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A New Novella from John Clarke

Historical fiction and romance collide in an account of young people during a time when the Vietnam War and its aftermath dominate the headlines.

As the heat from the 1967 Summer of Love turns to the chill of winter, a relationship both sweet and bitter is renewed. Decades after their whirlwind 1960s romance ends, strait-laced medical student Carl Blanchard and free-spirited artist Jo Cranston lead separate lives. When a premonitory dream precedes Jo’s sudden reappearance as his patient, Carl and his wife Brenda must confront the past. Their attempt to heal her sets in motion a chain of events spanning continents, culminating in a bittersweet final gift that will forever link their families and test the boundaries of fate and love.

“The Silence Between Years is a masterfully written novel that explores the enduring connections between people and the choices that define their lives…a compelling and heartfelt read.

“Readers who enjoy the works of Nicholas Sparks or Kristin Hannah will appreciate Clarke’s ability to blend emotional depth, personal growth, and poignant relationships into a detailed historical setting.” — Carol Thompson for Readers’ Favorite.

“…the narrative balances intellect and feeling: science and art, duty and desire, then and now. … The writing is thoughtful without being heavy, and poignant without slipping into sentimentality. It’s a story about compassion, second chances, and how love—of any kind—can quietly reshape a life.” — Jennifer Senick for Readers’ Favorite.

“…an incredibly beautiful ending, this is a five-star read. Very highly recommended.” — Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite.

Reviewer #1

“The Silence Between Years by John Clarke is a powerful story set during the Vietnam War era, capturing the turbulence of a generation struggling with love, loss, and self-discovery. Clarke skillfully crafts a narrative that spans decades, examining the complexities of relationships, the burden of personal choices, and the lasting effects of past connections.

“The story starts with Carl Blanchard, a pre-med student, navigating the counterculture of the 1960s. His chance reunion with Joie Cranston, a high school sweetheart turned free-spirited artist, sets the stage for a journey full of emotional highs and lows. The realities of their diverging paths challenge their rekindled bond.

“The novel’s exploration of themes such as love, sacrifice, and the search for meaning is complemented by its historical context. John Clarke’s firsthand experiences during the Vietnam War era immerses readers in the cultural and political climate of the time. The vivid descriptions of Atlanta’s hippie scene, the challenges of medical school, and the haunting landscapes of Laos create a compelling backdrop for the characters’ journeys. The writing captures the era excellently. The dialogue is genuine, and the pacing is seamless.

“The Silence Between Years is a masterfully written novel that explores the enduring connections between people and the choices that define their lives. Readers who enjoy the works of Nicholas Sparks or Kristin Hannah will appreciate Clarke’s ability to blend emotional depth, personal growth, and poignant relationships into a detailed historical setting. Fans of authors who explore themes of love, loss, and resilience will find The Silence Between Years a compelling and heartfelt read.” — Carol Thompson for Readers’ Favorite.

Reviewer #2

“The Silence Between Years by John Clarke is a sweeping read that had my emotions and heart pumping with a fierce arrhythmia. As much as I appreciate Carl as a solid and really caring protagonist, it is the women who take the story to a totally different level.

“Clarke presents Jo’s art as a lifeline that reshapes her direction while her trusted friends, Carl and Brenda, encourage her talent and health.

“The story hits its strongest note when Clarke takes us to Laos in the footsteps of veterans from Luang Prabang to the Plain of Jars, where Jo’s landscape art is a distinct shift from her prior medical illustrations and psychedelic work. I love that her arc is tied to her art, and with an incredibly beautiful ending, this is a five-star read. Very highly recommended.”— Jamie Michele for Readers’ Favorite.

Reviewer #3

“The Silence Between Years by John Clarke is an emotional novel about lost love, unexpected chances, and what it really means to move forward. It begins with Carl, a medical student, reconnecting with his high school sweetheart, Jo, during a trip to Atlanta in search of adventure. Years later, Carl—now a doctor—once again finds his past and present colliding when he meets her again, now known as Josephine Meyers. He learns she’s married to a soldier missing in action. As their lives continue to intertwine through medicine, memory, and mystery, the book asks questions about fate, hope, and the bonds that last long after goodbye. Will they ultimately meet at a point in time that brings them together like they used to be, or will life follow a different course?

“The Silence Between Years left me thinking long after I finished reading the last page. It’s the kind of story that feels quiet at first but slowly builds as it makes its way into your heart. John Clarke writes with such tenderness that even the smallest moments, like an old memory, a hospital conversation, or a simple act of kindness, are charged with emotion.

“What stood out to me the most was how the narrative balances intellect and feeling: science and art, duty and desire, then and now. My favorite part was how Carl gave Jo the gift of using her natural talent in a way she had always wanted to. The writing is thoughtful without being heavy, and poignant without slipping into sentimentality. It’s a story about compassion, second chances, and how love—of any kind—can quietly reshape a life.”—Jennifer Senick for Readers’ Favorite.

