You decide.

A few posts ago, I talked about comments I've received in response to Unlived series book ads, along with some from those who have read Raymond's story.

Very different interpretations of what the book is about; here's mine.

Raymond and Shelly first meet as young, recent high school graduates "living" unlived lives in Antigua. In another, they are middle-aged in Vietnam after the war, brought together by circumstances. They have no recollection of each other in these separate unlived lives.

Asian, as Raymond refers to him (his name is Giáp) plays a pivotal role: guiding Raymond through his alternate lives.

Enigmatic, a quiet observer of the human soul, he asks questions no one wants or has thought to ask. He forces characters to make choices they'd rather not make.

In some ways, he is who I would want to guide me through my immortality search were I in Raymond's position.

I created Raymond Quinn, and soon to be Shelly Bennett, as surrogates for all of us. Apologies to all whose name actually is Raymond Quinn and/or Shelly Bennett, this is fiction, they don't exist. However, maybe their stories will encourage readers to look back on their own unlived lives resulting from the choices they did (and did not) make.

Why should they, why should you? The answer for that is up to each of us as individuals.

For me, it is as Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living".   

Raymond, Shelly, and soon to follow the stories of other characters confronting their unlived lives isn't about immortality. Whatever that will be largely comes from the lives we do live.

But it does suggest we benefit looking back on our past choices as a way to make better choices in the future.