Some calendars don’t even have it listed in April, and many people dismiss it as a silly effort of “liberal-minded tree huggers” to promote agendas that will ultimately annoy those who are struggling to make a living (e.g., owls versus logging companies). However, the number of people who observe Earth Day is growing, and as our societies move ever more digital, it is important for us to remember that our very lives are intimately bound to the planet on which we live–and to the flora and fauna that share it with us.
The idea began with Senator Gaylord Nelson, whose proposal led to the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970, coordinated by Denis Hayes, who in 1990 took the environmentalist message to the international community. Today, coordinated by Earth Day Network, it may be the largest secular holiday in the world. Those who founded Earth Day wished to call our attention to the future of our planet. While we debate about global warming, the ocean’s levels are rising. While we carry on our own selfish goals, the world’s population increases, and technologies lengthen life spans. Will the planet be able to support the lifestyles of billions upon billions of industrialized peoples?
Those who read Wolf Code will discover the environmentalist message woven into it. The novel is not didactic; it does not preach at you, but it does gently push you to think about our relationships with the world around us. How do people in the digital age think about the natural world? How do people who watch stories about werewolves think about real wolves who struggle to return from the brink of extinction? Why should we care about animals who face extinction?
One influence behind the novel is the work of Albert Schweitzer, the Nobel Peace Prize winning doctor and humanitarian, who wrote about the “will to live” in all creatures, human as well as other species. He argued “evil” was anything that sought to kill or maime life while “good” was anything affirming life. We should work to alleviate suffering; we should foster what Schweitzer called a “reverence for life.”
SO, IN CELEBRATION OF EARTH DAY 2016, I AM OFFERING TWO DEALS:
(1) A Goodreads Giveaway (one paperback) opens worldwide on April 11 and ends on April 23; you will have a chance to enter wherever you live if you have access to Goodreads. This is an important day to think about the world around us, and I hope Wolf Code helps to inspire such a reverence for life in you.
(2) The Kindle version on Amazon will become a Countdown Deal (for a week) on April 22. If you enter the giveaway on Goodreads, you will learn whether you were selected before the Countdown Deal on Amazon ends. It is fitting that the digital version will be on sale for Earth Day.
If you have any questions, you may always reach out via the Contact Page. Hope you take some time this year to remember how closely our lives are tied to the world around us. What are we doing to ensure that this planet will still be here in the future?