About "Scared Children With Cars"

This novel has been three years in the making.  It is the story of five lives.  The five main characters are battling personal crises in the midst of a global event.  It is about how individuals deal with fear, and to some extent how we deal with change and uncertainty as well.


In the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to the characters through a series of relatively mundane events.  We get to know them, a little about who they are and what makes them tick.  Then they start to experience personal revelations.  They begin to question the world around them and their perception of it.


Then we get the global event.  A possibly supernatural occurrence takes place in the deserts of West Africa.  The world takes notice, and many believe it is an omen of the end of times.  Some of our main characters believe this.  Some are skeptical.  Some think it is nonsense.  As the date of the alleged end times draws near, the characters begin experiencing even more hardship and serendipitous encounters until the story reaches a frantic climax.


At the heart of it all, there is Angelo: the realist.  The hard-working American who asks nothing from anyone and is content living his days on his own.  Happy living a simple life until events from the outside world come crashing through his walls and into his home.  And there is Tim: the idealist.  Although Tim has no personal contact or reason to believe in the end time speculation, he is swept up by it.  He becomes enamoured with the idea.  They are the antithetical characters that drive the story forward, and keep doubt in the back of the mind of the reader.


This is a story about love, fear, perception of reality, and how individuals are able to deal with what life presents.