The way Jacob figured it, by the end of today, he would either be the most hated man in the world, or the most loved. At least that’s how the media was playing it. But for now, between the interrupted sleep and the jetlag from the twelve-hour flight to Paris, he could barely keep awake in the taxi. He’d been spoiled by all those years living in London, when Paris was only a two-hour ride on the Eurostar. Flying from San Diego was a different story. Still, it was good to be back. He hadn’t visited the City of Light in at least five years.

The taxi made its way through the familiar Place Des Vosges with its antique shops, cafés, and street musicians, then to the grand, tree-lined Champs-Élysées, and on to the Hotel Concorde La Fayette, where the conference was being held. As they progressed slowly toward the hotel, Jacob looked at the conference welcome letter he’d printed out for the trip.

Welcome to the World Conference on NBIC Convergence and Human Performance, a gathering of thought leaders in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science.

His eyes traveled down to his photo. Next to it was the writeup about his keynote presentation: Memory Recovery and Transmission from Intracranial Nanobotic Networks in Severe BI Candidates, which seemed an overly fancy way of saying “recovering and transmitting memories from a dead or damaged brain using microscopic robots.” Some of the other topics included transhumanism and cyborg development; brain-machine interfaces; and human cognitive and physical performance enhancement in warfare. He thought about the incredible advancements in his field in the last five years. But those presentations were about works-in-progress—things to come in the near future. His breakthrough was already here. And people were now going to see it in living color.

As he looked up, he could see that the taxi was finally approaching the hotel. And there they stood out front, just as he had expected: the swarms of protesters. Not surprising, given the news coverage recently.
The driver pulled just ahead of the mob, and Jacob stepped out to pay him. As the taxi drove off, he tried to make his way through the crowd. It wasn’t easy, as everyone was pushing and shoving. Protest signs were everywhere, and in all different languages. As he forced his way through the sea of people, an angry bald guy started yelling at him in what sounded like Italian, making the sign of the cross on his chest and forehead.
Jacob shook his head and continued on.

Goddamn lunatics would rather see us usher in the dark ages.

Out of the corner of his eye, to his left, he noticed a little girl crying. She couldn’t have been more than four or five. There was no sign of her parents anywhere. Worse yet, this girl was going to be trampled on, and damn soon. He reached out his hand and led her through the masses and into the hotel lobby. He knelt in front of her. The poor girl looked scared to death.

“What’s your name?”

She looked at him like a deer in the headlights.

“Tu es française?” he asked. “Tu comprends?”

She nodded her head as she sobbed. At least she understood French.

He asked her name again, this time in her language.

“Kat,” she said, still sniffling.

“Ta maman? Ton papa?” Her parents had to be here somewhere.

Just then, as if someone had hit a switch, her face lit up and she yelled, “Maman!”

Jacob looked up to see the girl’s mother approaching, a stocky blonde-haired woman carrying a protest sign. The woman gave him a nasty look and pulled her daughter away as if he were a kidnapper, then disappeared back into the crowd. Nice woman, bringing her daughter to a protest.

Jacob proceeded to the spacious, modern lobby. As he was looking around for the reception desk among the maze of palm trees and seating areas, an elderly man in an expensive suit approached him.

“Doctor Newman?” the man said in a slight German accent. “Jacob Newman?”

“Yes, and you are—?”

“You will excuse me, please; I recognized you from the photograph.” He held up the brochure. “My father was a good friend of your grandfather. I met your grandfather once when I was a child. He was a great man—a brilliant man.”
“Thank you. I’ll have to agree with you.”

“Our families were neighbors in Germany in the old days. Before, well . . . .” His voice tailed off. Then he added, “He would be proud.”

“Thank you. Are you here for the conference?”

“Yes, of course. I serve on the ethics committee. When I saw you were coming here, I wanted to be sure to meet you.”
“Why, thank you very mu—“

“Tell me, Jacob. Did your grandfather ever talk to you of Landsberg?”

Landsberg? What did this man know of Landsberg?

