Afterword to the Wise of Heart

The writing of this story was almost as much of an adventure as the story itself. Cancelled, de-platformed, re-platformed, funded amid national publicity, and rushed to a release. If you’re one of those who volunteered to be part of that story, you’re part of something special.

The first and most important acknowledgement goes out to the backers. Whether you suffered through the cancellation on Kickstarter and came to FundMyComic to renew your pledge, or whether you were outraged at the cancellation and came to FundMyComic to do something about it, you are an important part of an epic victory over the forces of bigotry and intolerance running rampant through our culture. You have volunteered to be a part of the memorable story behind the funding and backing of this book, and I trust you found the completed story, once delivered, equally memorable.

There once was a time that cancellation of a crowdfund project was a death knell. The creator would recoil in shame at having transgressed and having been discovered to have defied social norms. The backers would wonder if there was something wrong with the project that they perhaps hadn’t perceived themselves, and they would distance themselves lest they be tarred with the same brush. The herd would run away and allow the predators to devour their wounded member.

That is no longer how it works. Kickstarter in particular and big tech in general have played the isolate and ostracize game too many times, and everyone who’s paying attention is wise to it.

Backers and fans are no longer intimidated by vague accusations hurled about by big tech gatekeepers. They don't wonder if the Trust and Safety commissars’ calumnies might be true. Instead, backers run to the sound of the guns. Even those with no initial stake in the project are outraged by the injustice of the cancellation, and they rally to show their support, ensuring that the cancellation will not stand.

The crowdfund campaign at FundMyComic closed at comfortably over double what it was when Kickstarter cancelled it. That’s enough to allow not only Elin Chancey’s excellent art to be fully funded before the novel’s release, but also enough to fund audio book production.

If you’re a backer, that’s YOUR accomplishment, not mine. Yours and your fellow backers. You refused to let Kickstarter’s cancellation stand, and you followed the campaign to its new home at FundMyComic, in many cases, increasing your pledge. Or you heard about the cancellation, and you decided to support a worthy cause. Or you became a paid subscriber to The Wise of Heart on Substack. Whichever way, you made it happen, and you became a player in a story every bit as memorable as the one you backed. Elin Chancey and I were just on the sidelines cheering you on.

That anti-fragility was a beautiful thing to behold, and we’re both most grateful to have been on the receiving end of it. From the bottom of our hearts, “thank you!”

I want to acknowledge the legal and medical experts who reviewed portions of my story and provided advice and suggestions. William F. Uemura provided helpful feedback, particularly reminding me of the charming phrase a “champertous connivance” from To Kill A Mockingbird which I smuggled into this story. Given the controversy this book has inspired, others prefer not to be named, but their assistance was invaluable. Still others have no knowledge of this project, but made significant contributions, nevertheless. In particular, Prof. Joe Cain helpfully posted the complete transcript of the Scopes Trial on his blog and provided an outline of the contents. This became the outline of my fictional account, and I helped myself to large portions of the legal wrangling to make my courtroom drama as realistic as possible.

My early readers provided valuable insights, suggestion, and feedback, foremost among them, the Aetherczarina. Other early readers included science fiction grandmaster John C. Wright, proprietor at scifiwright.com, and author of Count to a Trillion, The Golden Age, Somewither, Superluminary, and many other epic tales. Francis Porretto, author of The Spooner Federation Saga and The Realm of Essences, provided feedback and has been a long-time supporter on his blog, Liberty’s Torch (libertystorch.info). Fenton Wood assisted, and I recommend his excellent books including Hacking Galileo, Nightland Racer, and Pirates of the Electromagnetic Waves. Brandy Harvey, Danielle Gaines, Cheryl, Allen Lakner, and others read early drafts and provided feedback. Robert Kroese, author of acclaimed series like Iron Dragon, Mammon, and Codex Babylon, provided advice on fulfillment. I’m also indebted to Rob for starting BasedCon and for providing such a congenial forum for me to meet fellow authors and fans. Finally, Luke Stone not only had the foresight to set up FundMyComic, but also is a superb comic artist in his own right. Check out his work at LukeStoneStudios.com.

Ultimately this story is my responsibility alone, but it would not be what it is without the generous help and assistance of many contributors to whom I am most grateful.

Background and Additional Reading

I was inspired to write The Wise of Heart while watching Inherit the Wind, so comparing and contrasting both works with respect to the historical source material might be of interest.