Find the Novel on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Between-Years-John-Clarke/dp/B0FVXM3JKV?

You Don’t Need a Tardis for Time Travel

The author discusses their interaction with Dr. Harold Puthoff, a key figure in the CIA’s Remote Viewing program, and its declassification leading to unique storytelling opportunities. Their new novelette, “Soul Has No Name,” explores time travel through human soul “fingerprints.”

Twice, I have been suspected of being a CIA Remote Viewer. I have no idea why.

Harold Puthoff

However, I have hosted the Ph.D. physicist and engineer Dr. Harold Puthoff, who initiated the CIA’s Remote Viewing program. Puthoff, best known currently as a theoretician in UFO propulsion systems within the UAP Disclosure effort, came to our laboratory to lecture our Navy scientists on advanced physics, namely scalar energy.

He had been slated to speak elsewhere, but at the last minute, that Navy venue became unavailable. Only after Puthoff returned to the Stanford Research Institute did I discover his past involvement in the dark side of national intelligence

Stargate Project

After the U.S. Army showed an interest in the CIA’s remote viewing results, the program became known as the Stargate Project. Not surprisingly, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was involved. Since Stargate has been declassified, the internet is awash with information about this unique intelligence-gathering technique.

What does that have to do with the Tardis?

As the “Doctor Who” fandom knows, the Tardis is a fictional time machine/spaceship. Even though the Tardis looks like a nondescript British Police phone booth, it is anything but.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Remote Viewing as a Literary Device

Thanks to declassification, we know that Stargate Project remote viewers could reportedly “view” past and future events. That is, the viewers could travel through time sans Tardis.

But just imagine what Remote Viewing can contribute to storytelling. Based on what we know about real-life remote viewing, a character in a book or short story can be bestowed with seemingly magical powers to see clearly at a distance, both backward and forward in time. Best of all, the reader does not need to suspend disbelief because those powers are real, at least in trained viewers.

This author could not resist using that literary device in books two and three of the Jason Parker Trilogy. In Triangle and Atmosphere, a blind remote viewer keeps distant tabs on the series’ protagonist and his female accomplice.

Borrowing again from Remote Viewing, there is the new $2.99 novelette Soul Has No Name.

Soul Has No Name

The above history, including my serendipitous nexus with the avowed father of the Remote Viewing programs, provides a little background on my latest publication. Soul Has No Name, A Story of Soul Travel is a longish short story (aka novelette) about a specialized, boutique form of time travel from the comfort of a padded recliner. No phone booth is required.

That makes it yet another form of time travel using remote viewing. Of course, such a thing is entirely fictional.

Unless it isn’t.

Soulmates

The story’s premise differs from other time travel stories because it’s dependent on future technology that can identify the “fingerprint” of human souls. After all, based on known physics, energy cannot be created or destroyed. Likewise, a soul’s energy is unique and everlasting. Knowing those soul fingerprints, technology can be applied to match those unique energies throughout time. One’s fingerprints can lead to “meetings” with soul mates. Past lives literally become alive, at least for a brief soul-travel interval.

(Please remember the previous paragraph includes some fiction. It only makes sense to the reader after the requisite “suspension of disbelief.” For the reader (and this author), there is no requisite belief in past lives, reincarnation, or anything else. Like any good science fiction, the story assumes certain things can happen, whether they actually can or not. It’s “make-believe.”)

Of course, no time travel story would be complete without someone screwing things up. In this case, the protagonist has his entire life upended for a reason and in a way that no one would suspect.

All things considered, Soul Has No Name is unique in the science fiction time-travel genre.

Review

Commercialized Time Travel as a boutique industry.

“In all the millions of words I’ve read, I never came across Clarke’s time travel concept. This story ranks near the top of my long list of science fiction short stories.” Robert G. Williscroft, Bestselling author of The Starchild Saga and The Oort Chronicles.

Shortly after Time Travel is commercialized, a boutique specialty focuses on identifying and tracking human souls through their unique energy “fingerprints”—fingerprints that remain unchanged through all incarnations of that soul, swapping from one gender to the next, and even while inhabiting other Earth or off-planet locations.

In the mid-21st Century, commercial time travel to experience a soul’s previous lifetimes becomes a most exotic and expensive recreational adventure, taking the explorer on individualized trips back through time. Through Spirit Writing, a fallout of time travel, we follow a Tennessee family that drops in on its Scottish Highlander forebears in the 1620s, rebounding back to Atlanta in 2040, then on to Boston and Hungary in 2080. Soul connections, multi-generational romance, and devastating foibles highlight this tale.”

Header image credit: Photo by Dingzeyu Li on Unsplash

Remote Viewing – Stretching the Limits of Science in Fiction

puthoff_lg — Laser physicist Harold E. Puthoff.

