Local author explores and gives context to the turmoil – Monterey Herald

Lawrence Samuels is always thinking, wondering, imagining. A huge fan of the late English author, journalist and critic George Orwell – think ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ – Samuels explores extreme control or lack thereof, the chaos and dystopian forces of social science that confuse and control human life. And then he writes about it.

His first book, “In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics, and Human Action” (2013), defends the dynamics of chaos, reminding that, without it, nothing would exist – the good, the bad or the jury still does not exist.

“Chaos is a way to do something you’ve never done before. We are uncomfortable with the chaotic,” he said, “but if we keep coming back to it, we create order. The order is only repetition. People have to accept this effort to do what we have never done before.

Samuel has a propensity to look at things upside down, upside down, upside down, which allows him to know better, to understand, to do something with them. In 2015 he published “Killing History: The False Left-Right Political Spectrum and the Battle between the Free Left and the Statist Left”, a tome that took almost seven years to write.

“I had books stacked so high for research,” he said, “I had to match them. Sometimes I paid $400 to $500 a book just to make sure a concept was true. I’ve even bought books just for a one-page reference. It all boiled down to that almost everything about the political spectrum is completely wrong. »

Samuels was on a roll. Just over a year ago, he published ‘We are Them: The Apocalypse Syndrome’, a dystopian novel that explores a small community, after an ‘otherworldly explosion’, as the citizens strive to make sense of a sudden and complete absence of order.

Her recently published novel, “We are Them: The War Years,” continues the saga. Set in Salinas, circa 2050, the story begins with a couple who begin to realize that the discord in their relationship is nothing compared to the chaos in their community, which seems unresolved.

“There is a lot of mystery. But, as the protagonists begin to see things more clearly,” Samuels said, “they begin to realize that America is the terrorist, who the whole world is fighting against. While it’s hard to get used to the idea of ​​being the bad guys, it’s even harder to know what to do about it.

Samuels loves movies and books, loves exploring confusing stories, stories where the characters are faced with an impossible situation. Whether they are fearful or brave, resourceful or confused, he wants to see how they go about solving their problems. This is where the story lies.

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“I love designing weird characters in a weird situation and seeing how they handle it,” he said. “I try to relate to humanity, to explore how they deal with fear and the unknown. I look at what people do when they don’t understand what’s going on, when they don’t want to be involved, but they are.

Samuels’ books are for minds who like to wander the confines of life as we know it, to discover that fiction may well be closer to reality than we imagine. The storyline behind “We Are Them” is chaotic and confusing. What’s the point.

Become an author

As an undergrad at Cal State Fullerton, Samuels gained writing experience exploring and explaining the plight of others while working as a reporter for the Orange County Register. The more articles he wrote on time, the more he realized he wanted to take the time to write a complete book. While he never lost sight of his purpose, the practicalities of life intervened.

He married Jane Heider Samuels, who had earned her MBA from USC and had become a programmer for the Edwards lab. Once she was expecting their first of two sons, she wanted to move to Carmel to live near her parents. He, who had started a compositing graphics business, took longer to move, waiting two years to sell a hi-res business at the dawn of the digital age.

Once in Carmel, Samuels got his real estate license and branched out into renting properties. Today, the couple are retired, their sons are in their thirties and they have a grandchild. Yet there is nothing relaxing about researching and writing dystopian novels. Especially since Samuels is already well into writing his third novel in what will be a “We Are Them” trilogy.

“I promised my readers that I would do a trilogy,” he said. “I’m always reading, exploring, trying to figure out how things work or don’t work. I really enjoy complex stories written simply. It seems that my readers do too.

Books by LK Samuels are available through Amazon.com.

Lola R. McClure