Interesting Interview With Sci-Fi Thriller Author Kathy Forti

 

 

Who controls the truth provided by a powerful portal? A sci-fi thriller series (STACKS Library Of Truth) explores this concept and other powerful concepts in an exciting way. An interview with the author, whom I have the pleasure of representing, is below:

1.       Kathy, what is your debut novel, STACKS Library of Truth, about?  STACKS Library of Truth is a sci-fi thriller, with a little romance thrown in. It takes place in Washington, D.C.’s Library of Congress where young library employee, Zach Eldridge, accidentally opens up an interdimensional portal into a library within a library where all truth is stored on everyone and everything. Zach soon discovers this information is controlled by a powerful secret society that has used this knowledge to control humanity. When he attempts to expose their crimes, by becoming the “deep throat” to Washington TV reporter, Cali Cavaleri, the effects ricochet through the power denizens of the Nation’s Capitol causing mayhem and murder. The more Zach discovers about the Library of Truth, the deeper the rabbit hole gets, unearthing an even darker alien agenda at work.  

2.       What inspired you to pen this story? I had a dream a number of years back where I woke up in the middle of the night with the storyline for this book swimming around in my head, as well as the characters, and what to name it. I couldn’t get back to sleep until I started writing it down. As I wrote, it became more complex, spiraling into a trilogy book series.  It was a story that wanted to be told. I decided to do research in the real Library of Congress, interviewing the librarians and employees that worked there and I was hooked. No one had ever set a story of this genre inside the Library of Congress.  It seemed to me to be the perfect place to hide a Library of Truth.  

3.       Your prior book, Fractals of God: A Psychologist’s Near-Death Experience & Journeys Into the Mystical, sounds fascinating. What is it about? The book is about my own near-death experience in 2003 when my heart stopped and I went through the tunnel and saw the light everyone talks about. I thought I had died, but I was sent back and I was different after that experience.  I was suddenly obsessed with quantum physics and scientific data I had no prior knowledge of. This led to my inventing two holistic software programs based on mathematical algorithms and the science of fractals. Trinfinity8 and Ascension11 are currently used worldwide by practitioners to help aid in an individual’s healing and spiritual growth. The book details the five-year process it took to complete these programs and how the information was downloaded to me.  

4.       How do you share what happened to you without people wondering whether you are grounded in reality? The nature of reality is going to be different for everyone. Because of my near death, I’ve experienced reality on a number of different planes most people haven’t encountered.  I find reality to be very fluid and flexible. People often tell me how I manage to make the strangest stuff sound normal. It’s because I like to get people to think and remain open-minded to what we don’t understand.  The universe is not static. Every person is undergoing change—physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Of course, it does help to have a PH.D. after your name. They think you can’t be totally crazy.  

5.       You also lead tours to Egypt and are an explorer of ancient sites. What drew you to this?  Egypt brings one back to their ancestral roots. Much of pre-dynastic knowledge has been lost, hidden, or erased. After my near-death experience, I was led to Egypt where I delved into the Ancient Mystery School knowledge taught in the temples of learning and wisdom. I decided to keep going back and then share it with others who hungered for this type of esoteric knowledge. By nature, I am a very curious person and like to explore. I have found ways to access ancient sites which are off limits to the general public. I’ve been down under the Great Pyramid where there are water tunnels and a submerged sarcophagus. I’ve also crawled down a small hole under the Sphinx where tunnels once existed. Now I’m able to weave some of these unique elements into STACKS.  

6.       Amazingly, without a tech background, you developed the Trinfinity8, an energetic healing technology for health practitioners. What exactly is that and how did you go about creating it? Both the Trinfinity8 and Ascension11 technologies are the result of information that came to me after my 2003 near death experience.  With the help of one programmer who put it into computer language, I designed and developed all facets of the software program, without having any technical background whatsoever. I just suddenly knew how to do it. The programs use the science of fractals, mathematical algorithms for thousands of different substances, harmonic tones, and the unique distinction of delivering all this information through pure quartz crystal rods, connected into your computer. It’s considered to be very “Atlanetean” technology, only  in modern-day packaging. It’s gratifying to know that these other-worldly technologies are being used by practitioners worldwide to help aid in one’s healing and spiritual growth.  

7.       If you look at yourself from the eyes of the training you received as a clinical psychologist, how do you explain what happened to you?  I found you learn very little in graduate school about the real workings of the mind, body and spirit. Instead, you learn on the job. I had clients who remembered past lives, others who had multiple personalities, and those who saw and spoke with the dead. I listened and didn’t immediately diagnose them with some acute psychopathology. I learned a lot from them. They made me a better therapist. This is why it didn’t seem scary when I had my own near-death experience.  I heard unseen beings talking to me when I returned to my physical body and found my whole left side was paralyzed. They instructed me to relax while they reconnected feeling back into my body. Believe me, psychologists don’t necessarily like to hear voices in their head!  It was all about trust.  