Inherit the Wind takes certain liberties with the real-world events of the trial. For instance, Scopes was not an innocent victim, but rather an active participant in the conspiracy to create a test case for a new law in Tennessee forbidding any teaching of evolution that denied the divine account of creation.

The townspeople were not frenzied, raving, religious fanatics, but were genuinely interested in challenging what they perceived to be an unjust law in court. The media circus surrounding the trial wasn’t just the acerbic commentary of H.L. Mencken, but rather a raucous and robust clash featuring opposing perspectives of the underlying events.

I turned to the original trial transcript to construct a narrative more in line with the events of a century ago, but set in the present day. I invented my own clash of the titans with prominent (but entirely fictional) senators on opposing sides. The conflict of science versus religion became one of science against the academic thought police pushing the woke transgender ideology.

I kept a gray-haired reporter channeling H.L. Mencken’s original commentary and added a chorus of journalistic archetypes who will be familiar to any contemporary observer of the media.

I made the high school teacher and the romantic subplot more central to the story. Acey genuinely surprised me as I was writing her by insisting on stealing the limelight from her “stepsister,” rebelling against her mother, and becoming, from a certain perspective, the real heroine of the story.

Instead of a story focusing primarily on the courtroom clash of ideologies and ideologues, I aimed to craft a story in which even the more minor characters had definite and engaging character arcs. From a literary perspective, I found myself recycling a couple clever plot gimmicks from Lois McMaster Bujold. I’ll take the liberty to offer a qualified recommendation for her Miles Vokosigan science fiction action-adventure novels.

Senator Chad Travis was inspired by Clarence Darrow, spiced with a mélange of Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz.

Senator Castillo was inspired by William Jennings Bryan with additional inspiration from Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Khiara Bridges, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Rachel (née Richard) Levine, Maxine Waters, and Jordan B. Peterson.

Antiracist Baby and Pink is for Boys are actual books. The fictional second grade teacher’s sex and gender awareness curriculum is taken from the official New Jersey curriculum for elementary school students.

The student who identified as a “boy named Sue” was indeed a nod to the Johnny Cash song. Sue Hicks was a member of the Scopes prosecution team, having received that name in memory of his mother, Sue, who died giving birth to him. His career and life were nothing like those of the fictional Sue in the song, but his name probably did inspire it.

There really was a reporter at the Scopes Trial who broke the scoop about the judge denying the motion to quash the indictment by inferring that the judge’s refusal to agree to an interview meant the trial would continue.

At the Scopes Trial, Clarence Darrow complained that William Jennings Bryan was being addressed as “Colonel” in reference to an honorary commission in the state militia. The court mollified him with a “temporary honorary” commission, so that he could be addressed similarly. That incident inspired Senator Travis’ objection to “Profesora” Castillo and the subsequent resolution.

William Jennings Bryan really did die just days after the trial, an event the writers of Inherit the Wind transposed to the trial climax. I chose to have Senator Castillo faint and recover to allay suspicion, and then “die suddenly” instead at what would have been her presidential candidacy announcement. Was it the vax? Or climate change? Or a random coincidence? I leave the question as an exercise for the reader.

Sex chromosomes were discovered by Nettie Maria Stevens (1861–1912) in 1905. Today, her legacy lives on in Project Nettie, “an online and regularly updated record of scientists, medics and those in related disciplines who, by signing their support for the Project Nettie statement assert the material reality of biological sex and reject attempts to reframe it as a malleable social construct.”

The Project Nettie Statement is as follows:

“Biological sex” is a scientific description of the reproductive anatomies that have evolved to fulfil the function of sexual reproduction. Biological sex exists independently of humans and society. In mammals, there are two types of gamete and two classes of reproductive anatomy. The male sex class produces many small motile gametes – sperm – for transfer. The female sex class produces few large immobile gametes – ova – and gestates/delivers live young. In any individual, reproductive anatomy is almost always unambiguously male or female and observed correctly at birth, regardless of ultimate sexual function or dysfunction. Male and female reproductive anatomies differ qualitatively, not quantitatively, and there are no intrinsically-ordered states between male and female reproductive anatomies. Biological sex does not meet the defining criteria for a spectrum. Although rare, some individuals have disorders of sex development (also referred to as intersex conditions). Most of these disorders are male or female specific and do not cause ambiguous biological sex. Some individuals have reproductive anatomies with both male and female features; here, biological sex classification is a complex process with input from medical professionals and parents. Not one of these individuals represents an additional sex class. Reproductive anatomies differentiate and mature under the control of genetic and hormonal signals, and measurements of these factors have strong predictive power, but do not define the sex of an individual. Biological sex is fundamentally defined by male and female reproductive anatomy. Attempts to recast biological sex as a social construct, which then becomes a matter of chosen individual identity, are wholly ideological, scientifically inaccurate and socially irresponsible.