Jacob wanted to probe further, but thought better of it. He wasn’t about to reveal a family secret to a stranger.
“No, I can’t say he did. Did your father meet him there?”

“No, nothing like that,” said the old man. “It is not important. Just idle curiosity.”

The old man was looking at him oddly. Then he said, “This project of yours—you seem to have hit a nerve. The protesters—”

“I’m a scientist. It’s our duty to advance humanity, is it not?”

“Yes. It is.”

“Well, then I’m glad we agree, Doctor . . . or is it Mister . . .?”

Jacob was fishing for a name, but the man just smiled as if he’d gotten the answer he was looking for and said, “I think we will get along quite well.”

Before Jacob could say anything, the old man held out his hand. “I must be going,” he said, “but I will see you this evening no doubt. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

Jacob shook the man’s hand and watched as he walked past the lobby desk where a well-decorated military officer—American, judging from the uniform—was waiting for him. The old man whispered something to the American, and they both looked in Jacob’s direction. Then the two men walked off together.

***

Jacob stood at the podium and looked out at what seemed to be a tense audience. He had never been comfortable speaking to large crowds, and this time he was more nervous than usual. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, cleared his throat, and switched on the podium microphone.

Showtime.

“What you are about to see,” he began, “is the culmination of twenty years of research, and the beginning of a new era in human knowledge and capability.”

He stepped back for dramatic effect and waited for the lights to dim. The room hushed. “This video,” he said, “captures the perspective of a young German soldier during World War II.”

The crowd murmured. Jacob pressed the play button and returned to his seat in the first row to watch with them.
The widescreen video image began projecting, showing the title, NBIC – Program 4233, File Q1240 Sample #12. Then it cut to a prisoner running away toward an open field. He was wearing a tattered striped uniform and an armband that signified him as a Jew.

“Shoot him,” said an offscreen voice in German just to the right, the words translated into English and French underneath the picture. The camera panned to the young soldier’s trembling hand holding a gun. He hesitated, aiming but not shooting.

“Shoot him!” the voice next to him repeated.

The prisoner reached a row of trees in the distance, pulled off several pieces of fruit, and started heading back.
“Look,” said the soldier. “He was only going for fruit. He’s coming back.”

The man offscreen grabbed the gun out of the soldier’s hand and shot the prisoner in the head. The prisoner stumbled and fell, the fruit spilling onto the grass. The crowd gasped.

Jacob rose from his seat and the lights came on. His blood still boiled every time he watched the scene. The noise in the room escalated as he returned to the podium. He raised a hand to quiet the crowd.
“The video you have just seen,” he said, “was extracted from a dying man’s brain. The man was a German soldier and later an American citizen.” The crowd got loud again, and he raised a hand to quiet them. “This is the first time a human memory has been captured in a transmittable format.”

With that, most people in the audience stood and applauded. Some appeared shocked.

“The possibilities,” he continued, then decided to wait for the applause to stop. “The possibilities of this research are endless, from solving crimes to learning about our past. We’ve only begun to explore the applications. The report in your folders explains the technology. And now I’ll take questions. We’ve got five minutes left in this segment, so I can only take a few, I’m afraid.”

“How did this soldier come to volunteer his brain?” said a man in the first row.

“Ten years ago,” said Jacob, “he was on his deathbed, a ninety-year-old former scientist. In fact, he’d been an advisor on our program well into his eighties. He was one of several volunteers; he knew he’d be ideal for a variety of reasons, and we agreed.”

“Can this work with a living brain?” another person asked. “I mean a healthy one?”

“Why, would you like to volunteer?”

A smattering of laughter came from the audience. Then a middle-aged woman in the back rose.

“Why did you select such a horrible memory?” she asked.

“Because those are the strongest and easiest to extract.”

People began shouting other questions all at once—Jacob’s cue to make an exit. He excused himself and made his way from the podium to the stairs at the end of the stage.

A loud voice emerged from the crowd. “Is it true, Dr. Newman—” Jacob turned to see a man standing in the middle of the audience. He was German, judging from the accent, and had a scar running down the side of his face to his neck. A tall man with short blond hair, he appeared to be in his thirties. “Is it true that you hand selected this image because of your family past, and that you are using it for your own political agenda, thus proving very clearly the danger of this research?”

