The First Days of August
1. What
really inspired you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or
experience and conveying it into a book?
There's
a lot of money in science, more and more these days. On one level, that's
great, because it means more scientific discoveries are being generated
every day. But with money comes power, and with money comes corruption. Scientists
are people, too.
I
wrote my book as an offshoot of my PhD dissertation at Harvard, which
was a study of how the influx of financial support from industry can affect the
way scientists do their work. As I was researching my thesis, over
time stories came to me from scientists working in different aspects of
academics and also private industry, particularly in biotechnology and
pharmaceuticals. The pressures on individual scientists to produce
positive results is a real issue. At the extreme, and particularly for
scientists with less than perfect ethics, there is a potential to shade
results.
And
we know of many examples of corporations that have taken individual incentives
and magnified them into the thousands and millions. From Enron to
Volkswagen, we can see that financial carrots, when writ large enough, can
impact the behaviors of whole corporations -- implying that many employees are
in on the scandal.
For
just a single biotech firm, a positive scientific result may mean hundreds of
millions, even billions, in profits.
This
led me to pose the question:
"Given
all the money that can be made, what if organized crime took over a biotech
lab? And what if a young doctor, Steve August, found out?"
For
fun I started playing with this idea; I'd always wanted to write novels.
So, here it is: The First Days of
August.
2. What is it
about and whom do you believe is your targeted reader?
Steve
August is a young, brilliant doctor training to be a neurosurgeon at a Boston
hospital. He is assigned to work in a private laboratory run by a
scientist-turned-entrepreneur, George MacGregor, to study a wonder-drug called
Angiotox, marketed as the cure for brain cancer. George seems to
have high hopes for Steve, yet the more Steve works, the farther he falls
behind George’s expectations. Separated from his girlfriend Morgan, Steve
finds himself increasingly isolated and pressured by laboratory co-workers to
manipulate his research data. Then late one night he discovers the lab is
cooking the numbers: the entire project is a sham! And, not long
after that, George realizes Steve knows.
What
ensues is an escalating cat-and-mouse game involving George, Steve, Morgan, and
George’s evil accomplices (Antonio Calibri, mobster turned financier, Michael
Riker, security expert and trained assassin, and Dida Medicia, George’s lover,
confidante, and femme fatale). Steve wants to learn the mystery behind
Angiotox, while George’s crew wants to bend Steve to their collective will, and
Morgan wants to rescue her one true love. In the process, Steve learns
that George has developed a (nearly) foolproof system for manipulating his laboratory’s
data, and that George plans to use his tremendous power to dominate this highly
profitable corner of the scientific world.
This
book may appeal to many readers. Anyone who loves a good suspense story
may enjoy this book.
Threads
of science and medicine weave throughout its fabric, so readers who enjoy
medical mysteries and thrillers should find The
First Days of August especially
appealing. Several biomedical scientists who've read the book have
commented how much they enjoyed it.
Also,
the book is about a young man and woman growing into maturity, pushed against
tough realities that test their trust, ideals, and love. Young adult
readers should especially enjoy this book, given the challenges that Steve and
Morgan face -- akin to what all young men and women must wrestle with as they
enter the workplace. Some readers have told me that Morgan is their
favorite character, so perhaps this is a particularly appealing book for women,
though this is primarily Steve's adventure, so of course there's also much here
for men.
Lastly, there's a bit of a philosophical bent to some of the ideas
presented in the book, which even the lay reader should enjoy pondering, even
if they've never read a word of philosophy. How do we know what's
true? Does a tree falling in the forest, with no one to hear it, still
make a sound?
3. What
do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book?
What should remain with them long after putting it down?
Science has a very human face. Some people may be good, and
others not -- but all people have multiple dimensions that can lead into paths
that run in right directions, or in wrong ones. As a result, science must
always be self-correcting; it can never make claims of "final truth."
In short, ethics and values underpin all our knowledge. Skepticism is
healthy, yet faith, values, and trust are essential. This paradox is core
to human life.
4.
What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers?
Better to write than not to write. A bad idea is better
than no idea. Much that you write you will discard -- so get it on paper
and move on.
For example, when I finished the first draft of The First
Days of August, I had more than 60 chapters totaling more than 190,000
words, and that even after some ad hoc editing as I had been going
along. That's just a bit too many words! Having already crafted so
lovingly so much material, I experienced visceral pain editing the book down
towards the target of 100,000 words. And after seven edits, it was still
at 110,000. But nothing more seemed dispensable without harming the
bedrock. So, here it is -- a first novel that's a bit long.
