A Little Chaos Between Friends

Malcolm Peevey, a professor of chaos theory, sets out to test the "butterfly effect" in everyday life by performing what would appear to be an inconsequential act. As he carefully documents the resulting web of events, little does he realize what catastrophic global changes he has triggered, propelling him and everyone he meets into a slightly off-kilter world where household appliances penetrate multiple dimensions. As Malcolm recounts to Alex -- over a great deal of coffee -- the progression of his two-year experiment, odd things begin to happen as time disappears and reappears, sunsets speed up, and the characters populating Malcolm's account begin to materialize -- usually in the vicinity of Alex's kitchen.
Over the course of a few days, more or less, Malcolm and Alex develop a close and oddly familiar friendship. Alex finds himself inexplicably drawn to Char, Malcolm's insomniac girlfriend, as if he's known her for years. Could this be deja-vu? Proof of fractal time? Or simply the toxic effects of too much caffeine?
Eventually these three find themselves stranded in a virtual desert along with Alex's vacuum cleaner. Somehow, through the use of deductive logic as well as the vacuum cleaner, they must restore life, time, and the universe to normal.

Having grown up in Long Beach, California, I spent a decade in Seattle and currently live in England, originally in Kent and now in Yorkshire. I acquired 28 years of experience in computer graphics programming and website design and 24 years of experience writing about coffee and beer.
I have contributed articles to local CAMRA publications, Tramlines, and SmellTheCoffee.Com. I have also written music reviews and blurbs for tourist attractions. I have appeared on local radio as Sheffield's resident American coffee aficionado. Among my many jobs I have worked on a research project on the Sheffield Flood of 1864. I have also been a digital photographer of antiques and of tourist attractions. I currently work in a university library.
Besides writing I also play piano and keyboards, I cartoon a bit, I walk a lot, and I'm pretty good at table tennis. I have a degree in Radio, TV, and Film Production with a minor in Music Composition and a diploma in Computer Programming, and I can speak a bit of Spanish, French, and Russian. And, of course, I am fluent in British, American, and Yorkshire English.