My special holiday guest is sci-fi author Michael James Scharen and we’re chatting about For the Ages.
Bio:
Michael James Scharen received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Montana State University in 1987 and a Master of Art’s degree in Physics from Kent State University in 1989. He worked several years in the fledgling field of ceramic High Temperature Superconductor materials and the development of their application for passive microwave circuit components and subsystems.
Michael is co-author of six papers in that field including two of which he was first author with J. Robert Schrieffer — Nobel Prize winning physicist for the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory on superconductivity. He also worked as a manufacturing engineer developing two-way, narrow-band text pagers as well as fiber-optic components.
His interests include history, science and technology, astronomy, sociology, archaeology, Austrian economics, agorism, voluntaryism, and bookbinding.
Welcome, Michael. Please tell us about your current release.
You could say that I am releasing five books simultaneously, as all are available. This may be a major marketing blunder, or the greatest thing since Apple’s 1984 Superbowl commercial. So far, it is too early to tell. I can speak further on that if you like, but for now I will talk about my second book titled: For the Ages.
This book centers on the same lead character from the first – Trevor Van Leeuwan. It is the second book though I do not place it in time w/respect to the first. As the writing went on, though, it could only occur after Sol is Not Lost. Trevor’s family has lived on the planet Magellan in co-orbit with her sister planet Bering. Both have had human colonies on them for a century. The kicker is that these colonies are not known of in our solar system., excepting a trusted few. Trevor’s great-grandfather, Marcus Aurelius Van Leeuwan had invented Faster-Than-Light propulsion and used this technology to bring Earth colonists to the stars. The technology was deemed too dangerous to be discovered/exploited by arbitrary violent hierarchies largely in control in the Sol System. That’s the background.
Mysterious stone monuments and buried artifacts are discovered on Magellan which turn out to be nearly identical with those found on Earth. Trevor employs Earth field archaeologists since they had very few on Magellan. There were no previous civilizations there. Earth authorities had confiscated similar artifacts from his consultant on Earth. Now is the race against the controllers on Earth to decipher the writings and learn the secrets of the gold tablets. (They turn out to be far more sophisticated than mere tablets, but we won’t spoil it.)
A colleague and collaborator of Trevor’s hired consultant, and possible new colonist, is abducted by the powers that be. They wish to gain more insight into the mysterious artifacts. Trevor and his team must free the archaeologist and try to repossess the Earth tablets. Simultaneously they race against Earth governments and arms dealers hoping to exploit their secrets. In the process of examining the alien writings and technology they discover astonishing truths about mankind’s past. And, how governments throughout the millennia have kept what higher knowledge they’d gleaned for themselves.
I began in an attempt to meld an Indiana Jones/Dan Brown theme, with science fiction, and what is rapidly becoming science fact. StarGate had an excellent premise, but they lost it about halfway through the original movie. The prevailing theme of the book is the recurring historical practice whereby knowledge is power and those with power always wish to keep the rest of us in the dark. This is achieved though debunking, gas-lighting, propaganda, shunning or shaming, and other means of social control – and if that fails — raw violence. The kicker is that many of the so-called conspiracy theories come about by folks just looking at the evidence in plain sight. Anyone looking deeper than skin depth with critical thinking skills is called a conspiricy theorist – as I have been. The media or governments either omit or downplay the worst crimes. My books, on close examination, are highly non-violent, yet get their points across as well as any Tom Clancy novel. At the same time, I try to maintain a level of humor, or at least sarcasm. This is not a dystopian novel, unless you work for MI-6 or the Naval Research Laboratory. I do think this and all of my books inspire hope in mankind’s ability to create wondrous technologies and a free lifestyle through voluntary interaction. Success is achieved via individual effort (largely scorned these days) as well as through cooperation. There is more than just one hero.
