The Ultimate Chapter: 42

In the comic sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a computer was created specifically to calculate the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. That answer was 42. The problem was, no one knew the question, not even the computer.

My novel, The Freezer, had 42 chapters. That's right: had. Now it has 41. 

I didn't even realize I'd written a novel in 42 chapters until the day, in a hotel room in Perth, I decided to remove the last chapter. On the final read-through before I turned it back over to my editor and proclaimed that I was finished, I realized that the last chapter wasn't part of the story I'd been telling—it was the beginning of another story. It felt right to remove it.

Then I realized what I'd done. That was chapter 42! Did that chapter contain the answer to life, the universe, and everything? Was the question really "which chapter of The Freezer contains the answers we seek?"

No, I suppose not. Not in the real world, anyway. But that Chapter 42 does contain many answers for the imaginary world of The Freezer, and some of those answers may turn out to be spoilers. So for now, only a few people know what's in Chapter 42. Soon, I may reveal it to the world. The real world.

For now, here's one little snippet, quoting Longfellow:

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today. 

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