The more social controls we put upon people, the greater the cry for freedom, but what does freedom really look like? Freedom is a recurring theme in MUTINY and reference is made, in Chapter 25, to Big Brother from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four:
[Michael clears his throat. “In his 1949 novel – NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR – George Orwell feared a Big Brother who would control us all, even our thoughts. I’m afraid we have arrived at the gates to this Orwellian world and are mesmerized by distractions that disguise what is really happening to us. The very foundations of society are crumbling.”]
A parallel to 1984 is the life of the protagonist, Sir Christopher Jenson. He seems to have lost his career mojo and, when an investigation goes awry, he is more than willing to change. And, so are a few other characters and I think this ‘freedom’ theme helps create several layers in MUTINY.
Orwell’s predictions are rapidly finding fulfilment in society today, aided by many geo-political conflicts. Yet, in the midst of these, MUTINY is able to finish on a positive note – one that leaves Sir Christopher with a sense of hope and love. Was it planned that way or did it just ‘happen.’ Perhaps the readers will find the answer.
There is much debate and mystery to the idea of having to turn wine bottles to improve their flavour and consistency.
William Shakespeare uses this line in his play Romeo and Juliet to convey the idea that the naming of things is irrelevant. Now, who would I be to question Shakespeare. But, a name may be relevant in conveying something more important than the person or object? For example, we name our children after their grandparents for example. In my new novel, why did I chose the name Captain Ted Cooper for my submarine commander? Ted Cooper was a close neighbour and friend I knew in high school. We were both in a school play – King Lear as it happens. I remember being a guard in the play and Ted was backstage. After the last performance, to celebrate we sailed a twenty-four foot wooden boat into the night. We were blind like King Lear – unable to see in the dark – and eventually beached on an island to get some sleep. The boat leaked, but we happily explored and had a great time. Ted went on to serve in the merchant navy as a captain before passing away at a rather young age. Using his name seemed most appropriate for the submarine commander in my book. Any other name was (sorry, Shakespeare) not quite as sweet. Of course, I did check out the list of USA sub commanders, the most famous being 
The water in a flowing river ripples over rocks and this keeps it fresh. I hope my stories work like that—like a flowing stream that has a few eddies and a few quiet ponds, but then races downhill over rapids to arrive full of oxygen and life. Ask yourself this question as a writer; does my writing suck oxygen from the reader or pump oxygen into them? I have had the privilege of taking high school students down New Zealand’s Whanganui River. By the end of the trip they were all looking forward to more rapids and became exited when they could hear the roar of water ahead of them. Stories can be like that too.