Mr. Klein’s Wild Ride

Photo: cover of Mr. Klein’s Wild Ride, courtesy Mud Flat Press

Christian Carvajal writes about a theme park for swingers

Published in the Weekly Volcano, Sept. 1, 2016

Volcano scribe Christian Carvajal —voted Best Writer in the Weekly Volcano’s Best of Olympia — has published a new novel under the pseudonym Lynn Savage. It is called Mr. Klein’s Wild Ride (Mud Flat Press, 2016), and it is the story of the building and cataclysmic opening of a theme park for swingers on an island near Los Angeles.

Mr. Klein’s Wild Ride is the tale of Gary Klein, a marketing guru who accepts the job of brand manager for a sexy new theme park . . . at which point his life and his marriage spin into chaos. His tragicomic downfall culminates at Bliss Panerotic, a paradise for lovers and a feast for the senses. Carvajal says, “It's an island playground for couples whose lust for adventure knows no bounds. Mr. Klein's Wild Ride is a satire that calls to mind Jurassic Park and Exit to Eden, yet merges its own cutting-edge technology with polyamorous sexuality.”

This is Carvajal’s second novel. The first, not written under a pseudonym, was a story of the apocalypse set in Oklahoma.

Carvajal grew up in Los Angeles, Northern California and small-town Oklahoma. “We were a family of Jehovah's Witnesses back then. I'm not in that faith anymore, but it inspired my continuing fascination with subcultures. I promised myself I'd write three novels: one about religion, one about sex and the other about politics. I think those are the biggest taboos in American conversation, hence the subjects we want to talk about the most. Lightfall (Campanile Books, 2009) was my religion story. Mr. Klein's Wild Ride is my novel about 21st-century sexuality. I have the setup and characters for the third book on paper, but I keep getting distracted by pressing obligations. I can tell you it'll be what science-fiction fans call a ‘first contact novel.’ In many ways, I've been planning it since I was a teenager. Now I just have to find the time and head space to encourage its birth.”

Those “pressing obligations” that keep distracting him include directing and acting in numerous plays, including the recent Credeaux Canvas, which he directed for Theater Artists Olympia, storytelling at Story Oly, editing Oly Arts, and both hosting and reading at several Creative Colloquy events.

Carvajal will do a reading at Creative Colloquy Olympia Sept. 5. In October, Mr. Klein will be part of the Creative Colloquy Crawl in Tacoma and will be in an Off the Shelf reading and discussion at Tacoma Little Theatre (full disclosure: I will also be a part of that event, along with Tacoma writer Melissa Thayer). Watch christiancarvajal.com for details. “I’ll sign copies at every event, and some will get downright steamy,” he says.

Creative Colloquy Olympia, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 5, Forrey's Forza in,130 Marvin rd. SE #130, Lacey.

Mr. Klein’s Wild Ride Book Launch Party, 7- 8:30 p.m., Sept. 6, Browsers Bookshop, 107 Capitol Way N, Olympia.