The First 100 Pages of The Pod

In order to read the first 100 pages of 'The Pod' for free, email the author at:

thepodthebook@gmail.com

When you email this address, you should receive a reply containing the free PDF within 24 hours. Apologies for any delays, but they should be minimal.

What do I believe?

In The Pod, I've covered not all, but many of the world's religions. People have become curious as to what I believe if I've brought all these religions together in one story.

When I was growing up, going to church was usually an event that would be voted upon unless mom put her foot down. Usually the vote was to stay home and mom put her foot down on Easter.  This is not to say that my parents are not religious, it's to say that their children, my sister, brother and I were part of the decision. Religion was a choice.

In college I befriended two young muslim men and one of them became my best friend. We were so close that if we didn't see each other for a few days, he'd call me and we might talk for hours. Yet we lived in the same town. He convinced me to go visit Pakistan before 9/11 and I loved it. I loved how friendly everyone was and how beautiful the country was. I was in college at the time and so was my best friend and 9/11 happened. My simple college life with a best friend from Pakistan suddenly got complicated. Just a year after he and I graduated, he was told to go home by the United States government. Here I was in the country where Martin Luther King Jr told us all that we were equal, that our Declaration of Independence said we were all equal, yet my best friend was being kicked out because of his religion and the risk that it posed. I was dumbfounded and I wanted an answer.

 I traveled to Pakistan in 2004. It was my second trip over there and what I found out was shocking. They were far more friendly with me than my first trip. Here they were supposed to hate us, but on the ground over there I felt loved.

Backtrack to my high school days, my family started going to church more often. I became a student of the Bible as I was becoming a Methodist through a series of classes for new youth members. I believed the Bible contained everything you needed to know and that the Methodists had all the answers, but then I met a Catholic that challenged my knowledge. I argued all my points and all my points were answered. It became clear to me that I needed to be more universally correct about Christianity and the Bible and Catholicism had my answers. I felt that Catholics followed the Bible the most closely. So in college I converted. Catholic means "universal" and I felt it at that time.

Fast forward to my time in Pakistan back in 2004. Muslims surrounded me and they were all beautiful to me and I just couldn't universally condemn them, so I had to find a more universal answer. This friend of mine, Nadir, introduced me to Sufism. He said it didn't matter what I believed coming into it, I would be able to find my place just like anyone from any other belief system would. That sounded more universal than Catholic to me. I wouldn't have to condemn anyone with this system of belief. They didn't take money, they didn't want you to recite a belief, they didn't care about establishing a building for worship. Life was the church, life was the belief, life was everything and nothing.

After finishing my book, The Pod, that was heavily weighted with basic Sufi ideals, a person asked me, "What do you believe?" I told him, "I believe in one God, and the World is God's profit." I'm not sure how that can offend anyone. It leaves room for anyone or any being on this Earth or Universe. Even if you only believe in science, God and science can be interchangeable if you do not lock your mind.

Orca

Orca (aka The Killer Whale, aka Officer Orca, aka The Apex of Apex)

male / officer of nature's law / 8 meters (26.2 feet or 3.7 Shaquille O'Neals) / 6.6 tons (or 8.5 F1 cars) / unknown population health

Orca the species:

There are about 40,000 orcas on Earth and they are broken up into groups that are something like a tribe. The tribes are small and as tightly knit as only a woman can weave. There are many ways to classify them, but orcas are either transients, residents or offshore travelers. Yet none of them really share any family bonds regardless of however close they may come into contact with one another. Even the DNA of a transient pod and a resident pod that share common waters have been compared only to discover that the last time they would have intermingled would have been about 10,000 years ago. This independence from one another has created specialization that is absolutely baffling to me. Some resident pods only eat tuna and specialize in that. Some specialize in river salmon, but damned up rivers have hurt ocean going salmon populations and thus pushed certain specialized pods towards local extinction (wink, wink, break the damns). Some hunt only seals, or baleen whales, or dolphins, or whatever they feel like hunting because they're quite literally the top of the food chain. They'll even go after the largest predator in the world, the blue whale. There's records of an orca killing a moose that was in transit for Pete's sake! If you're not too squeamish, look up orca hunting tactic videos. They're amazing and these apex of all apex animals are led by the female matriarch. The complexities of the matriarchal role are not known, but orcas have been observed to be masterful communicators. (Also, if you know who Pete of "Pete's sake" is, shoot me a line.)

Orca the character:

As the apex of nature, orca believes that it's the job of his species to keep all other species in line. He believes in executing nature's law, he believes he's an officer of that law that plans on maintaining order. He can instill fear in any other creature in the ocean, but he has the ability and tendency to take law and order too far, harming those he's sworn to protect. He must do his job, but doing too much of his job serves no one.

"Officer Orca Executing Nature's Law"

Right Whale

Right Whale (aka The Baleen Believer, aka The Right Way Whale)

male / follower of Islam / 19 meters (62 feet or 9.9 Muhammad Alis) / 95 tons (or 2.9 fully loaded cement trucks) / critically endangered

Right whale the species:

The right whale was named by whalers because it was "the right whale" to hunt. It was an easier kill than most because it came in close to the shore, it was a slow swimmer, and once they were killed, they were likely to float. This is because a right whale has a very high blubber content, which also made them perfect for harvesting whale oil. The species is actually comprised of northern pacific right whales, northern atlantic, and southern right whales. The north pacific species is the most critically endangered, but north atlantic rights are struggling to repopulate even while being protected internationally, but the southern right whales are not a huge concern and they're quite amorous so they likely stand a chance to survive going forward. The right whale also has the largest testes in the world, far larger than the next closest testes out there. They actually weigh more than any starting offensive line in the NFL. Despite being slow and rotund, right whales are beautiful breachers. They're very smooth and powerful. They do a lot above the water with their flukes that other whales don't seem to attempt. They're a truly special whale... worthy of a character.

