time and space, and death. Plus a world of adventure for thinkers and seekers. As a science fiction author, I endeavored to open a new window on the everyday world and to offer a unique vision of the cosmos. I like to think that, if you take a chance and dare to read my particular brand of "crossover" science fiction, your world may never look the same.


"Evermore" is my first published work. It's a tale of "the artificial creation of life", as opposed to "the creation of artificial life" (there's a big difference between the two). This is the main theme of my first sci-fi thriller, sharing the thematic spotlight with the controversial alien-abduction phenomenon and the notion that even an extraterrestrial spaceship could be the setting for an on-board mutiny. Writing this piece of fiction would also set the stage for my showing others that the truths we seek in life lie somewhere beneath the masks we wear in our everyday world.

I started writing "Evermore" in early January 2002 and finished it in late March 2002. After being turned down by 45 publishers and 47 literary agents, who never even bothered to read the manuscript, I finally published this book through Lulu.com on November 23, 2004. "Evermore" is the first book of "The Evermore Trilogy" and the first work of my eight-book "Science Fiction for Thinkers" collection.

Author's Note, September 7, 2011: I actually began writing "Evermore" on an electronic typewriter in 1998, as an untitled science fiction novel. After 50 pages I abandoned it for personal reasons. After I moved back to my hometown in September 2000, I acquired my Canon Starwriter word-processor and went back to writing this novel in January 2002, completing it in March 2002. The rest is indie author history.

The original title was "The Gods of Evergreen". When I realized that there was a real town in Pennsylvania called Evergreen, I changed the title to "Evermore". Simply "Evermore". The title had a ring that fit the science fiction themes I wanted to write about. The artificial creation of life, time-travel, immortality and the afterlife. I also thought a fictional Pennsylvania town called "Evermore" would make a very interesting setting for my first novel.

In 2007, I added a subtitle to all three books in The Evermore Trilogy to show people that this was a unique and original, copyrighted piece of fiction.
After I finished writing "Evermore" in March 2002, I was exhilarated and eager to write a sequel about the characters I'd created. I had more adventure in store for protagonists Jack Rand and Karen Smitrovich and such a fondness for Unim, the biped plant from Zeta6 (pronounced Zeta Six), that I wanted him to return to Earth on another mission of great importance. So, I began "Time and Time Again" in April 2002 and finished it in December 2002.

I'd always been interested in time travel and felt for sure that it was possible. I also believed that, in order to understand how time travel might be possible, you first had to comprehend the basic properties of time and space and the simple, yet complex way in which these two cosmological elements, along with gravity, control most of our physical, living experiences. Recurring themes in "Time and Time Again" include extraterrestrial influences in human lives, the eternal conflict between good and evil, the importance of and the power in making a choice, and the dire consequences of greed and unbridled personal liberty.

In January 2003, I started writing "Providence", the third installment of The Evermore Trilogy. I knew I was writing a trilogy after I finished "Time and Time Again" in December 2002 because there was one more kind of supernatural phenomenon I wanted to tackle, using the same main characters. Life after death.

Even as a little boy, I felt that life was the rule and death was the exception. And that, for human beings, life was everlasting. All science fiction is speculation about the universe, bolstered by notions and theories that have some basis in fact. In my case, that speculation about the way things work behind the scenes is also supported by my own observations of life. I lived my own life as I observed it and took notes at the same time. It's a pretty tall order and not a lifestyle one would wish on anyone else.

By the end of May 2003, "Providence" was finished and The Evermore Trilogy was completed. I had written another installment in the lives of Jack Rand, Karen Smitrovich and the extraterrestrial Unim and, hopefully, this third book would entertain my readers with another window on the everyday world.

The real protagonist in "Providence" is Verona Petrov, a Russian national living in the United States and teaching at a small but prestigious university in Pennsylvania. Her course in virtual remembering is part of a new, experimental, para-science curriculum at Foxboro University. Verona's research into the afterlife garners her enough attention that certain people want her dead and that's the plot behind the rest of the story. When I finished "Providence" in May 2003, it only took me a month before I was on my way to penning a fourth sci-fi thriller that would stand alone on it's own merit.

After I finished writing "Providence" in May 2003, it only took me a month to begin a fourth science fiction novel. I'd succeeded in writing a sci-fi trilogy and now I wanted to write a sci-fi thriller that would stand alone, on its own merit. In June 2003, I started writing "The Dreamer Never Sleeps", a piece of fiction that supposes that a "dreamworld" might really exist in a universe so vast that all things are possible. It took me eight months to complete my fourth book but in February 2004 it was ready to be self-published.

Once again, I chose for my main character, protagonist and "unlikely hero" an everyday kind of guy from an average small town in America. *I call him an unlikely hero because he's an everyday kind of guy whose battle with the unknown is pretty much all about him and not to be considered real heroism. His bravery is more about him than anything else. So, I don't actually consider this book to be the fourth book of unlikely heroes (that's reserved for Deeds of Destiny, my fifth sci-fi thriller). Also, there's no global conspiracy here, just an interplanetary one. The Dreamer Never Sleeps is also unique because it has more humor in it and more fanciful zaniness than any other book I'd written so far.