Who the hell was this guy?

Jacob wanted to ignore the man, but thought that might not be a good idea. “It was a random memory,” he said. “It emerged because of its strength. Your information is wrong.”

A million people started firing questions again, but Jacob said, “I’m afraid it’s time for the next speaker” and left the room.

As he proceeded into the lobby, a group of people from the audience followed him, including a few relentless reporters who were still shouting questions as he walked. The protesters were still out front. Off to the left outside, he could see the taxi he’d ordered waiting for him. Now the trick would be to make it through the crowd again. He exited the front door and elbowed his way through the mob. It was denser than before, and he felt himself being pushed back. Out of nowhere, he felt a hand pull him through the crowd. He could make out an arm, but he couldn’t tell who was attached. When he finally emerged from the hordes, he looked around. Whoever had helped him through the mob was gone.

He stepped into the taxi and directed the driver to take him to Charles De Gaulle airport. As soon as the taxi pulled off, he heard the three beeps on his cell phone that indicated a call was coming in from a secure line. Malcolm, no doubt. Jacob picked it up.

“Malcolm?”

“Jake, I hear things went well.”

“It depends who you talk to.”

“Listen, I know this is out of left field, but we need to pull you off the program.”

“Pull me off? I know there’s controversy, there always is, but isn’t that—”

“Jake, it’s not that. Something’s happened. Something big was found in the South Pacific. We believe it’s foreign.”

There was silence on the line for a few seconds.

“What do you mean foreign, like Russian?”

“No, not Russian. We’re not sure what it is.”

Malcolm wasn’t usually cryptic like this. It felt like they were playing a game of 20 questions.

“Is it some kind of sub?”

“No, not a sub. Nothing like that.”

Jacob was trying to imagine what Malcolm was talking about. A big, foreign, not-Russian thing that wasn’t anything like a sub. Alive? Dead? Technology? A hidden terrorist camp?

“What else can you tell me then?”

“Jake, I can’t tell you any more at this point. I can only say it has major significance. We’re talking level four SCI classification. Once I get the code word clearance for you, I’ll send more information encrypted to your email. But we’ll need you in Santiago Chile by tomorrow night.”

Jacob wasn’t sure how to react. With a simple phone call, his whole world was being turned on its head. He had to continue his research. His whole future depended on this project, especially since Kim was so ill. Still, the scientist in him thought the discovery sounded intriguing, but the timing was all wrong.

“Malcolm, Kim’s undergoing chemo. You know that, right? I was planning on a short trip for family matters in the morning, and then I was planning on being home the next few weeks after that. It’s why I couldn’t even stay for the rest of the conference. You’ve got to have someone else you can call in the meantime, right?”

“I can give you a day, Jake. Once you see what I’m talking about, you’ll understand why you’re the only one who can help us. I’m sorry. I know you know the drill.”

“I do, Malcolm. Understood.”

After ending the call, Jacob leaned back in the taxi and stared out the window. He’d known Malcolm most of his life. He trusted him implicitly. And if there was one thing he knew about Malcolm, it’s that he never panicked and never exaggerated. If he said it was urgent, it was urgent. More important, Malcolm was compassionate. If there were a way to avoid bringing him in, Malcolm would have found it.

On one hand, Jacob couldn’t wait to learn more about the discovery. On the other, he wasn’t looking forward to telling Kim he’d be running off again. But when you’re doing top secret work for the CIA, duty calls, and you have no choice but to answer.

Portland, OR – Pop Culture Zoo Press, the new publishing arm of Pop Culture Zoo, has partnered with authors Edward Miller and J. B. Manas to bring readers a captivating sci-fi thriller, The Kronos Interference, which received a coveted starred review in Kirkus Reviews.

“I really felt the authors crafted an extraordinary adventure that captures the essence of classic science-fiction while weaving an original story that is immersive and full of twists,” said Joseph Dilworth, Jr., publisher. “The fact that it got the Kirkus star just validated what I knew as soon as I read it. It was a perfect book to launch our new model with.”

