I've been thinking about nukes
And shark attacks, but mostly nukes
My second book of the year comes out next month (I have THREE books coming out this year!).
Now, technically, this isn’t MY book and it certainly isn’t my story. But one thing I love is helping other people tell their story, so it was a real honor to get to bring their story to life.
A while back, the Reeder family reached out to me through my agent. Their young son had been attacked by a bull shark off the coast of Florida, losing his leg, and they wanted to know if I thought there might be enough story for a book there.
I chatted with Jameson and Mary about their lives and the story and it was really clear there was plenty here about a family and how they overcame unexpected hardship in their lives (and they’re still dealing with the fallout!).
I had the great honor of being able to go visit with the Reeders and meet their whole family (the kids as well as the extended family) and it was such a pleasure to be with them and get to know them a bit.
Their book RESCUE AT THE REEF comes out in July
I’m also very pleased to say that RESCUE AT THE REEF got a review at Publishers Weekly, which you can read here.
“Earnest and openhearted, this inspires” is a pretty great review. I’m thankful for it!
P.S. I am straight-up afraid of sharks. It’s a phobia. So I really stuck it out to write this book and — no spoilers — watch the video from the GoPro that Jameson was wearing at the time he was attacked!
NUKES
I’ve been thinking a lot about nuclear weapons this last week, mostly because of the US strike against Iran.
One thing I was curious about was that everyone seemed to agree that Iran shouldn’t have nuclear weapons, but no one ever said why. It’s just sort of a given.
I have some guesses on what that means, but honestly that’s all they are.
BUT, I did a sort of mental exercise with myself before I started looking into this. I asked myself this question:
** Out of the 195 countries in the world, how many of them OWN a nuclear weapon? **
What’s your guess?
I was like… uhhhh… maybe ten percent? Like 19ish or something?
Here’s the list:
There are 195 countries in the world, and NINE of them have nuclear weapons.
It’s an interesting list, right? The top two are gimmes of course. China makes sense. I guess the UK having some makes sense. France?! Why does France have so many? Well it turns out they independently did the research and testing and then just made them, just like the US and the UK and Russia and China. I had no idea.
India and Pakistan are interesting. The US and Canada helped India become a nuclear power, and then a Pakistani spy stole a bunch of info from a nuclear engineering and consulting firm in Amsterdam.
North Korea got a lot of help from the Soviet Union and then eventually the Pakistanis as well. Israel got their big lift from France and some private fundraising in the US.
Anyway, turns out that we kind of globally agreed not to keep spreading the nukes around with 1970’s Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
It also turns out that a number of critics of that same treaty read it as saying that all nuclear powers should be working toward complete disarmament, which honestly make the most sense to me.
I’m told that Iran can’t be trusted with nuclear weapons (sure, I’m on board with that). I don’t see why Russia or North Korea or the US can be. Especially considering that there’s only one out of 195 nations that has ever used a nuclear weapon in wartime (and we did it twice).
And also considering that nuclear weapons by definition are really only able to be used in a way that targets civilians. You just can’t keep the damage to soldiers. Not that we should be blowing up soldiers, either. We just don’t need them and we sure don’t need any new ones.
Some quotes of interest:
One: "There's no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons—we already have so many. You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they're building nuclear weapons."
Two: "It would be great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons.”
Three: “I know Russia and us have by far the most. China will have an equal amount within 4-5 years. It would be great if we could all denuclearize because the power of nuclear weapons is crazy."
The previous three quotes are all courtesy of… President Donald Trump. If he went after some aggressive policies on this topic I’d certainly support it.
28 Years Later
I went to see 28 Years Later this week with my daughter Allie.
Please understand, this is a horror movie. It’s rated R (what you might call a “hard” R rating… excessive gore, nudity, cursing) and… it’s incredibly beautiful and life affirming. I know, that’s weird, and not at all what I was expecting.
It also appears to be a commentary on Brexit and British nationalism and toxic masculinity and gender roles and growing up and anger a whole bunch of other things I’m not sure I caught.
Absolutely terrifying in some of the action scenes, but also thought-provoking and emotional.
Anyway, I was surprised and delighted about it and I’ve been thinking a lot about it.
It also has this thread of consistent human kindness throughout, which is exactly how I like my post-apocalyptic stories. People helping each other in the worst of times. I’ve never been a big believer in the “oh no, electricity has failed, I guess we’re all cannibals now” version of the apocalypse.
Anyway, if you like horror, give this one a shot.
Speaking of horror
If you’re going to bomb Iran, please don’t also remove protections for Iranian immigrants to the US and then detain and try to deport them.
Conservative Christian magazine Christianity Today shared this harrowing story about ICE taking members of an Iranian church in Los Angeles. These are people who came to the US legally seeking asylum. They are not law-breakers, they are not criminals. I was glad to see CT standing up for what has been a priority for conservative Christians for many decades: caring for persecuted Christians and finding safe places for them in the US. I certainly hope they will continue to make this a priority and will speak up in the places they have influence.
Anyway… just keep swimming
NO KINGS on the Fascinating Podcast
Last week on the Fascinating Podcast we chatted with JR about the No Kings protest. I didn’t go to one of those, so I was pretty interested in JR.’s experience in attending one in Texas. You can listen to it here:
B R U C E
It’s summer, and I suppose it’s possible — like at least some of my children suggest — that Bruce gets so cold when he comes into the house from outside. This seems unlikely to me, but it does make for a cute picture!
May all your pictures this week be cute, too. Peace to you!
Matt