Tabula Rasa contains an eclectic mix of stories that showcase author Matthew Cachola’s equally diverse range of interests and writing styles—from the personal and speculative to the medical and scientific—and always in his own original voice and sense of humour.

Why do feet keep washing ashore in Washington and British Columbia? Did a man really get stuck inside a chimney and asphyxiated himself with his every move or was he murdered? Cachola explores these other and eerie mysteries and true crime accounts.

Will we really be able to one day recreate dinosaurs through genetically-engineered chickens? Can we splice mosquito genes and ultimately eliminate mosquito-borne illnesses that still kill millions throughout the world? Will the tablet and smartphone replace PCs anytime soon? How did Nextflix get so popular so fast? And can it sustain subscribers with so much debt? Cachola investigates these and other technological and scientific issues.

In poignant narrative short stories by turns funny, heartbreaking and hopeful, Cachola takes us back to his childhood in the Philippines when a hot shower before school depends on whether there was a brownout during the night, and then later to Canada, where Cachola shares the exciting highs and the painful lows of first love.

The stories in Tabula Rasa will keep you laughing and engaged.