The sculpture based on Edvard Munch's The Scream which features in my novel Xeno is an actual thing that haunts my everyday life. It's made by Design Toscano, a company headquartered in Wood Dale, Illinois. Titled The Silent Scream, it comes in different sizes and is meant to be a garden ornament. I own the largest one, which stands at nearly a metre tall. I would never put it in my garden as I can imagine it being stolen within a week.
I love Munch's masterpiece, so naturally I love seeing it in three dimensions. It's also quite handy as a writing aid. My Edvard stands there looking at me every day as I write. Whenever I hit a writer's impasse, I imagine him asking me questions, or giving me encouragement, and sometimes even wailing over my lack of progress. Unlike in Xeno, my Edvard is definitely a friendly, positive character.
Speaking of Xeno, I've realised I set it up to be a trilogy. The foreword states the Xeno spaceship wasn't the only one to set forth into the abyss of space. It was followed by Xeno II and Xeno III. I hadn't realised I'd set the scene for sequels until recently, much like Arthur C. Clarke didn't initially know he'd done the same thing with his fantastic novel Rendezvous with Rama, even though he'd ended it with the line "The Ramans do everything in threes." Since the Ramans did everything in threes, it meant two more huge cylindrical starships had to be heading for our solar system.
At the moment I don't know whether sequels to Xeno will ever see the light of day. If you would like to read a Xeno sequel, please don't hesitate to let me know.
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