Having gone through such an editing marathon (which
lasted many months -- those 80,000 words did not give up easily), I am
certain my next novel will avoid some of the simple mistakes I made at this
first pass. Descriptions will be more brief and vivid. Dialog will
be crisp and direct, channeling the character's voice and manner without
undue detail. Above all, the plot line will weave tightly -- which
requires some planning and outlining of ideas.
Yet, no matter how crisp the writing and intelligent the planning,
as you write over a period of weeks and months, new ideas and plot twists will
occur to you. Be courageous to take these turns of fate, put them on
paper, and be ready to re-write, edit, or discard at a later date. Writing is
an organic, dynamic process. Open yourself up to it, and enjoy it.
5.
What trends in the book world do you see and where do you think the book
publishing industry is heading?
Many argue that social media and smartphones have turned leisure
time on its proverbial ear. It is becoming difficult to hear, particularly
to hear silence. People suffer interruptions of their attention more
and more frequently, and they are learning to accept these interruptions, and
even to welcome them. The quiet time that a book occupies is more
challenging to find than ever before. Many look at these trends and argue
that the place of books, especially the place of novels, in our leisure time
and in our lives as a whole is slowly passing away, as the years of the 21st
century tick by.
But we do live in a Hegelian world, where every movement generates
its countervailing antithesis. I have great hope in our future
generations, who even now are beginning to react against some of the excesses
of the current electronic environment. Books are eternal in ways few other
things are -- and that intuition will never die.
Book publishing is changing as people's buying habits are moving
on-line. Marketing to people's tastes and preferences will be driven
more and more through analytics of Big Data. Successful book publishing
requires catching the attention of major media, but ultimately it requires an
online presence that can easily be shared and promulgated.
Electronic publishing will capture ever larger shares of the
market in the years ahead, as people's reading habits focus ever more readily
on electronic screens. "Print on demand" may move directly into
people's homes, allowing them access to paper copy of their purchased
electronic books. Copyright and piracy issues will become more pronounced
as electronic media increase.
In all this complexity, I am confident that good books that
capture human emotions, ideals, and aspirations -- whether biographies, novels,
poems, or plays -- will forever grow. Books and ideas are what make us
human.
6.
What great challenges did you have in writing your book?
There were two great challenges for me.
The first was finding time. At present I have a day job,
working as a physician in a busy clinic in a respected teaching hospital, so
time has always been the most precious commodity. I wish I could tell the
reader that, like John Grisham, I rose every day early in the morning to write
for an hour before the work day started. But for me it was not so simple
and well-structured. For me, writing was a matter of catching a few minutes
here, or even a few hours there, with my moleskin notebook always close to
hand.
The second was having faith. Doubting I would have enough to
say, I'd write too much. Doubting the reader's attention, I'd focus too
much. Doubting a dialog was clear, I'd detail too much.
Letting space and silence speak is part of the writer's craft. These
require faith.
7.
If people can only buy one book this month, why should it be yours?
This book is fun yet thoughtful. It's a fast read, ready to
take you out for a drive and then spin you quickly to the end.
When you've finished, you will likely find yourself pondering
certain scenes, characters, and ideas. You may find yourself thinking
deeply about these topics, to the point of engaging with philosophical
questions about reality, perception, and life. Or perhaps you may find
yourself thinking about the events in the book, about the decisions of various
characters and their consequences -- wondering "what if" a different
turn had been taken.
In any event, likely at the ending you will find yourself faced
with a bit of uncertainty, a bittersweet mix of alternatives that may
provide you with measures of both sadness and joy. It's a good read.
Alan Froning is a prominent physician and educator who has worked for more than twenty years in the worlds of academic medicine and the biomedical industry. He has closely studied the relationships between medicine, science, research integrity, and commerce. The “First Days of August” is his first novel. He currently resides in rural New England. For more info, please consult: http://www.alanfroning.com/
Don’t Miss These!!
Do we really understand the book reader?
Do writers need a boot camp to regain their mojo?
22 Reasons Other Than To Sell Books: Why Do Authors Pursue Book
Publicity?
Do writers have the magic eye for book publicity?
Ruling In Favor Of A People’s Court For Book Publishing Industry
Do Our Dictionaries Actually Make Us Dumber?
Will YouTube Actually Save Or Kill All Books?
Author Book Publicity
& Marketing Toolkit: 2017
An insightful
interview With PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel
How To Craft Press Releases That Net Your Book
Media Exposure
How To Overcome Book
Marketer's Block in 10 Easy Steps http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/overcoming-book-marketers-block-in-10.html
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in
Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.