Hello, SE readers! Today I will again focus on inspiration–but with a twist. I’ve been thinking about Mark Twain, and not because I live a couple of hours from the Mississippi River.Rather, it’s because I read some of his science fiction work and was haunted by his comment: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn’t.”

It seems to me that Twain nailed it. Truth is stranger than fiction, and November 2020 is evidence. Most of us could not have imagined the craziness that has unfolded this year. But if anyone could have, wouldn’t it have been the science fiction writers? Those visionaries who populate outer space with odd-looking creatures, who make intergalactic wars part of our vocabulary, who go deep into the earth and uncover cities of strange beings? Yes, those writers.

Inspired by Twain’s statement, let’s visit…