Rather than a traditional publishing model, Dilworth decided to try something different. With Pop Culture Zoo, he already had a platform in the sci-fi arena. He needed a publishing model that built on that strength; and yet would give authors unprecedented freedom and the bulk of the profits while he focused on promotion and marketing. But he didn’t want it to be a vanity press, where authors pay to have their work published and there’s little to no quality control or any type of selective process.

“In today’s publishing market, this seemed a good decision for us,” said Edward Miller, co-author of The Kronos Interference. “It’s a true partnership, and gives us more visibility to the readers who we know would love our book. Also, we retain all the rights, so it’s an unusually flexible model.”

Miller’s co-author J.B.Manas, who’s had non-fiction books published by traditional presses, agreed. “We felt we had a really original spin on a classic time travel riff,” said Manas, “and we invested a lot of time in character development, research, and studying the masters. In the end, we knew we had something special. But traditional publishers are rarely offering strong deals to new authors in the speculative fiction space, so to partner with a publisher that already has that audience seemed ideal.”

In the book, when physicist Jacob Newman is pulled from his family, his job, and his whole life to investigate a strange vessel discovered at the bottom of the South Pacific, he finds evidence of time travel, along with implications that a judgment day against mankind is imminent. But it isn’t until he cracks the time travel technology and uncovers a startling link to his own family history that he undertakes a dangerous mission back to 1924 to kill Adolf Hitler and undo a horri¬fic episode of Earth’s violent past. The results are catastrophic, and soon he discovers much darker forces working against him—forces he must overcome if he hopes to save humanity and see his family again.

The Kronos Interference will be available starting June 30 at major online retailers worldwide. Digital copies are available for review and Miller, Manas and Dilworth are all available for interviews. High resolution cover artwork is also available. Please email info@popculturezoopress.com with your interest and who you would like to speak with.

ABOUT EDWARD MILLER and J. B. MANAS
As chief editor for a sci-fi gaming website for over fifteen years, Edward Miller has crafted hundreds of stories designed to take readers to new places and immerse them in mind-bending situations. This is his first full-length novel. In a former life as a musician, Edward toured the United States with such acts as Foghat, The Allman Brothers Band, Edgar Winter, 38 Special, and others. Edward resides in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania with his wife and family, along with their dog, Lady.

J. B. Manas is a Philadelphia native whose world travels and passion for science, history, and the arts have led some to call him the consummate Renaissance Man. He’s an avid movie buff, a wine collector, a songwriter and guitarist, a technology geek, and an armchair philosopher—all of which make their way into his writing at one time or another. A senior editor by day and a leading expert on organizational ethics and lessons from history, his bestselling non-fiction works have received critical acclaim for being extensively researched, yet entertaining and accessible. This is his debut leap into fiction.

Visit the authors’ blog at http://www.MillerandManas.wordpress.com
Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MillerandManas

ABOUT POP CULTURE ZOO PRESS
Pop Culture Zoo Press was founded as an extension of Joe Dilworth’s popular Pop Culture Zoo website as a way to help authors of superlative speculative fiction find a way to a receptive audience. Pop Culture Zoo has always sought to Build Better Geeks and Joe felt it was time to take it to a new level by publishing the kind of books he would like to read himself. More than that, Pop Culture Zoo Press also gives new authors a publishing home that allows them to retain ownership to their original work. Find out more about Pop Culture Zoo Press at www.popculturezoopress.com and be sure to Like us at www.facebook.com/PopCultureZooPress.

Q: Can you share a little about The Kronos Interference (no spoilers, please)?

EM: Well, it’s about a physicist working for the CIA, Jacob Newman, who gets called to investigate a strange alien ship at the bottom of the South Pacific. He’s a family guy with a sick wife, a young daughter, and a son in college, but duty calls. Once there, he discovers eight giant floating monitors on board that all depict images of our violent past, from thousands of years ago to more modern events such as Hiroshima and 9-11. So, the assumption is that someone has been watching us for ages. The catch is, the last monitor is blank. So who are these beings and why is the last one blank? I’ll let J.B take it from there.