The "hero" in this story, Russell Palmer, is a work-at-home medical claims examiner whose wife is out of town visiting relatives for the weekend. Naturally, "when the cat's away, the mice will play" and, for Palmer, that means having a few drinks downtown and then eating his supper out. Little does he know that this particular afternoon will be his first contact with the dreamworld while wide awake. With the help of a visitor from the dreamworld and an unsolved murder that points to several possible suspects, including himself, Palmer's only means of clearing his name is to help the oddball senior citizen from the dreamworld planet, Gaea, find the real killer. When Palmer's wife, Katie, returns from her trip, she finds that a mystical, magical and frightening dreamworld awaits her as well.

Conspiracies have always interested me. Not because they exist. Because they shouldn't exist. All lies ever accomplished throughout human history is creating misery for mankind. So, I had another idea for a science fiction thriller that, once again, involves a global conspiracy with otherworldy beings and extraterrestrial roots. I've always believed that Shakespeare's imps, the Germanic gremlins, the Irish leprechauns or fairies, and other invisible beings from the oral history of other cultures, were more than just fantasy or myth or folklore. I think these creatures are real and that their nature and purpose has been grossly misrepresented and distorted by stupid people who like telling tall tales more than they like telling the truth.

In March 2004, I began writing "Deeds of Destiny", my fifth sci-fi thriller and my second novel to stand alone as a single work of fiction. I finished this book in December 2005. Why did it take me twenty-one months to write this particular novel? Because I also began blogging on the Web where I also began marketing my books, instead of peddling them through the U.S. Postal Service to "gnomes" in "Bad Apple City"who only publish market-driven, copycat fiction that makes them a bundle. Anyway, there's no need for me to go into a detailed description of this book when you can read it for yourself at Amazon.com. One thing I will tell you that the description does not is that this novel, like all the others I wrote, is not based so much on my past experiences as it is upon my own observations of life as I lived it. None of the characters are real, their names are also fictitious, and the settings are fictional, as well. The truth, however, is real and can never remain hidden as long as fiction keeps uncovering it and exposing it for others to discover.


After I finished writing "Deeds of Destiny" in December 2005, it didn't even take a full month for me to fire up my outdated but trusty Canon Starwriter JET 4000 word processor again. In January 2006, I begin writing my sixth full-length science fiction novel, "Little Green Man from Mars", a sci-fi treatment of the biblical Rapture prophecy. I won't waste precious, binary ones and zeros here by telling you what this thriller is about because the description is already provided for you on the Amazon.com page for this book. But I will tell you that, not being a religious person, I found this to be the most difficult writing challenge, so far, as an author. In October 2006, my sixth installment in the "Science Fiction for Thinkers" collection was complete.

Once again, I gave my boundless imagination carte blanche as I dared to debunk one of Christianity's most cherished beliefs, not intending to dash the hopes of a much-awaited afterlife, but to awaken humanity's yearning spirit with the inquiring mind that ought to go hand-in-hand whenever faith is exercised. And what good is a lesson for the spirit of contemporary man and woman without the hint of romance and the blessing of comic relief? That's right, "Little Green Man from Mars" is not intended to be a religious prophecy or a scientific road map to find your way around during life's first journey on planet Earth. But it might be a new window on the real world around you. And opening new windows on the everyday world and offering a new vision of the cosmos is what I do best.

Back in December 2006 I suddenly got the urge to try my hand at literary fiction. I'd been on quite a roll for the past few years, writing full-length science fiction novels, and I was ready for a little diversion. My goal was to see if I could write a literary novel in the first person, present tense. I made it a "pet project" that I would pick up and work on when I got tired of writing science fiction. Since writing this novella was only a part-time job for me, it took me 25 months to complete it. In January 2009, Blind Fool Running was a finished manuscript.

As the book reached novella length, I realized that the story was being told at novella length (17,500 to 39,999 words is the publishing industry's accepted range for a novella). Stretching it out to novel length would have done the story an injustice. As a novel, it would have been laborious and redundant for the reader. But, as a 31,000-word novella, it's a comfortable read.

"Blind Fool Running" is my first very attempt at writing literary fiction and my debut as Jonco Bugos, my literary pen name and alter ego, so to speak. Jonco means "John" in English and Jonco Bugos (pronounced YONK-oh BOO-gosh) was the Slovak name of my maternal grandfather, John Bugosh. Because of this book's metaphysical themes, experimental real-time story line, and the down-to-earth but philosophical personality of its main character," Blind Fool Running" was difficult to classify. It's definitely literary fiction but it also contains elements of science fiction. That's why Blind Fool Running, the literary novella by Jonco Bugos, became the seventh addition to the "Science Fiction for Thinkers" collection.