8.       Were you pleasantly surprised to see Kirkus Reviews praise STACKS Library of Truth as “an often-compelling mystery that combines ancient knowledge, modern evil, and unlikely heroes?” One is always grateful and surprised when someone likes your work. I remember praying that the reviewer chosen would understand it. I believe this Kirkus reviewer did. Since this is Book 1 in a trilogy series, they didn’t necessarily know where I was going with it, but it drew them in. I was also happy to receive so many 5-star Amazon reviews from people I didn’t know.  One woman told me she cancelled going to a dinner party, because she couldn’t put the book down. Book 2 – STACKS Awakening Truth is an even wilder ride.  

9.       How would you describe your writing style?  I write as I think and talk. I’m not interested in over-description and/or flowery language.  I want a story that grabs me, is quick moving and I can’t put it down. STACKS reads like a movie script, with cliffhangers and scene breaks. I like it when books have something for everyone, which is why STACKS is multi-genre. Even the sex scenes are hot for those who like romance.  I think it’s really important to have interesting characters with real flaws, who are trying to rise above them.  This is where being a psychologist is invaluable. You know the psychopathology. I often tell people I may not be the best writer, but I know I’m a good storyteller, and that’s really key.  

10.   Which writers, if any, influenced you? Which books would you compare yours to? Since I’m not much of a sci-fi book reader, I’d have to compare it to television instead. The STACKS Truth Series is like The XFILES, but it takes it to the next level and beyond.  

11.   So, this thriller takes place behind the scenes of the Library of Congress. Why did you choose such a setting? I wish I could say I chose it, but really it chose me. When I had the dream where I saw the entire plot unfold, it was set in the Library of Congress, which I had never been to at the time. I had to go and check it out for myself and after I did there was no doubt in my mind it was the perfect venue for this STACKS.  The real Library of Congress is filled with masonic symbology, lots of Minerva statues, and an interesting history. Believe it or not, my dream told me to call the book’s secret society “Minerva”, and I had no idea about the Minerva theme at the real Library of Congress. I guess truth IS stranger than fiction.  

12.   You spent plenty of time at the Library of Congress – even accessing areas and interviewing people that are normally below the radar. What did you uncover in your research that was of such interest to you?  I knew it was imperative that I get first- hand experience of the Library of Congress to make it accurate and realistic—especially if any employee decided to read my book.  I spent a whole week there, poking my head into every department and asking questions about how things were done. This was one week before they shut down for Covid, so the timing was quite auspicious. I walked the underground tunnels to the cafes, and vendor rooms, and took copious notes.  Years ago, I started out as a researcher at CBS news in New York before becoming an associate producer.  If there is story information to be found, I’ll find it.  I also contacted the Head Librarian of the Main Reading Room and she took me through the closed stacks so I could get the feel of what my character would experience on a day-to-day basis. The public doesn’t get to go in the reference stacks. Had I not gone there I would never have seen how things are catalogued, stored, or how cold it is kept to preserve the manuscripts.  

13.   One aspect of your story involved the accidental opening of a dimensional portal where holographic records are contained on everyone and everything since time began. What would the world be like if such information existed?  Who’s to say it doesn’t already exist?  Many years before I wrote STACKS, a patient told me about their near-death experience where they went to a place in another world where they could study and read up on anything—and they didn’t want to leave. “Kind of like a Library of Truth?” I said.  That concept must have stuck in my head.  The ancients often refer to such depositories of knowledge as the Akashic Records. These “Records” have been written about in Hindu texts and old holy books. While I’ve never consciously seen them, I do believe they exist in another dimensional plane. 

14.   You used to live in California but now call Maui, Hawaii your home. How did such a beautiful and peaceful environment nurture the development of your world-at-risk thriller?  While the dream concept for STACKS came to me while living in Santa Monica, California, I wrote the first book while living in Prescott, Arizona, during the COVID years, when things slowed down and I finally had more time to write. Book 2 in the series was written in Maui, where I brought in many of the elements of the island, I was familiar with and wove them into the story. While I know how this trilogy series ends, there were times when I was writing where I had no idea where the plot element was going, but went with it. Then it all came together. I do believe I had some writing muses helping me. The story evolved so fast and I was writing 3-5 pages a day.  

15.   In playing on your book’s title, how far off are we from having a library free of lies, errors, and spin, where truth is ever present and undeniable? That’s a good question. I’m not sure we can accomplish that any time soon. Man has just not evolved to that higher stage of being yet (at least not on this dimension). But, we can always dream for a miracle.

For more information, please consult: www.stackslibraryoftruth.com

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres.

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2022. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This blog, with over 4,000 posts over the past decade, was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.