JBM: Oh please Ed, not J.B. — it makes me sound like a bank manager! Jerry will do. Anyway, two things happen that set the story in motion. First, there’s the discovery that the equipment on board can be used for time travel. And second, something happens that connects all these findings to Jacob’s own family history.

So, to head off what increasingly looks like a pending alien judgment day, he ends up traveling back to 1924 Germany to influence a family plot to kill Adolf Hitler in prison. But he has to be discreet about it. Of course, everything goes off kilter from there. First, he finds he’s created a domino effect, then he’s being chased by mysterious men, and he has to figure out what’s going on and how to set things right. I think that’s about all we can share without giving too much away.

Q: Are there any recurring themes in the book?

JBM: Well, one theme is certainly the tension between science and religion — or spirituality. At the beginning of the book, Jacob is a man of science, pure and simple. Lots of bad things have happened in his life, and his wife is ill, and his only way of making sense out of the world is through science. Then comes along a situation that science can’t explain, and everything he’s believed all his life is tested.
EM: I think another recurring theme is arrogance, which manifests in different characters in different ways. It’s very much a redemption story on multiple levels.

Q: How did the ideas for this book come about?

JBM: It all began when Ed and I were in the car on the way to a Phillies game, and we started discussing the idea of writing together. I’d written a number of nonfiction books on organizational ethics and leadership lessons from history, and Ed wrote countless stories for a sci-fi gaming website. I had always wanted to write fiction and had some ideas brewing. Growing up, I used to write short stories. Ed, of course, is like an idea machine and kept rattling off story ideas. As soon as he hit on this one, I said, “Now THAT I’d like to write.” It triggered a bunch of related ideas and we were off and running.

EM: I was always a fan of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, and was always thinking of story ideas. I ran a Star Trek gaming site for years so I’d estimate that I had to come up with a few hundred story ideas and scenarios for that. I’d even written a Star Trek book a number of years back, but unless you’re already an established author in that market, it’s virtually impossible to get published. Maybe one day it’ll see the light of day. Meanwhile, when Jerry and I began tossing ideas around about working together, it seemed like a great mix.

Q: Would you say one of you is the idea guy and the other is the “fact” guy?

JBM: It’s not really as simple as that. It would be like saying John Lennon was the lyrics guy and Paul McCartney was the melody guy (not that I’m comparing us to Lennon and McCartney). Both Lennon and McCartney write some beautiful melodies and creatively moving lyrics. But that said, I think there’s always a natural strength that one or the other tends to bring to the table.

In our case, Ed has a real ability to come up with a hundred ideas without self-censoring in any way. I think that’s a gift. I tend to get my ideas after I conduct research and something triggers my imagination. I’m more of a research person, having come from the nonfiction background, and try to bring reality into the mix (or at least the illusion of something feeling like it could really happen). The trick with fiction is to not get into the weeds too much with technical details or it takes away from the plot and suspense. Just enough to make people think it could happen.

EM: I’d echo that. Sometimes we’ll have debates. Jerry will say “But that can’t happen!” and I’ll say, “Relax, it’s fiction.” But we bat it around and usually come up with solution we’re both happy with. But we both tend to come up with lots of ideas and we tend to feed off one another.

Q: Speaking of facts, how much of the book is based on true facts?

EM: Quite a bit. We can’t give too much away, but there are bits of little known history throughout the book that are based on fact, and while time-travel is a fictional element, we referenced real physics concepts in making it feel more believable.

JBM: Jacob’s initial program, NBIC, based on the convergence of multiple disciplines of science, is a very real program, and the concepts mentioned, such as recovering and transmitting memories from a dead brain, cyborg development, etc. are all active NBIC programs. We paid great attention to little details like that, so when you hear a radio announcement about an event, it’s usually the real transcript, or in dialogue with Hitler, it’s based on his real speeches or writings. Even the finding of the alien ship is based on a real event reported on CNN, which was given a code name of Bloop by the US Navy. The coordinates mentioned in the book were the actual coordinates where the sound was detected.

