Bayou, Louisiana; Washington D.C.; Future – Past – Present

The bayou has changed; it is hot, dry, and dusty, where time fluxes, and gravity storms are the norm. Buddy La Blanc has grown up watching these storms, which are the end result of extensive experiments by government and corporations. From this tampering, the earth is now caught in a web of gravity, time, and weather storms. It is not uncommon to see a man attired in a toga, signing up volunteers to fight in the Trojan War. Windstorms start from the ground to the sky. Antarctica has become a desert, and the Sahara is forming glaciers. There are new religions, and new fashions. Keeping up with the frenzied times are new diseases: On To The Next Thing Syndrome, Too Many Things At Once Disorder, Chronic Inertia Syndrome, Velocity Syndrome, to name a few. Is this the beginning of the golden age?

Buddy is a gentle soul; he was born with a special gift, and this talent can make things happen -- from helping an old man pick up change on the ground, to controlling gravity storms. As Buddy gets older, he feels he must do something to help the crisis the world is in. Polly, his mother, worries, because these are the same comments his father made, and Polly never saw him again. She does not want to lose Buddy to the chaos of the world and tries to keep him close, but that changes when a circus sets up next to her restaurant.

Buddy is invited to join the circus by the fortune teller...maybe this is where he will meet his destiny? But once again, things have a way of changing; the circus loses its appeal. Why go to the circus to see the freaks and the death defying acts when all you need to do is take a look around? The circus performers and Buddy agree that something must be done to put life back the way it should be. They join forces with a beautiful TV reporter, Rhonda, and become revolutionaries. Will the fate of the country depend on Buddy and his circus friends?

THE TIME OF NEW WEATHER is an eccentric adventure of life run amuck. The president, Spud Thompson, is informed that the United States has been acquired by a leverage buyout -- or corporate takeover. To the president’s dismay, he is told the constitution only applies to the government, corporations are exempt. What will become of the country? Why would anyone expect a government to make money? What can Buddy and his group of misfits do to help? How does the now ex- president know who Buddy is, and where he lives?

Sean Murphy has crafted a story that is a precarious balance between a satire and a silly frolic through a world where time is out of sync and gravity has lost its weight. If readers can wrap their brains around this story, they will find it illuminating.

Deborah C Jackson