Five by Five—Showing the power of love and unity

By Max Bowen 

In her debut book, “R.A.T.S: Revolutionary Army of Teens, We Are One,” Claudia Daher shares a genuine desire to “lift the spirit instead of bringing it down.”

The book follows a diverse group of teenagers who discover they are Earth’s last line of defense against an alien race determined to steal Earth’s water. Secretly training in a high stakes alternate reality game called R.A.T.S, David and his allies work to hone their skills to fight real-world ecological and extraterrestrial threats. 

In this Five by Five, Claudia shares the book’s origin, introduces us to the diverse cast, and shares her message for readers.


I really like the story. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop it?
The idea came to me in 2012, when my children were still teenagers. I felt a deep concern for the new generation — so many young people were losing touch with family values, social awareness and even with the beauty of our planet. Technology was advancing quickly, but human connection seemed to be fading.

I would turn on the TV and see nothing but violence, low language, families fighting, promiscuity, and stories about drugs and crime. And I thought, “What kind of world are our children growing up in?” That question stayed in my heart. I wanted to write something completely different — a story with no negativity, no bad language, no darkness — something that could lift the spirit instead of bringing it down.

So, little by little, I began. It all started with a simple desire: to imagine a better world for all our children — a world where love, respect, and unity could still shine. From that dream, R.A.T.S: Revolutionary Army of Teens, We Are One was born.

Who are the group of teens?
The R.A.T.S are a group of extraordinary teens between the ages of 15 and 18, coming from very different parts of the world — Aruba, the United States, India, Dubai, Israel and beyond. Each of them has a unique background, nationality and faith—yet when humanity becomes threatened and the world begins to fall into an apocalyptic state, they are mysteriously brought together through what they believe is just a virtual game.

But this “game” is much more — it is actually a secret training program designed to prepare them to pilot real spacecrafts and defend the planet. They are led by David, a young man with a noble and pure heart. He doesn’t follow trends or social pressure; he is authentic, charismatic, and just — a true leader of light.

Each teen has a mother, a father, a grandmother, a grandfather, an aunt, an uncle, or a tutor — because, in the end, no matter our religion, nationality or social class, families are always part of the story. Our children and teenagers are the light of the world. Without them, life would simply have no color, no joy and no purpose.

When the teens finally realize that the game was real, they choose to rise together. Despite their differences in culture, religion, and social status, they unite with courage and purpose to protect Earth and restore hope to humanity. They discover that helping one another doesn’t diminish our own light — like a candle lighting another, we don’t lose our flame by sharing it; on the contrary, the light grows stronger, and together, we make the world brighter. 

What kind of worldbuilding did you have to do?
I created a world that reflects the one we live in — a planet in crisis, where values, compassion and family ties are fading. The young generation is growing up witnessing wars, sadness, and hunger, while the sense of unity and purpose seems to be slipping away.

In this story, the teens are our future. Through them, I wanted to show that there is still hope — that even in the darkest times, love, forgiveness, and faith can rebuild what has been lost. The book became a way to bring these essential topics back into the conversation: family, mutual respect, and emotional connection.

After all, we live in two worlds — our inner world and our social world. If we are not strong, peaceful, and loved within, it becomes difficult to make the right choices outside. The story reflects this balance — that healing the world begins with healing ourselves.

As a debut writer, what led you to write a book in the first place?
Writing this book was not just an artistic project — it was a calling of the soul. For many years, I have been involved in community work, supporting families, immigrants and humanitarian causes. I have seen how much the world needs messages of kindness, understanding and purpose.

I wanted to create a story free from negativity — no drugs, no violence, no vulgarity — something that schools, parents, and young readers could embrace with pride. R.A.T.S was my way of offering light, of reminding people that goodness and faith are not outdated — they are essential. It was time to give this generation a story that shows that love and unity are still the most powerful forces on Earth.

Is there a message for the readers?
Yes. The message is simple but powerful: We are one. We belong to the same world, and we are responsible for one another. Even a small act of goodness can change everything. Faith, love, and respect can rebuild the future — and it all begins within each of us.

I truly believe that together we can still change our destiny for the better and create a brighter world. We are all tired of bad news — it is time for good news, for peace and for health. This book is an invitation to believe again — to believe in goodness, in light, and in the beauty of a world where we care for each other.

Because if God is One, then We Are One.

Five by Five—A hollow life finds new meaning

By Max Bowen

What would you do to escape a hollow, go-nowhere life?

For Cole, the protagonist in T.J. Derry’s book, “Carried Away,” that means heading to the Indonesian islands, chasing silence, clarity, and something real. There, he reconnects with old friends and sparks a relationship with someone who sees through his detachment. But after a catastrophic tsunami, the laid-back surf trip quickly turns into a violent fight for survival.

