Although he is still considered to be a key member of the literary intelligentsia, since 1974, Wrothgate has not published a single word. This week, he breaks that silence with The Astronaut’s Lament.

“It’s not that I haven’t been writing,” said Wrothgate in his first interview in 30 years, recently aired on Dateline, “I’ve constantly been working from my cabin in the Berkshires. It’s just that every time I sent a draft to my publisher, there have been issues.”

The “issues” to which Wrothgate alludes are with the futuristic worlds he imagines. In the earliest incarnation of The Astronaut’s Lament, then called Artificial Feeling, the main character, Alexander Gerbain, is injured in an interstellar laser battle in the first few pages, and his crew must devise an artificial heart for him. Wrothgate’s understanding of artificial transplant technology was detailed and expert—he spent at least 200 of the draft’s 280 pages detailing the device and the specifics of the operation. Wrothgate’s ideas were accurate—so accurate, in fact, that they could be mistaken for transcripts of the first real artificial heart transplant in 1978, which occurred two days after Wrothgate finished the draft.

Insisting he could come up with something completely new, Wrothgate returned to writing with a vengeance. In the second incarnation of the book, Galactic Connection, Gerbain has no heart issues. Instead, he tries to connect with survivors of an interstellar laser battle by constructing a massive “Intermat” sweeping the galaxy, where beings from all planets can communicate. The draft was finished August 6th, 1991, the same day CERN published the World Wide Web Project. Witnesses say that when Wrothgate saw headlines about the project, he started tearing at his clothes and muttering about anti-matter.

It is rumored that Wrothgate went through 26 drafts of The Astronaut’s Lament. Titles such as Red Planet Rover, Dilly the Clone, and iPod all had to be scrapped, as their plots hinged upon imagined technologies that quickly came to mirror inventions like the Hubble Telescope, the development of the Human Growth Hormone, and, most recently, the video streaming and social networking service Wizi.

Wrothgate’s final product, then, is a departure from what the author originally pictured. As it stands, The Astronaut’s Lament story gives the last thoughts of a dying Lt. Gerbain after the galaxy has been decimated in a series of interstellar laser battles. The 2,200-page tome is written in a stream-of-consciousness style as Gerbain, on a foreign planet, with his back broken, lies waiting for his oxygen tank to run out. It has no punctuation and includes several expanses of blank pages interspersed throughout, as well as various abstract drawings by the author. There are no unfathomable yet unquestionable inventions presented, just simple descriptions of foreign bodies seen through the shattered window of a spacecraft and the childhood memories those images evoke for Gerbain. When asked what he wanted to say with the work, Wrothgate sighed, “Future… in… space?”

The Astronaut’s Lament is published by Bryce Turner House and is available now in hardcover. It will be released soon for the Kindle, a device Wrothgate envisioned last June. ✦

I just moved to a new town and don’t know anyone. What’s the best way to meet people and make new friends?

Don’t worry—it seems harder than it is to meet potential new friends (and single men) in your area.
The easiest way is to try new hobbies! You could join an intramural sports team, take tango lessons, or take an art class. There’s nothing better to fill empty shelves in a new condo than your own pottery. Having common interests makes conversations – and relationships – easy to start.

I just turned 40 and I’ve been feeling really down about myself. I feel like I’ve done nothing with my life. What advice do you have for someone in my position?

Remember that you are your own grain of sand in the great beach of the universe. You are just as important as your boss, your neighbors, or your ex-husband’s new wife.
When I’m not feeling my best, I like to work on my Vision Board (See Chapter 16 of my book Winning Alone). I go through my old copies of Marie Claire and USA Today and cut out pictures that represent the future I want to have. I paste them on my bulletin board and just sit back, looking at the great years that are yet to come!

Speaking of your future plans, I hear you’re going to lead a local Girl Scout Troop.

I guess good news travels fast! Indeed, a few months ago I submitted my application to theGirl Scouts of America Council of Tropical Florida, Inc. I haven’t heard back yet — the council and I have been playing a never ending game of phone tag — but I’m fully confident that very soon I will be helping girls to achieve their full potential!

That’s weird, because one of my friends heard back a few days after she applied.

Well, your friend must have had some sort of “in” with the council. I’m overqualified if anything! I’m sure it’s just taken them four months to find the perfect spot for me.
But, you’re right, it is weird that no one has acknowledged my calls, emails, or Edible Arrangements… I can’t argue with you there. But, come on, we’re all busy, right?
There’s no way they would reject me. I’m a catch by anyone’s standards. I have so much time to commit to those girls. To teach them not to make the same mistakes I did, like drinking schnapps at prom or marrying too young. I’m a published author, for crying out loud! Someone at the Girl Scout Council should be reading this, because I am a catch!
Seriously, though, if you are reading this, call me back. My number’s on those embroidered goose feather pillows I sent you in January. ✦