Q: So did the research trigger the idea for the alien ship or did you do the research afterwards?

JBM: This is a perfect example of how Ed and I work together. He had the idea about finding time-travel equipment in an alien ship. And I said I have just the place they could find it. I keep a running list of unique or strange news items that could trigger story ideas (as it turns out, Ed does as well). One of them was the story about the Bloop. I came across it in research for one of my nonfiction books (I write those as Jerry Manas, just to separate the two “brands”). I was looking up multi-cellular creatures as a metaphor for teamwork, and happened upon it by chance.
The Bloop was a sound wave picked up by the Navy’s sonar systems in 1997. The frequency indicated a biological life form ten times the size of a blue whale. But it was never found, even after appearing several more times. Of course, we speculated that something was indeed found, but was kept classified. Ed and I brainstormed on a “biological ship” and what could be inside and what it could mean. In my opinion, this blend of fact and fiction is what made Michael Crichton’s books so fascinating.

EM: We already had our idea about a physicist who discovers alien time travel equipment and travels back in time to kill Hitler, and now we had this ship with a bit of a mystery, so we had to connect the dots. It had to make logical sense why someone would go back in time and take such a risk, and of course we had to answer the big questions about who these aliens were and where they came from and what their goals were. Without giving too much away, I feel we accomplished all that. Ultimately, the readers will decide if we did.

Q: How do you work together as a writing team? Do you take turns writing each chapter?

EM: Lord no, that would be a recipe for disaster. The book has to have a consistent feel to it. Generally we plan the overall premise and high level outline together. Jerry writes up a detailed outline, and then we review it together and change it as needed. Once we feel we have pretty solid outline, Jerry writes the first draft of a chapter or a group of chapters. Then I do a round of comments and edits. Then he incorporates the revisions, and we debate on anything we disagree with (which happens on occasion). Then, when the whole first draft of the book is done, we’ll each have a shot at revisions. By the end of the book, we’ve both been involved in pretty much every paragraph.

JBM: Like Ed said, we needed to have a consistent approach, and we find this process works. While this book is a bit of a mixed genre book (it’s history, science, adventure, and so on), we would consider it a sci-fi thriller or speculative thriller. The emphasis is probably more on the thriller aspect. We also plan to write some books that I’d classify as science fiction, which we’ll probably take the opposite approach with, where Ed will write the first draft and I’ll provide edits and comments. We may release those under a separate brand, we’re not sure yet. We have one in the works already that we think readers will find really exciting, but our lips are unfortunately sealed on that until we’re ready to announce it.

Q: So it sounds like you’re “outline” people, as opposed to authors who write as they go.

JBM: I think that’s safe to say. While I know it’s likely that we’ll stray from the outline, I like to have everything laid out to make all the logical connections before I begin writing. It’s easier to spot problems and correct them while things are in outline form; much like a filmmaker works from a storyboard in the beginning. Once the outline is golden, then I know we have a winner. Story structure is also important. That’s not to say the story should be formulaic, but proven principles can serve as valuable reminders. For The Kronos Interference for instance, the Joseph Campbell/Chris Vogler model served us well. We even used Blake Snyder’s story beats as sort of a litmus test to see how close we were. Surprisingly, we were right on the money, and it worked that way very organically.

EM: I’m not generally as detailed with the outlines, though I like a high level outline from a plot standpoint. Outlining made good sense for us. We probably went through seven or eight versions of the outline before we wrote the book. Even then, based on feedback, we still ended up doing rewrites of the book, which of course required a new outline in preparation for the new draft.

Q: Did you ever debate over applying different principles to the book?

JBM: The big stuff we usually didn’t have too much trouble with. It was the little benign things we usually would get stuck on, but that’s part of the creative process. There was one amusing story. I’m always reading books on different storytelling principles. There are so many great ones. One of them is Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat books. The term “save the cat” refers to a principle where it’s a good idea to give the hero some small, barely noticeable action that endears the reader to that character, even despite the character’s flaws. We wanted Jacob to be a flawed hero. So we started thinking about “save the cat” scenes we could insert. I’ll let Ed tell you what we did.