In this Five by Five, T.J. introduces us to Cole and where his life is (and isn’t) and what awaits in the Indonesian islands. He talks about what inspired the story and his support of the Sungai Watch through the proceeds of book sales.

Let’s begin with Cole. Who is he, and why does he make this move?
Cole wants what everybody wants—to wake up next to the love of his life, hear the songbirds outside, and look in the mirror and feel like his life means something. But instead, he’s caught in the rot of modern adulthood: working a hollow job, renting a shoebox in a city where lattes cost ten bucks, contributing nothing of substance. And I think a lot of people feel that—like existence has been boiled down to one hedonic pursuit after the next. Now, on the wrong side of 30, his identity as ‘young’ has all but atrophied away.

His hope was that something would snap into place—the career, the girl, the accomplishment that proves there’s some kind of point to it all. And rattling around in his head is the frustration of a generation promised the world—told they’d be something more, someone more. Instead, they’re stuck paying rent, scrolling social media, nursing hangovers and learning that promise was hollow.

To him surf trips are an escape hatch, a way to dodge winter and feel like an individual. But this trip feels different. The Mentawais are the top of the heap—emblematic of the ultimate escape into adventure, maybe even a shot at feeling connected to the world—to other people—to himself. He doesn’t know exactly what he’ll find there, only that the usual escapes aren’t cutting it anymore.

What’s the effect of being in the Indonesian islands?
I guess by the time Cole gets to the Ments, he’s running on fumes. The trip over is long, often harrowing, full of moments where he’s anxious, but also amused by how absurd it all is. He steps off the plane into this completely different world—new air, new language, no familiar anchor—and almost right away he meets Kendal, who, for all he can tell, might be the perfect woman. That’s part of the shock: the place, the people, the timing and the circumstances. It all throws him off balance, in exactly the way he needs.

What follows isn’t just a surf trip; it’s long days in the sun and nights under the stars, reconnecting with nature, camaraderie with old friends, laughter and that connection with Kendal—open in a way he hasn’t seen in years, untouched by the cynicism he’s used to back home. The islands don’t just give him escape; they give him a jolt of life. Heaven at first…

How does Cole handle the tsunami and what comes after?
Well, I wouldn’t say he handles much—a tsunami like this is untameable. At first he doesn’t even know what’s happening. They’re surfing a remote reef when the earthquake hits, so they have no idea anything’s wrong until the ocean starts dragging them out to sea. At first you think it’s just a current, maybe it’ll let up—but it doesn’t. It only builds. And then they see the wave on the horizon. Panic sets in, and from there it unravels into pure chaos—physical and emotional torture as he stares down his own death. It’s hell.

When the waves finally let him go, he’s severely battered, exhausted, barely keeping himself afloat—and then he sees his friends are still alive too. That moment is loaded: relief that he’s not alone, colliding with dread, because they’re together but stranded—no land in sight, no clue which way to go, no help coming. And that’s when survival shifts. It’s not just about him anymore—it’s about holding the others together, whether he’s ready for it or not.

From there it’s endurance. They scrape together debris for a raft, just enough to keep them afloat through the night. Darkness brings its own kind of terror—sharks in the water, nerves unraveling—but they cling to each other and push through. By the time they finally drag themselves onto a small island, they’re in bad shape, but alive. And for Cole, that changes everything: the guy who left New York feeling aimless now knows how lucky he is just to have what he has—a heartbeat.

What inspired the story?
One of the things that inspired it was just wanting to read it. I’ve always been fascinated by natural disasters—forces so powerful that they make you feel small in a way nothing else can. As a kid I remember learning about tsunamis and thinking how wild it would be to see one in real life…of course, that was before I understood they leave bodies and sorrow in their wake.

Years later I was stuck in an airport, scrolling for something to read, and nothing felt right. So I figured—why not write the book I was looking for? Which sounds simple, but it wasn’t. I carried that idea around for a while without writing a single word—until one night, in the middle of a reckless 1 a.m. cab ride through the Nicaraguan jungle, I pulled out my phone to journal. Maybe to calm myself down, maybe just to leave a last note if things went sideways. That entry ended up leading off the second chapter and gave me something to build from.

After that, I leaned on what I knew—traveling, surfing, spearfishing, trying to fold myself into nature—and built a story out of it. That was the start. What came next was messy, grueling, nothing like the romantic notion I’d had at the beginning—but maybe that’s the only way to write a book like this.

