In my 10/29 blog post, “Theme v. Plot,” I explained the difference between theme and plot and gave some examples.  The bottom line: themes are woven into plots; while some plots have no major theme worth mentioning (fluffy romances and cozy mysteries for example), mine usually do.  (Some people don’t like that.  That’s fine.  Don’t read my novels then!)  So, at the risk of being accused of blatant self-promotion, let me list some of the themes you’ll find in my novels.  Mind you, I don’t use these themes to proselytize–I often present both sides of an issue with one character espousing one view, another the other.  The themes are sometimes indicated in the blurbs, but those mainly deal with the plot, not the themes.  Here we go:

Environmental issues.  Climate control, global warming, green energy, carbon emissions, toxic wastes—these all fit into this theme.  It’s always been a big concern of mine.  I’m a long-standing member of The Nature Conservancy and sympathizer of the World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, and the various PIRGs that push environmental issues (I have to limit my financial support to just one unfortunately).  What we’ve done to our planet and continue doing is unconscionable.  Because I’ve neglected this theme far too long, it will be a main theme in Chen and Castilblanco #7, Gaia and the Goliaths (coming next year!).

Arms smuggling and gun control.  This topic is probably on everyone’s mind as the discussion sparked by the slaughter of twenty-six people in Connecticut continues (see Tuesday’s post, “Who are the Criminals?”).  I explore both the national and international problems in Angels Need Not Apply and Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder.  Do I have a solution?  Nope.  As long as the NRA is around, I can only point out the problems.

WMDs. These include dirty bombs, biologicals, and chemical and atomic weapons.  Whether you can call an IED like a pipe bomb or explosive pressure cooker a WMD is a matter of debate.  We haven’t faced the big stuff yet in this country, but is it only a matter of time?  While small groups of insane individuals or a solitary gunman can make the use of the small stuff more frequent (you can find directions on the internet), we should always be on the watch for groups who want a bigger bang for their effort.  My novels The Midas Bomb and Aristocrats and Assassins have this as a theme.  A form of biological warfare is considered in No Amber Waves of Grain.

Organ harvesting and cloning.  There have been rumors.  Whether unfounded or not, it’s only a matter of time because the financial rewards and desire for a longer life are strong motivators.  It’s the law of supply and demand at the criminal level.  There are never enough donors, so there’s a black market for this.  It can be highly organized, but probably not as much as in Full Medical—just fiction…for now.

Futuristic weapons and soldiers.  Soldiers with augmented skill sets through armor or breeding are associated with this common theme in sci-fi, but the technology is close at hand.  The situations in Muddlin’ Through and Evil Agenda could happen sooner than I imagined, though.

Capitalism without control.  Like most of these themes, I’ve often treated this one in my blog, but it’s an important one in much of my fiction too.  Mind you, I don’t have problems with capitalism per se;  I just don’t like its excesses.  Examples of books with this theme are The Midas Bomb, Survivors of the Chaos, and Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in Your Hand!

Government excesses.  While capitalism can create its own excesses, greed often being the motivation, governments aren’t immune to these ills, and power over citizens’ lives is often the motivation.  The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan is an example of excesses generated by bureaucratic paranoia.

Stalking and sexual deviancy.  Women are the usual victims here, and the perpetrators are generally mentally disturbed or obsessive control freaks (“if I can’t have you, no one else will!”).  We have too much of it in our society.  The extremes often go beyond angry men turning violent in domestic disputes.  In fact, real life is often more horrendous than Mary Jo Melendez’ experience in Silicon Slummin’…and Just Gettin’ By.

Fanaticism v. spirituality and religious intolerance.  Spirituality can enrich our lives.  Fanaticism is a mental disease.  Soldiers of God considers both.  Religious intolerance finds its extremes in oppressive theocracies—throughout history humans have murdered humans in the name of religion.  I’ll put that into a futuristic setting in Rogue Planet (coming next year!)—any similarities with current day events are entirely intentional.

Terrorism.  Having lost a relative and many friends and colleagues in 9/11, this is a pet topic of mine.  I’m hawkish about it—the only good terrorist is a dead terrorist!  I might try to understand why s/he becomes a fanatic, but that personal mantra doesn’t change.  There are too many books with this theme in my catalog to list, but you can start with The Midas Bomb (a second edition, completely rewritten and re-edited, will soon be available).

The definition of “family.”  What we mean by “family” has certainly evolved.  In Family Affairs, I consider some of the variants, probably many more than you could have imagined because I go far beyond dysfunctional families and petty squabbles between family members.  The book is a mystery, after all, but it also gives a different face to terrorism.

Sex slaves, prostitution, and child porn.  Another pet theme of my mine is the exploitation of women and children for financial gain.  In a documentary we saw at the Montclair Film Festival, I was surprised at how young some of the prostitutes were.  This was the last motivation I needed to write The Collector, where this theme comes to the fore.

The illegal drug trade.  Drug addiction is a big problem in this country.  It’s not just a problem among the rich and famous because drug suppliers now make their profits off volume, from the inner cities to the suburbs and rural areas.  Addicting people is big business, and this business of the local dealers and cartels is yet another insidious form of terrorism perpetrated against our citizenry.  Angels Need Not Apply focuses on this theme, among others.

Exploring social mores: As the definition of “family” has changed, so have our social mores.  We’re often victims of our Puritan heritage in this country.  Can we move beyond that?  Can we learn to be more accepting and still remain human?  Maybe it will take human beings, version 2.0, to accomplish this.    This theme is explored in More than Human: The Mensa Contagion.

This list of themes from my novels isn’t exhaustive, and many books and even short stories contain multiples of these themes.  You can either accept them as making the plots more relevant and interesting, or simply ignore them (hopefully the former).  The story, the plot, is always the main thing, of course, as it should be.  Plot, characters, and settings are essential elements of a good story.  I happen to think themes make the story even better, but you might not find them as essential as I do.

[Note: As with my blog posts, I’m willing to see your opinions about my novels and their plots and themes.  I respect other opinions if they’re logically reasoned—I always have.  At the very worst, we’ll agree to disagree.  Use my contact page to drop me an email…or join discussions on Goodreads, because I’m sure other authors have treated some of these themes.  Reading is often a passive activity—make it a more active one in your life!]

In elibris libertas….

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