Still More about the Variations
Welcome back. If you have found this hidden page, you must be willing to delve even deeper into the layers of The Oregon Variations. The Navillus Press returns to ask the author more dangerous questions.
Navillus Press: Are any of the stories autobiographical?
Sullivan: Everything I write is. But these stories also owe debts to many other people. My daughter Karen, who once competed in roller derby and now teaches linguistics in Australia, inspired “Roller Girls” and “Birdsong.” My son Ian, who has a Ph.D. in astrophysics, inspired “Light Weight” and told me about the LIGO project. The late Ida Kannenberg, author of Project Earth and UFOs and the Psychic Factor, inspired “Chab” (which of course is another anagram for Bach). In each of these cases, however, the protagonists are fictional, and truly do not resemble the real people who gave me the idea for the subject matter.
Navillus Press: The setting for “The Ransom” is confusing. When and where is this peculiar story taking place?
Sullivan: It’s set in present-day Portland, but in an alternate reality. The story’s genre is Steam Punk, a literary category that assumes technological advancement stopped before computers and airplanes could be invented. Steam engines, bicycles, and sailing ships remain as primary means of transportation. To match the genre, I’ve created an alternate history: What if the Civil War had been averted by granting Oregon independence?
Navillus Press: The ransom plot seems forced.
Sullivan: Perhaps not in this alternate reality. In fact, the plot came from a writers conference in Gold Beach, Oregon, where I presented alongside the prolific science fiction / mystery author Kate Wilhelm. Kate challenged her audience to explain what they might do if they were broke, but had to come up with a $30,000 ransom for their spouse by Thursday. She shot down all the proposals. But that evening at dinner I suggested that I would kidnap someone else’s spouse and demand a $30,000 ransom by Wednesday. Instead of rejecting this proposal, she smiled. “Yes,” she said. “And what if you had kidnapped the kidnapper’s wife? Perhaps everyone would be happier.” Immediately I said, “Dibs.”
Sullivan: Bach loved games. His last, unfinished masterpiece, The Art of the Fugue, concludes with a colossal work braiding three melodies in four voices—including a final theme where the musical notes spell his own name, BACH. In the Oregon Variations, you might look for BACH in words like backache and bachelor, and in the odd name Vasily Luchabnek, although the key to that anagram mixes in Sullivan too.
Navillus Press: You say Bach spelled his own name in his music. Is there a musical note for the letter H?
Sullivan: In Germany they use H for the note we call B flat. To learn more about the complexities of Bach’s variations, explore the intriguing “Digital Bach” website of the Oregon Bach Festival . Click on windows and wall patterns while you’re there, but search especially for the hidden electronic keyboard.
Navillus Press: Thank you for this discussion.
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