My journey with ‘Silent Consent’ began during a challenging time in my life when someone close to me was undergoing physical rehabilitation. The daily commute to the rehabilitation center, involving two hours of train and bus rides three times a week, provided time for solitude and reflection.
During one of these commutes, I crafted a short story that would ultimately lay the foundation for the first chapter of my novel. Drawing from my background in teaching animal behavior classes, this tidbit sparked a disturbing question: What will happen in our world once the declining oil reserves no longer meet our energy demands?
Like any species facing dwindling resources, we would endure population collapses and radical societal transformations aimed at controlling the last vestiges of energy. Our endeavors to preserve our civilization would occur within a deteriorated world with scant remaining resources. Our farmlands would suffer from diminished fertility, a trait we would likely share due to the endocrine damage wrought by pollution, especially those already disrupting animal estrogen and testosterone production.
As I waited for and rode the trains and busses three days a week, the first chapters of Silent Consent flowed into my notebooks. The narrative demanded its existence, and I couldn’t resist its call for life. Two years and many edits later, I had my first draft.