Hey there!

I first heard about the butterfly effect in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel Interesting Times, where he introduces the quantum weather butterfly (Papilio tempestae).

​According to the Discworld wiki, these butterflies "have wings of an undistinguished yellow with black mandelbrot patterns, and fractal edges of infinite length." They can create weather by flapping said wings.

Normally these butterflies use this quality for courtship or survival, but, from what I recall about the book, a small flock of them can also wreak havoc on the weather systems for an entire continent. (Don't ask me for details, it's been a long time since I read it.)

Oh, hold on.

A quick internet search has informed me that a group of butterflies is actually called either a "kaleidoscope" or a "flutter."

Cute!

Anyway — back to the butterfly effect. Back when I was devouring Discworld novels in high school/middle school, I was intrigued by this idea that the tiniest of actions could have enormous consequences. After all, it's one of those notions that feels objectively true.

We can all think back to a seemingly tiny thing that shifted events around it.

Your cat knocked your keys behind the couch, which made you miss your bus and late for work — but the bus you normally would have taken caught on fire. And your seat mate on the bus you did end up taking asked for your number, and turned out to be your soul mate!

Or an offhand comment that a teacher made in elementary school — "You're such a good writer!" or "You'll never make it as a soccer player" — caused you to consider (or drop) a career path.

The butterfly effect is one of those concepts that comes up a lot in time travel stories. That's not normally my genre because I tend to find them frustrating, but I've consumed a few of them over the past year, and each one has brought up those pesky butterflies.

First I read "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury while I was bingeing his short stories last fall. This is apparently the OG reference, a classic example of how the tiniest change in the past can have repercussions that resonate throughout the future.

Then, I heard a reference in the Netflix series, Bodies, which is an excellent show about a mysterious dead man that shows up in the same London alley in four different timelines (1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053). The show weaves together the timelines of the four detectives who discover the body, as their own stories become inextricably linked. And, of course, the smallest of changes to the timeline have enormous consequences.

Finally, I started reading 11/22/63 by Steven King, which features a discussion about the butterfly effect early on. I'm enjoying the book so far (NO SPOILERS, I'M NOT DONE YET!!), especially the bits abut how history echoes itself.

In non time travel masterpieces, my husband and I also rewatched Jurassic Park recently, where Dr. Ian Malcolm famously uses the butterfly effect to explain chaos theory: "A butterfly can flap its wings in Peking," he says, "and in Central Park, you get rain instead of sunshine."

So I started wondering where that phrase even came from. Which sent me off on a Wikipedia trail about the butterfly effect, where I discovered something rather funny.

It was originally posited as a weather model by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz, who used it to describe how the details of a storm — like its time of formation or the path it takes — is influenced by the smallest external forces.

That's not the funny bit. It's this sentence:

"Lorenz originally used a seagull causing a storm but was persuaded to make it more poetic with the use of a butterfly and tornado by 1972."

Ah, marketing.

Anyway, I wanted to share that delightful fact with you all.

Watch out for the seagull effect, friends.

In writing news...

I'm busy polishing up the deleted Bulari Saga scenes that will be included in the Bulari Saga Travel Guide when I release it in October. (Kickstarter backers: you'll get your copies when they're ready to go in September.)

It's been very fun to dip into the heads of minor characters, and revisit the story from a few different points of view.

Speaking of! The scene that Kickstarter backers chose to have me write an alternate of is...

(Drumroll please!)

The climax of Double Edged. From Blackheart's point of view.

And wow, was that fun to write. :)

I've got a busy month of travel ahead of me, so emails might be a bit more sporadic during August. If you want to keep up with me, @kwakjessie on Instagram is the place!

But before I wander off...

For Your TBR

My friend Mark Teppo is releasing a special edition of his wonderful Night Office books!

I adore these books — they're like the Choose Your Own Adventure stories I used to love as a kid, where you get to pick your own path through the story in order to reveal different aspects of it and find new ways to succeed. (Or, mostly fail.)

Mark's writing is engaging and delightful, and this format of storytelling is so much fun. Just like the Choose Your Own Adventure books you remember from childhood, every choice you make has repercussions down the line.

(Oooh, seagull effect! She's getting thematic!)

And just like those books, a lot of those repercussions involve you dying in dramatic and clever ways. I think CYA books were what taught most of us 80s kids to be so scared of shark attacks and quicksand, honestly.

I got a chance to see the prototype volumes in person, and they're gorgeous. One thing I love about Mark's publishing business is he truly loves books as objects of art, and is focused on creating beautiful books as well as telling fun stories. Do yourself a favor and pick up the absolutely stunning hardcovers if they're in your budget.

But don't worry if you're an ebook reader like me. The stories are still a super fun experience digitally.

Anyway — go check these books out!

Another friend just launched a Kickstarter for his new book, too: Dead Coast by Jordan P. Barnes. It's a post-apocalyptic survival thriller which sounds fascinating and is set in the Pacific Northwest. I'm really looking forward to reading it!

Happy reading,

Jessie

P.S. When I went searching for seagull-themed photos to include as a thumbnail for this post, I came across this hilarious series I took of my husband on our last bike tour. I just had to share them here!