EM: Yes, after tossing around some really bizarre ideas, we settled on having him rescue a little girl who was stuck in a crowd of protesters. It was a small enough act not to interfere with anything, but enough to let people know Jacob’s a good guy. When Jacob asks her name, she tells him it’s Kat. Get it? Save the cat!

Q: Can we expect a sequel to The Kronos Interference (again, no spoilers please)?

EM: Absolutely! We envisioned this as a trilogy from the start. Whether it ends up being three books or more we’ll have to see, but we’re pretty sure it’ll be just the three books, since we have so many other ideas we want to get to. We’re currently actively writing the sequel, tentatively called The Kronos Prophecy. That’s all I’ll say about it though.

JBM: I can say that the sequel expands on the revelations at the end of The Kronos Interference, and reveals more about why the characters did what they did in the first book. Many characters return and we meet new characters as well. And, like the first, there are elements of science, history, and adventure, and plenty more twists. It’s extremely important to us that each book in the series has a strong premise in itself and stands alone with a high concept plot and good character arcs. I think we have something readers will be really excited about when we’re ready to announce it. Is that cryptic enough?

Q: Are there any particular authors or books that influenced your writing style or genre preference?

EM: For me, Dean Koontz has always been an inspiration. His creative stories blend genres like horror, mystery, suspense, science, with just enough factual detail to provide realism but always focused on riveting, thrilling plots. And Gene Rodenberry and Rod Serling were absolute geniuses from a storytelling standpoint. There’s no doubt their writing styles and storytelling approaches have influenced my writing.

JBM: In addition to what Ed mentioned, which I completely agree with, a huge influence for me was Michael Crichton. His books both taught and entertained, which is a hard balance to achieve. James Rollins also achieved that balance. Plus, their books tap into a curiosity that I think everyone shares. I grew up reading Ian Fleming’s James Bond books and Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes canon. That’s what first got me interested in writing. When I was a kid, I swore I’d write a James Bond book or a Sherlock Holmes book one day. Who knows; maybe I will. Maybe I’ll mix the two: “Elementary, Mr. Bond.”

My writing style is probably influenced by a combination of Ian Fleming and Michael Crichton. They had a straightforward style and their books always read like movies, incorporating cool technology and imaginative plots. Another huge influence, from a storytelling principle standpoint, is Steven Spielberg. I’ve studied his films the way some people study scripture, and I always find new things. I should have a master’s degree in Jaws by now. Specifically, it’s helped me in terms of pacing, story structure, and character development, all of which you can see in certain patterns across his films.

Alfred Hitchcock is another major influence. As Ed and I are both fans of Spielberg and Hitchcock, astute readers will find the occasional homage to both in our books.

Q: What advice would you give new authors?

EM: Follow your dream. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your first draft means you’re finished. And most of all, write. Pretty much every day you should be writing something, even if it’s garbage. Stick with it, and assume you’re be rewriting much of it. It’s in the rewrites that the story comes together.

JBM: I think an important lesson is to not be impatient. This is true whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. A lot of new writers are so anxious to get their story done or to get published, that they cut corners, either intentionally or inadvertently. If you want to be a writer, take time to study all aspects of the craft, including story structure, conflict and suspense, dialogue, and character development. There are great books on each of these elements. Like anything, to be successful, you need to study the craft and you need to practice the craft. A lack of either will derail your dreams.

Also, like Ed said, never assume your first draft means you’re done. Most successful authors have numerous revisions before a book is ready for prime time. Also, when you’re done the book, take a good three weeks to a month away from your book and then read through it again. Chances are you’ll find loads of things you want to change that you didn’t notice before because you were so attuned to the story. Don’t be tempted to skip this step just to get your book out. I actually have a formula I live by as a writer. I think writing is made up of five equal parts: Research, Writing, Rewriting, Reading, and Marketing. Expect to devote considerable time to each.

The Kronos Interference is available at all major online retailers beginning June 30th!