I read that you’re donating a portion of the proceeds to Sungai Watch. What is this organization and why do you want to donate to them?
Sungai Watch is this grassroots group in Indonesia, founded by Gary Bencheghib and his siblings. I’d been following them for years on social, inspired by how they grew it from nothing into a team of more than 150 people out there every day—pulling plastic from waterways, building barriers, recycling what they can, and educating local communities. I related to it—I’ve spent plenty of time picking trash off beaches myself, just on a smaller scale. So donating a portion of the proceeds felt obvious. The book’s set in Indonesia, and so much of it is about our fragile relationship with the ocean. If the story is about surviving in the water, Sungai Watch is about making sure the water survives us. And to me, that’s work worth backing.

Five by Five—The story of a nontraditional traditional relationship

By Max Bowen 

Over 40 years, Marsh Rose and Jack shared a relationship living in separate homes but with a bond that ran deep. When Jack passed from a stroke, Marsh was encouraged to turn a column she was working into a memoir, “A Version of the Truth,” set to be released in October.

Set in the famed Northern California wine country, the book explores themes of feminism, sexuality, identity, love and loss, inviting readers to think about the search for truth and the ways in which we must confront its mystery to find a version we can live with.

In this interview, Marsh talks about how she and Jack met and the nature of their relationship. She talks about the grieving process after Jack passed and how she turned that story into this new memoir.

Let’s begin with how you and Jack met and how the relationship began.
We bonded over DIY projects. Jack was a neighbor when I lived in a decrepit rental in northern California. The landlord was upset about rent control (he deemed it “socialism”), he wouldn’t make repairs and the place was falling apart. Jack was a construction worker and helped keep the place from collapsing around me. We developed a routine of two nights a week together and daily phone calls. Neither of us wanted to get married or live together.

Can you talk more about the unique nature of your relationship?
We had little in common, superficially: no shared upbringing, lifestyle, interests or friends. But we both craved intimacy while also protecting our privacy and independence. This foundation helped me to allow our differences to inform my own life and perspectives over the years.

What was your grieving process, after so many years together?
I relied on two special friends, my journal which always helps anchor me to sanity, and the need to stay grounded so that I could keep working, remain healthy and possibly write about it.

What inspired you to share yours and Jack’s story?
I was working with my mentor, Marion Roach Smith, to develop an essay I hoped to submit to the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column, about helping a partner with health problems in a nontraditional relationship. When I was a few weeks away from finishing the essay, Jack had a stroke and…the ending happened, to my ultimate surprise. Marion and I decided to turn the essay into a full-length memoir. I see it less as a story about the relationship, which is just the vehicle, and more as the discovery that we don’t always get the answers we need.

Any messages that you hope the readers take from it?
These days, especially as AI becomes more and more prevalent in our lives, we’re led to believe we can have all the answers to all our mysteries. We can’t, but we can find a way to live with unanswerable questions. I hope the readers get that message. To abuse the wise words of Mick Jagger, we can’t always get what we want but maybe, in this story, some readers may get something they need.

Western Education digs deep with new singles

Western Education

The four-piece rock band Western Education is another old favorite from our Boston days. We’ve seen them on stage many times and it’s always been a blast, so of course, we had to have them on.

Band members Greg Alexandropoulos, Will Hunt and Devin Vaillaincourt join us to recap their most recent singles, which touch on some pretty serious topics, such as the loss of a loved one to cancer and trying to help someone dealing with mental health struggles. The band talks about the real-life people whose stories inspired the music and what it means to share them.

Western Education has been around since 2012, and we go into the “good ol’ days” of promoting music, how things have changed and how they’ve changed with them. We talk about favorite Boston venues – ours and theirs -- and some of the stages they’ve performed on.

Opening this episode is an excerpt from the band’s recent single, “Catherine What Have You Done” and closing things out is the new release, “Madeline in the Hurricane,” which was released on Nov. 15.

 

Citywide Bytes—Jack Flint of The Sea Gods talks debut singles and band meetings

The Sea Gods have gotten off to a great start with their debut singles, “Are You Here Now” and “Tell Me,” and they’ve got a lot more in the works. 

In this recording of our March 9 Citywide Bytes episode, band founder Jack Flint tells us how he, Marty Taylor and Carl Donoghue met and what led to the band’s founding. Each band member brings a lot of experience with other projects, and we go into how the past work may influence the current.

Jack and I talk about the stories behind the two singles. “Are You Here Now” has a message of living in the moment, not regretting the past or fretting the future. 

“Tell Me” came from a very challenging part of Jack’s life and we talk about how the hard times inspire the best music.

Closing out this episode is “Are You Here Now.”

Film script inspires writer’s time-traveling YA novel

By Max Bowen

Hang onto those ideas, writers—you never know when they’ll come in handy.

Michael Dubrow’s inspiration for his young adult novel, “Always Agnes” came while working on a film set and stayed with him through the years. Partially inspired by his own family, the book, released through Brother Mockingbird Press, centers on a woman named Agnes her journey through time to save her mother.