I've been blogging on the World Wide Web since 2005, mostly for therapy I tell myself, but also to entertain my readers and visitors to my official website. I write nine blogs in all (author's note: this number grew to ten blogs in June 2011), all of them at Blogger.com. Some of my blogs are comical sci-fi anecdotes, like Fred Fortune, and others are a little more serious, like Jonco Bugos. Then there are my blogs that are serio-comical blogs, somewhere in between the lunacy of Fred Fortune and the life mentoring of Jonco Bugos. Random Retro Reviews of the 20th Century is social and historical commentary with a razor-edged, baby boomer slant. Little Green Man from Mars is social commentary with a more humorous twist. In January 2010 I put together a 180-page book of what I'd written so far on these four blogs and I called it "The Four Bloggers of the Apocalypse". It's not really a book of revelation. It's an experience in self-revelation. At least it was for me.

For more information visit my Amazon Pages:

Amazon's Michael Casher Page

Amazon's Jonco Bugos Page

*Post updated 9-6-12

Friday, February 4, 2011

Cyber Hide-And-Seek

Since January 1st I've been playing an unintentional game of hide-and-seek with various elements on my nine blogs, here at Blogger, and I think I owe people an explanation. For the past month or so (actually I started last fall, here and there) elements like Popular Posts and certain sidebar elements, like image links to my Amazon pages, image ads that earn me a few cents and search boxes for my own blogs, and things like that, have been coming and going like malicious spooks in the middle of the night. Actually, I'm the "spook" and what I've been doing is re-tuning my blogs because of really horrible viewing problems that I've been experiencing since way back in August 2010.

When you can't look at your own blogs without having your browser slow down to a crawl and then freeze up, you're no good to anyone as a blogger. Maybe other people's computers are just ducky and have no problems at all running my Junk TV videos or my cheesy, homemade flash ads but I couldn't see squat without some browser problem. This went on for months, despite my having one of the best anti-spyware/anti-malware programs around working for me (no I'm not going to tell you what I use because there wouldn't be enough wood in the world for me to knock on after that).

So, like the aging, baby-boomer, hick, indie author that I am, I began a lengthy, systematic investigation of the problems, often relying on trial-and-error at times, until I finally rooted out the last bug from my little DELL B110 desktop. Most of it was malicious malware from the major search engines (yep, the infamous Google Redirect Virus), infectious IE pop-ups, downloader trojans, voices from nowhere (no, I'm not kidding: screaming, taunting, high-pitched, banshee-like laughter from nowhere, with no visual displays), and the whole gamut of nasty cyber bugs that are lovingly bred in hacker labs all over the globe by greedy, sick, human-hating scum, and unleashed upon the world everyday for fun, profit, hate and more fun.

There ought to be an international law against willfully infesting millions of computers with browser-jacking trojans and junk ad popups and whatnot. Even a clean surfer like me who only visits trusted sites for business (like Amazon, Lulu, iGoogle, FeedBurner and Blogger) and finding news and current events, can pick up a nasty bug that used to be a disease that only bad-asses caught when they scoured the underground Web for sites containing hate, porn, crime, terrorism, dark religion, and so on. Wow, has that scenario ever changed. Now you're not even safe when you use Google Search to look up "opossum" on Wikipedia to see what they eat. You might find yourself being watched and your key strokes recorded by cyber snoops, terrorists or even good ol' Uncle Sam. It's no way to run a world.

But, I'm back now and my advice to the rest of the web world is this: forget Google Search, Yahoo Search and Bing. They're paths to your destruction. And when you get redirected (should be mis-directed, actually), bookmark that page and put these websites on your shit list. These bastards know what they're doing and don't let the little pricks tell you it's not their fault that you got their stupid website or their pathetic, struggling search engine when you searched Google, Yahoo or Bing.

The webmasters and/or owners of the sites you get when you're redirected are paying unethical creeps to run their SEM (Search Engine Management) and to increase their SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These are "hackers" who write malware programs that piggyback on the data from other websites and search engines in order to misdirect surfers to their clients' websites. If anyone bothered to look hard enough into this unethical practice they'd also find out that it's criminal, as well, and borders on cyber terrorism. Incidentally, Bing is nothing but another malicious spy toy for Bill Gates and Microsoft, the biggest criminal organization on the Internet today.

While you're at it, you might want to minimize your use of YouTube, Facebook and yep, Amazon, unless your'e willing to make your anti-spyware/anti-virus programs work overtime. Once you land there, they get their hooks into you and your IP address, and then they own you. Plus, they unleash all those goddamn tracking cookies that vie with the unavoidable build-up of temporary Internet files and, together, they swamp your computer's virtual memory until it slows, freezes and crashes. And, if you're allowing third-party cookies you might as well jump head-first into a malware and trojan cesspool. OK, you've been warned. If you want to play hard, you're going to pay dearly.

Trust me. I wouldn't lie to you even if there was a fortune in gold in it. I'd rather tell the truth and struggle to eat and keep warm. Don't ask me why because I'm pretty sure that most of you aren't worth the bother. I blog for the few of you who might be.