If you are a scientist, a medic or other healthcare professional, a science educator, or in a relevant field, you can show your support by signing the Project Nettie statement. Visit the Project Nettie website at https://projectnettie.wordpress.com/. The Project Nettie statement was an influence on Mike Andrews’ teaching on biological sex.

Want to learn more about transgender theory? Matt Walsh’s documentary, What is a Woman, and the accompanying book, are good starting points. Dr. Miriam Grossman, featured in Matt Walsh’s What is a Woman, was one of several inspirations for Dr. Sophia Lachman. She wrote You're Teaching My Child What?: A Physician Exposes the Lies of Sex Education and How They Harm Your Child. I’m looking forward to her latest book, Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist's Guide Out of the Madness, which will be out soon after The Wise of Heart appears. As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl by John Colapinto recounts the tragic story of David Reimer. Dr. Peter Neubauer’s twins’ study is the subject of the documentary, Three Identical Strangers. The records are sealed at Yale University until 2065. Maria Keffler and Erin Brewer have written practical guides for families of transgender individuals that may be of some help.

The Backers

Over two hundred backers stood behind me, Elin, and The Wise of Heart in our crowdfund campaign. Additional backers supported through subscriptions on Substack. Given the controversy associated with the book, we didn’t want to list them all without permission, so these are the backers who confirmed their assent for us to publicly acknowledge their support.

• Ailyn Evensen

• Bara

• Baron Von Metzengerstein

• Brad Elledge

• Bill Collins

• Bookmarque

• Bryce Byerley

• Carey Unruh

• Catherine G White

• Charles Fursdon

• Chase Mullins

• Chase Thomson

• Chip Fursdon

• Chris Braly

• Christine Brubaker

• Christopher Turner

• C.J. Carella

• Codex & Q from VegFolk Fables

• Coppelius

• Danielle Gaines

• David Schuster

• DiRT

• Ed Powell

• Eric

• Eric M. Hamilton

• Eric Postma

• Felipe Mohando

• Fourmilab

• Frank B. Luke

• Gavin Longmuir

• George Henry Shaft

• Gio Tumminia

• Graham Bradley; God’s Mightiest Trucker

• Greg Morgan

• Heather

• J Bunn

• Jack Gardner

• James Schultz

• Jamie Cooley

• Jane Sheetz

• Jason Trippet

• John Sward

• John Taloni

• Jim Bowery

• Jim Matt

• Joe G

• Joey Grasty

• John S.

• Jonathan Pritchard

• Joseph Schofield

• Josh Creed

• Karl K. Gallagher

• Kenneth Haynes

• Larry Prince

• Linda Fox

• Luthian

• M. Young

• Mark H

• Michael & Michelle DiBaggio

• MendoScot

• Michael J. Jose

• Michael Kirby

• Michael McMurray

• Michael Ruedy

• Mr. Chemo

• Nancy Edwards

• Nathan Craig

• Nicholas Perrett

• Noah G.

• Paul ‘Smooth Head’ Spence

• Paula Richey

• Peter Mattsson

• Rachel Fulton Brown

• Raul Estela

• Ray Hash

• Rebecca

• Rich Sezov

• Rick Webb

• Robert Craig

• Robert W. Bruner

• Robert Saunders

• Ross Hathaway

• Roy Halter

• Russ Jensen

• Sam McBride

• SCC8056

• Stephen Sutherland

• Steven Van Dyke

• SuperSijy

• The Hopkins Family

• The Wheeler Family

• Toni Rosa

• Tony Andarian

• TurboArrow

• Werewife

• W. D.  Smith

• Wolverine

• Xavier

We also want to acknowledge the backers who preferred anonymity, and the backers who wanted public acknowledgement that we may have accidentally overlooked for whatever reason. We appreciate all of you who were ultimately responsible for making The Wise of Heart such a successful project.

Next time on the Wise of Heart Substack? A discussion of future projects, options for paid subscribers and where we go from here. If you’d like to stay in the loop, subscribe.

And if you’d like to purchase The Wise of Heart, head on over to Amazon, and grab a copy.