Right the character:

Right is a follower of Islam and he wants to live the right way. He stays dedicated to the teachings of Muhammad, prays 5 times a day, eats the proper way, and wants to maintain his life his way. He's friendly, hospitable, and he's always happy to share his beliefs with you. He's worried about where his place with be in this world where other beliefs collide with his own.

Right Whale Praying For "Maghrib"

Pilot Whale

Pilot (aka The Sea Captain, aka The Natural Born Leader, aka Bossman)

Male / the navigator / 6.7 meters (22 feet or 3.9 Amelia Earharts) / 2.5 tons (or 2.1 Cessna 172 airplanes) / population health unknown

Pilot whale the species:

There are two types of pilot whales, the short-finned and the long-finned. They're closely related, but for the purposes of The Pod, I choose the long-finned pilot whale. Long-finned pilots are blackfish and primarily eat squid, but are also known to eat small fish as well. The name "pilot" was given to this species because it was originally believed that there was one pilot amongst them that would lead the group. Pilots are highly social and both males and females have been observed babysitting calves that are not directly related. They strand themselves more than any other whale and they tend to do so in large numbers. There are several hypotheses as to why this might happen, but I like the idea that they stick together through thick and thin.

Pilot whales have been hunted for over a hundred years by distressing them in boats that form a semicircle and forcing them to beach themselves as they close the circle. The meat is high in protein, but the meat is becoming increasingly dangerous to eat because of increasing mercury levels in the ocean. The reason it's dangerous to eat predators that are high on the food chain is because each level of the food chain passes only a percentage of the energy it consumes, but passes close to 100% of the mercury that's ingested. Tuna, for instance, are on the higher side of the food chain and some species only eat tuna. Day after day. So if you want my non-expert opinion, try eating lower on the food chain if you can help it. And I wouldn't eat a pilot whale either, they're just underneath the apex of all apex creatures, the orca.  

Pilot the character:

Pilot is a natural born leader. He's used to being in charge, but he's got plenty of learning to do before he can be a true leader. True leaders don't just bark orders, they build on potential. Look for Pilot to play an important role.

Lady Melon-headed Whale

Lady Melon Head (aka Mel', aka Melon Headed, aka The Taoist Punk)

Female / a rebel at heart / 3 meters (9.8 ft or 1.9 Lady Gagas) / 440 lbs (or 5 Lady Gagas) / healthy population

Melon-headed whale the species:

A few years ago, a documentary called "Blackfish" was released to the world and seem to indicate that this was the nickname of the infamous killer whale. Unfortunately that's not quite true. This is the nickname of false killer, pilot, pygmy killers, the killer and melon-headed whales. The melon-headed whale is predominantly dark grey except they seem to have lighter "mask" that appears to go over it's face. They prefer deeper water so they're rarely seen by humans, but we do know that their primary diet is squid and that it will associate with dolphins, pilot and humpback whales.

Melon Head the character:

Lady Melon Headed doesn't necessarily need to be called a lady. She's independent and thinks for herself. She rarely trusts information unless she's had a chance to test it herself. She doesn't think she has a religion, she merely follows the Tao. Tao is everywhere so there's no need for her to seek answers about Tao. It's in everything she does and what she does is rebel against organizations that lead her fellow creatures astray. Don't pick a fight with her, she'll end that fight and you won't feel so tough anymore. She's not the biggest of the bunch, but you wouldn't know it by the way she acts.

Gray Whale

Gray (aka Old Gray, aka The Last Atlantic Gray Whale, aka The Devil Fish, aka The Old Warrior, aka The Pagan Remnant)

Male / the last atlantic gray whale / 15 meters (49 feet or 7.9 Chris Hemsworths) / 44 tons (or 29.5 Pagani Huayras) / population 1

Atlantic gray whale the species:

The north atlantic gray whale is considered to be extinct. During the late 17th and 18th century they were gone. However, one gray whale was sighted off the coast of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea. Scientists believe that this was a north pacific gray whale examining old breeding grounds. While they were still being hunted, the gray whale was known as the Devil Fish. Whalers had rough experiences trying to bring them into the boat because they fought back when being hunted. The pacific variety of gray whales still boasts a healthy population and they're friendly with whale watchers that are lucky enough to encounter them in the pacific waters. On one occasion, a female was observed in the southern hemisphere. That migration pattern of grays has, along with the sighting in the Mediterranean Sea, given cetologists hopes for repopulation worldwide. 

Gray the character:  

Gray was a fierce warrior and all the other grays that fell to whaling were fierce as well. He seeks the wisdom of his forefathers, but knows that he's the last atlantic gray left on Earth. He hopes he'll find another gray to make his bride, but so much of him has given up hope. He's looked everywhere for another gray, but they're all gone. He's a pagan and like many other pagans, the old world seems to have disappeared for him. No one thinks like him and the stories that his forefathers taught him are struggling to survive. He is the last of his kind.

   

"The Down and Out Last Atlantic Gray Whale"