Here’s my first piece of speculative fiction for this project. It’s written in the style of a newspaper weekend magazine article and is set in June 2012, when events that started in 2011 have recurred in a more amplified, extreme manner. I think the scenario is actually quite likely, although I don’t advocate the killing of bankers… What I did want to illustrate is how non-violent ideological movements such as Occupy could combine with other extreme expressions of dissent, to rapidly become a powerful revolutionary force; once mass rioting is directed by an agenda then anything can happen.

David Walton is an authority on the 2012 phenomenon, and an advocate of what he calls ‘the ecstatic doorway to consciousness evolution’. This is the point at which, on 21st December 2012, he believes humankind will undergo a significant and positive step-change in its evolution. He sits …

What is the 2012 phenomenon? At its broadest conception, it is just a meme and, perhaps, a focal point for anyone’s hopes, fears and anxieties about the near-future.

The formal definition, such as it is, relates to the Mayan calendar, which represents time as a series of cycles. One of these cycles, known as the Maya Long Count, consisted of more than 5,000years. In our calendrical system it began in August 3114 B.C. and is due to end on December 21st 2012. One separate piece of Mayan text has been ambiguously interpreted by Maya scholars as possibly predicting an ominous event. Over time, this has become a specific prophesy identifying some kind of major cataclysm. At one extreme, some theories suggest Earth’s collision with a black hole or another planet, or a shift in the Earth’s magnetic poles. At the other is …

As a student of eschatology, I’m interested in the 2012 phenomenon – particularly its cultural impact. As an amateur writer, I’m also interested in the the creative opportunities afforded by it, particularly in the realm of speculative fiction, which I enjoy reading and writing.

2012 provides fertile ground for thought experiments and speculative explorations. Through this site I want to capture these – mainly my own I expect, but hopefully some of you will contribute – and organize them into a record of speculations on the 2012 phenomenon as we approach ‘count zero’ over the weeks and months.

I’m not hugely interested in the theories underpinning the 2012 movement as most of them are, at best, highly questionable. But what is absolutely certain is the cultural impact this phenomenon will have over the next 12 months. Whether you’re happy about it or not, it …

Black Road Project is an experiment. I’m interested in the cultural impact of the 2012 phenomenon, and the creative opportunities it offers for (wild) speculation. But although I’ll be posting my own work here, I do hope others will see potential and do the same.

You can contact me and / or send your submissions via the form below, and I’ll happily publish them here (Ts & Cs to come.) I will in no way be proscriptive about what to send, but, for reference, here are the guidelines I’ve set myself:

First and foremost, tell a good story
Avoid polemic (unless it’s satirical), New Age treatise (unless it’s satirical), conspiracy theory (unless it’s satirical)
Regardless of my own personal prejudices, assume multiple points of view – cynic, skeptic, believer, rationalist, gnostic, scientific, paranoid, fanatical
Be as weird / far out as I like; pursue extreme ideas …