This is a book about heartbreak. Following my divorce, I considered writing about my rough reentry into the dating world. I wrote a bunch of science fiction stories instead. But in these tales of a Martian invasion, an interstellar world-destroyer, and an artificial god in a bottle, you'll still sense the smoke trails of lost loves and the aching whimper of a poorly guarded heart. No matter how hard I've tried to hide it, you will still see my life in this book. Perhaps, in these extended metaphors, you'll see me even clearer.