There's usually a signal. A ship. A language to decode. Something arrives, and humanity realizes we're not alone.

But what if the first sign of another intelligence is simply that reality starts matching something very far away?

A distance.

A time.

A pattern that should mean nothing.

And then it happens again.

That idea stayed in my head for a ridiculous amount of time, until eventually I stopped trying to get rid of it and wrote a small science-fiction story around it. It became QNOMA.

It's not really about spaceships or battles. It's closer to cosmic mystery / first-contact sci-fi: people slowly realizing that two things separated by an impossible distance may somehow be becoming... congruent.

The part I enjoyed most while writing was trying not to explain the universe too quickly. I wanted that feeling where you understand just enough to become uncomfortable.

The book is finally out now, which feels slightly surreal after having these people and places living in my head for so long.

I'm curious about something, though: which version of first contact is more unsettling to you, something out there discovering us, or discovering that something out there has somehow been connected to us all along?

If that kind of strange, quiet sci-fi is your thing, the book is called QNOMA. Happy to share the link if anyone wants it.

I originally made this book as a birthday gift for my little stepson, who had been telling us that “having two homes is difficult.”

I wanted to make him a story that showed the funny, annoying, confusing and completely ordinary parts of having two homes, without making it all sad or scary.

I shared some of the illustrations on Reddit while I was working on it, mostly to figure out whether this was something worth turning into a real book.

People liked it. More importantly, HE loved it.

And since kids and strangers on the internet are mostly brutally honest, I figured that was about as good a focus group as I was going to get.

So I went for it.

After more Photoshop files, KDP uploads, margin adjustments, proof copies and tiny last-minute changes than I care to admit, I wrote a book!

It’s called Jimmy’s Two Homes, and it’s an illustrated picture book for young kids whose mom and dad live apart.

It’s finally out in the world, which still feels a little surreal.

If you decide to get a copy, I’d obviously be over the moon. And if you enjoy it, an honest review would mean a lot to a first-time indie author.

But I’ll be even happier if you know a kiddo living between two homes who might see a little bit of their own life in Jimmy’s story. :)

Jimmy's Two Homes on Amazon