I took a couple of months away from major writing projects after I published The Everything Machine on KDP. It’s sold reasonably well, but it needs more reviews and probably more energy in marketing than I can afford right now. So I’ve been poking around in my writing folders looking for notes or unfinished stories that might be finished. The other day I read through the 38,000 words I have on my non-SF novel Old Catholics. I’ve posted some excerpts here a couple of times across the last seven or eight years. If you’re new to Contra and curious, you can find the excerpts and brief synopses here, here, and here.
Like all my plots, the story is complex, and depends on several key characters, including a resigned priest, the woman he loves, and the cardinal of Chicago. Those three attended Loyola University together and were close friends for…awhile. Many years later, Fr. Rob, who now works at a Catholic goods store selling rosaries and statues, runs into a psychic little old Polish lady from an Old Catholic community that meets in a converted bungalow in Chicago’s Rogers Park. It’s just a few eccentric souls who don’t feel like they belong in mainstream Catholicism. Fr. Rob persuades his college girlfriend, who was excommunicated for divorcing an abusive husband, to attend the church with him. At that point, all sorts of interesting things begin to happen. Then, after the climax, the existing Pope dies, and…you guessed it…the curia elect Chicago’s Cardinal Peter Luchetti as the new Pope, John XXIV. He’s the first American pope, which seemed (back when I wrote what I have) a little far-fetched. And now, surprise! It’s not SF, but I nonetheless predicted something I thought would not happen for decades, if not centuries.
We have an American Pope. Who was born in Chicago.
Wow. Just wow.
Before you jump to conclusions, I know very well that our new Pope Leo XIV was never Chicago’s cardinal. But our new Pope was indeed born in Chicago and did a lot of globe-trotting missionary work before taking the papal throne. So consider this: If I finish and publish Old Catholics, using the notes and plot that I already have, people will assume that I got the idea for an American pope from our new American pope. Not so. Alas, what might have been a startling conclusion for the book in 2015 is just how the church works now in 2025.
I’m conflicted. I may have to throw away big honking chunks of the current text and probably rethink the ending entirely. Will I? Not sure. There are other unfinished projects in my folders, including The Molten Flesh, which has fewer words down but a lot more plot problems. Clearly, there’s some thinking to be done. And brainstorming. And who knows? Maybe I’ll start something brand new from scratch.
Watch this space. When I make a decision, you’ll see it here.
Sounds like the same sort of situation Fran Porretto found himself in. His works, however, had the American pope coming from New York–Gerald Cardinal O’Rourke, prelate to the archdiocese of New York, elected Pope Clement XV in 2030.
Well, anticipatory fiction can get some things right and some things wrong.
For instance, in From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne had three men be launched into space from central Florida, orbit the Moon, splash down in the Pacific, and return in triumph on a US Navy ship.
And there’s what might be called “accidental anticipation”. In Tom Clancy’s 1991 thriller The Sum of All Fears, the Minnesota Vikings have reached Super Bowl with a star running back who led Northwestern to the Rose Bowl. At that time, Northwestern hadn’t had a winning season since 1971, and had gone 6-36-2 in the last four seasons. Four years later, Northwestern really was in the Rose Bowl. Which made some people nervous, as in TSoAF, Arab terrorists attack the Super Bowl with a nuclear bomb.
“…a converted bungalow in Chicago’s Rogers Park…” It’s “just south of Devon Avenue at Campbell”, which I would not consider Rogers Park. It’s either West Ridge or “Little India”. (That stretch of Devon Avenue has the honorary name “Gandhi Marg”.) On the west side of Campbell is Taj Restaurant and Catering.
Well, it’s certainly West Rogers Park, which went as far west as California Ave. Back when Carol and I lived there 1976-79, the first sari shops began moving in. In writing Old Catholics, I was drawing on old memories. It’s definitely Little India now.
I look forward to your decision on which story to proceed with, or if you decide to start anew. My next SF read is going to be Drumlin Circus/On Gossamer Wings.