I once met the Father of the U.S Remote Viewing program, unawares.

A decade ago, at the request of a Navy engineer who ended up being a character in my novel Middle Waters, I invited Dr. Harold E. Puthoff into the Navy Experimental Diving Unit to give a talk on advanced physics. He had attracted a small but highly educated and attentive crowd which, like me, had no idea that the speaker had once led the CIA in the development of its top secret Remote Viewing program.

Of late, Puthoff’s energies have been directed towards the theoretical “engineering of space time” to provide space propulsion, a warp drive if you will. Although strange by conventional physics standards, similar avant-garde notions are receiving traction in innovative space propulsion engines such as NASA’s EMdrive.

Puthoff is the Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Austin, in Texas, but before that, and more germane to this discussion, Puthoff was a laser physicist at the Stanford Research Institute. It was there that the CIA chose him to lead a newly created Remote Viewing program, designed to enable the U.S. to maintain some degree of competiveness with Russia’s cold war psychic spying program.

09-02-1220_26_07low — 6800 feet down in the Desoto Canyon

Psychic spying was purportedly the method used by the two superpowers to visualize things from a distance; not from a satellite, but from what some call the highly developed powers of the mind’s eye. If we believe what we read on the subject, Remote Viewing was eventually dropped from the US psychic arsenal not because it had no successes, but because it was not as reliable as signal intelligence (SIGINT), satellite imagery, and spies on the ground. But, it has been argued, it might be ideal in locations where you can’t put spies on the ground, such as the dark side of the moon, or the deep sea .

Serendipitously, as I started writing this blog post, Newsweek published a review of the Remote Viewing efforts of Puthoff and others in a November 2015 issue. The article seemed fairly inclusive, at least more so than other articles on Remote Viewing I’ve seen, but the Newsweek author was not particularly charitable towards Puthoff. Strangely, the strength and veracity of Puthoff’s science was reportedly criticized by two New Zealand psychologists who, as the Newsweek author quoted, had a “premonition” about Puthoff.

“Psychologists” and “premonitions” are not words commonly heard in the assessment of science conducted by laser physicists, especially those employed by the CIA. The CIA is not stupid, and neither are laser physicists from Stanford.

To the extent that I am able to judge a man by meeting him in person and hearing him talk about physics, I would have to agree with Puthoff’s decision to ignore his ill-trained detractors. Every scientist I know has had detractors, and as often as not those detractors have lesser credentials. Nevertheless, I have the good sense to not debate the efficacy of remote viewing. I don’t know enough about it to hold an informed opinion. However, there seems to be some evidence that it worked occasionally, and for a science fiction writer that is all that is needed.

Enrico%20Fermi%20chalkboard — Nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi.

As my curiosity became piqued by the discovery of the true identity of my guest speaker at NEDU, and as I learned what he had done for the U.S. during the Cold War, I thought of another great physicist, Enrico Fermi, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb. In the midst of a luncheon conversation with Edward Teller, Fermi once famously asked, “Where are they?” The “they” he was referring to, were extraterrestrial aliens.

What became known as Fermi’s Paradox went something like this: with all the billions of stars with planets in our galactic neighborhood, statistically there should be alien civilizations everywhere. But we don’t see them. Why not? “Where are they?”

In most scientists’ opinions, it would be absurdly arrogant for us to believe we are the only intelligent life form in the entire universe. And so ETs must be out there, somewhere. And if there, perhaps here, on our planet, at least occasionally. And that is all the premise you need for a realistic, contemporary science fiction thriller.

But then there is that pesky Fermi Paradox. Why don’t we see them?

Well, they could indeed be here, checking us out by remote viewing, all the while remaining safely hidden from sight. After all, as one highly intelligent Frog once said, humans are a “dangerous species” —fictionally speaking of course.

That “hidden alien” scenario may be improbable, but it’s plausible, if you first suspend a little disbelief. If we can gather intelligence while hiding, then certainly they can, assuming they are more advanced than humans. A technological and mental advantage seems likely if they are space travelers, which they almost have to be within the science fiction genre. Arguably, fictional ETs may have long ago engineered space-time, which could prove mighty convenient for tooling around the galactic neighborhood.

So, if in the development of a fictional story we assume that ETs can remote view, the next question would be, why? Is mankind really that dangerous?

Well, I don’t intend for this post to be a spoiler for Middle Waters, but I will say that the reasons revealed in the novel for why ETs might want to remote view, are not based on fear of humans, but are based on sound science. From that science, combined with a chance meeting with Hal Puthoff, the basic premise of a science fiction thriller was born.

So, to correct what some of my readers have thought, I did not invent the concept of “remote viewing”. It is not fictional; it is real, and was invented and used by far smarter people than myself, or even that clever protagonist, Jason Parker.