In this interview, Michael explains the book’s origin, creating unlikable characters, and his lengthy writing background and how this helped with the story.

What was the inspiration for this book?
The 48 Hour Film Project is a contest where competing production crews have 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film based on a genre drawn at the kickoff. In 2014, I joined a production crew as a co-writer. We were spit-balling script ideas, and I suggested a funny story about a woman going back in time to stop her mother from sleeping with the wrong man. We ended up writing a different script, but the idea stuck with me.

I didn’t become obsessed with writing it as a time travel novel until I decided the reason the daughter went back in time was to save the mother in the present. That unselfish love between mother and daughter hooked me. Before my mother-in-law passed away, she and my wife were very close. They called each other many times a day. I saw first-hand how deep a mother daughter relationship can be. In a way, this novel is a tribute to mother daughter relationships that can messy and complicated and unbreakable.

Tell me about Agnes Cook and how this character was created?
Agnes Cook is a 17-year-old genius who invents a time machine and uses it to go back to the night her parents created her and stop them from having sex. She knows doing this will delete her existence, but she is convinced this is the only way to save her mother in the future.

I based her in part of some super smart people I know who had a lot of book knowledge, but their social skills and common sense were weak. I like a character who is a bit unlikeable. Her flaws made her more real for me.

You have an impressive writing background. Did this help when it came to this novel?
Thank you for the compliment. Just like a musician or an artist, a writer needs to practice to become a decent storyteller. I’ve written both fiction and non-fiction, short and long form. My 30-plus years doing television promotions was very beneficial. During most of those years, I promoted movies, which meant I had to watch a ton of movies. Action movies, horror movies, dramas, comedies, fantasies, I promoted whatever I was assigned.

As I watched the movies, I absorbed elements of storytelling. But the most important thing I learned working in television was how to overcome writer’s block. I couldn’t promote a movie after it aired. I had to have a script before deadline, or I would be out of a job. I learned how to ignore my inner voice of doubt and play with ideas until I came up with something.

Given that this is a YA novel, how did that impact the cast or story?
Someone asked me if the story had a happy ending because it was a YA novel and I explained that it had a happy ending because I wanted it to have one. But it was a valid question in that a YA novel no matter how grim should have some ray of hope at the end. Also, because it was a YA novel, it was important that Agnes solve her problem. She could get assistance from adults, but this was her adventure. She needed to find the answer on her own.

What’s next for you?
I just completed an urban fantasy about a rabbi who uses traditional Jewish magic to solve mysteries. He frees a family who have been trapped in a time bubble for a hundred years which ignites a feud with another rabbi who uses traditional Jewish magic. The working title is “Sadie Dreams of Coney Island.”

New book defines the meaning of home

For Roberta Kuriloff, much of her life has been spent finding her home—from living in an orphanage following the deaths of her mother and aunt and separation from her father to standing on a plot of land in Maine preparing to build her new house.

In “Framing a Life: Building a Space to Be Me,” Kuriloff chronicles this journey, bringing together several journals that she kept over the years. The book details an eight-year spiritual quest where she explore her Jewish roots, how she came to understand the losses and the influence they had on her, and discovering her sense of self.

In this interview, Roberta speaks with Max on the concept of ‘home’ and what it means to her. We talk about the writing process and what inspired her decision to share the story with the world. Roberta shares the losses she’s endured, and how she’s grown through them into the person she is today. We also go into the spiritual quest and what she experienced during that time.

Citywide Comic Spotlight: Reveal Out!

Creator: Treasure

Assisted By: Hinahina Gray and Caribo

Publisher: Webtoon

Ever wish you could go back and live those milestone years of your youth all over again? This amazing Webtoon series gives the main character Eeden the chance to do just that, and the results are a blend of hilarious and deeply emotional.

Eeden is living a life with a fair amount of regret—her art career is going nowhere, she’s been evicted from her apartment, and the woman she loves doesn’t even know it. Eeden is clearly hurting, and along with her choices, it seem a lot of that stems from her father, who never accepted that his daughter is gay. Long story short—nothing is going right.

All that changes when Eeden wakes up one morning to find herself years in the past—all the way to her first days of college. All of a sudden, she has the perfect chance to do things all over again, and do them right! But can things work out, even knowing how it all goes?

It’s the story that really captured my interest. When I found this series, it was five episodes in, and before I knew it I had read them all. That’s how much I was drawn in. Eeden’s character really captures that desire for a ‘do-over.’ I think we’ve all been there, and I found myself reflected in her desire for a second chance.

Art-wise, I really dig the style. Given that Eeden is an artist herself, I saw the technique as someone inspired by the greats, but eager to put their own twist on things. Above all else, the method of conveying emotion is really on point.

This story brings a lot of depth, emotion, and the twists keep you waiting for the new episode. Highly recommended.