My friends and I love to ask each other weird questions.  It’s a fun way to kill some time, but it is also a safe way to talk about deeper issues. These weird, hypothetical, often impossible scenarios let us explore what is really important to us. They allow us to examine the way we make tough choices and the criteria we use to do so. But mostly it’s just fun.

“You are given a choice: either leave your home state forever or never leave your home state again. Which do you choose?”

These hypothetical questions are also the reason I write stories. One of these questions pops into my head and I want to explore it. I want to live in the world of the question and see how the answer plays out over a period of time. My upcoming novel REGULATION 19 started with the question what if you returned to you hometown after a longtime away and discovered something terrible had happened, something no one would talk about.

“You are captured by aliens and told they plan to destroy humanity unless you can beat them at the athletic competition of your choosing. What sport do you pick?”

Not everyone likes or understands these questions. I posed the above question to a friend recently. He thought about it for a few moments, and then he said, “Are you asking me what sport I am best at?”

“No,” I said. “I’m asking how you would choose in the above scenario. Like would you pick something that was strategy based in the hopes that you could out think the aliens? Or would you pick something with a lot of complicated rules in the hopes they wouldn’t understand them? Or would you rely on your  strength and challenge them to a purely physical competition?”

“Well,” said my friend. “I guess I’d pick soccer. I’m pretty good at soccer.”

While not everyone likes weird questions, I’m betting that those of you who read this blog do. So I’m going to start posting one weird question every week.

“By some crazy twist of fate, you are given the deciding vote in a bill that will determine the structure of your nation’s legal system. A vote for the bill will mean that it becomes so difficult to convict someone of a crime that 99% of all suspects will be released. A vote against the bill will make it so easy to convict someone of a crime that virtually anyone accused of anything will be convicted regardless of evidence. What’s your vote?”

Here is how it is going to work. Each Wednesday I will post a weird question. I will also post my personal answer to the question and the reasoning behind my answer.

I’d love for you to give your own answer in the comments below each post. Then you can ‘like’ other you find compelling. The author of the comment that gets the most likes each week wins a free digital copy of an indie book hand selected by yours truly. I will announce the winners at the end of each month, starting in March.

If it’s a hassle to remember to check out this blog every week, sign up for my newsletter in the upper-right corner of this page. I’ll send you an email with a fresh batch of weird questions each month.

Winners will be announced the first Sunday of the following month.

The fun starts Wednesday.