Excerpt from For the Ages:
Sir Richard followed the others across the street after the last attendee had abandoned him. He had a morbid curiosity and sick feeling in his stomach – now he officially had a reason. It was his nemesis Trevor Van Leeuwan again. Who else could it be? Archaeologists, engineers, physicists and reporters were shouting questions at the lawyers and at Meghan. Not a single clear one could be heard. The guests at his first IMA conference immediately felt hoodwinked. Then knew they had been suckered into this conference only to be used by Marchand, and now they had signed NDAs ensuring their silence. The marine archaeologists on this side of the street had no such restrictions. A stringer reporter shouted, “Paulo Fonseca, Buenos Aires Live here, Ms. Bronson, do you think the release of this information will have an effect regarding Dr. Darbinyan’s disappearance?” Sheila replied, “That’s certainly a possibility. We know that certain governments have been very interested in the whereabouts of Dr. Wilder, and not so much that of Dr. Darbinyan. Since they were on the same expedition, we find that curious. If he is being held incommunicado, we hope for some effect, yes.” Another reporter shot up his hand, “For VLC, Gunnar Knutson — Norwegian Chronicle – Do you know what governments are so interested in this case and why?” Meghan came forward and gripped the microphone.“Well, our offices have been visited more than once by both DGSE and DGCI agents with vague threats. We’ve heard that the Chinese, American, and British governments are having a lot of discussions. Our feeling is that they are looking to create some kind of weapon with this technology.”
That did it for Sir Richard. He couldn’t take it anymore. He shouted, “Whatever artifacts are in your possession must be given up immediately! The theft of archaeological finds is a crime in every country! You all should be ashamed of yourselves!” Meghan calmly asked from the podium; very well knowing the answer, “And who might you be Mr. uhh?” Marchand shouted, “The name is Sir Richard Marchand and this charade is outrageous!” Perfectly calm Meghan replied, “Well, Sir Richard, which government has laid claim to these items? And are you here on behalf of the British Museum to relinquish all of the artifacts in your possession? I can think of quite a few for which the country of origin is perfectly well known” Sir Richard was starting to remember that there were dozens of cameras on him right now. He would never get a peerage if he came off as a madman. After calming down, and straightening his suit and tie he said, “Well, those letters from Pliny, clearly those belong to Italy.” Meghan said, “We were unable to determine that as there was no return address on any of them. In addition, I don’t believe there was such a thing as the country of Italy when Pliny was alive.” The reporters, archaeologists and everyone but Sir Richard was laughing as he stormed out of the ballroom.
What exciting story am I working on next?
I’m not working on anything, per se. My last book, Treason, was finished in December, and I’ve been spending my time since then working on my website for display and sales as well as other promotion. In line with that, however, I have created a group on Goodreads.com called Authors’ Review Exchange. We trade books and reviews, though there is no quid-pro-quo. One review gave me three stars, but then compared me with Robert Heinlein. I’ll take that as a win any day! I’ve not read any sci-fi, surprisingly, for many years sticking to non-fiction. In reading more these days, I see several premises for new books that are only lightly touched on in the works I am reviewing. This is not a reflection on the authors, and what it is doing right now is giving me new avenues to explore. So many of the themes have been beaten to death, but I believe I will be able to revisit some of them in a more entertaining and less dystopian fashion.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
That’s a funny question. Last year, around February I had this notion again about how good stories should be put together. For quite some time, I had been spending evenings with an elderly friend in his 90’s who loved to watch movies. We watched movies every night for a long time. After a while, the plots become similar and you start to pick them apart inside your head. You even recognized recycled plots with different characters. We’d seen many that were entertaining, some so-so, and some that were absolutely awful. I had this off-again-on-again notion since the 90s that I could do at least as well as what I was seeing and reading. So I sat down in front of the computer and started writing. I had done this before, but always psyched myself out of continuing, but not this time. I wrote and finished a book, then started another, then decided there needed to be a prequel to the first two starring Marcus Aurelius Van Leeuwan. That turned into a trilogy. By that time I felt that I needed to do something with these works and set about on a path to market them. That is when I considered myself a writer.
When I write, I have themes/ideas/opinions/observations in my head that I feel pretty strongly about. Demands on my time are minimal so I have more time to reflect – on subjects that go back decades. That is what keeps me going. It is my own version of therapy, if you will. As I am working at the computer, I can research nearly anything under the sun, at least to the point where the writing can have some authority and real world examples there to make it viable. Sci-fi often takes current cutting edge research/engineering and extrapolates it into the future or to some alien technology.
Please tell us about a writing quirk you have.
I don’t know that I have any particularly interesting writing quirks other than the fact that I can sit and write for hours without a break. The writing drives me in a way. Others may say, also that their characters drive their writing. This was an amazing thing that I discovered. I roughly define the characters, then in their conversations, unique human behaviors emerge. Their characters actually develop there on the page! Maybe this is kookie, but until one has experienced it, one cannot truly understand it. One extremely odd development was that some of my characters took on such independent personas that they drew an emotional response from me! How can my own characters make me cry? I always resented Spielberg for intentionally put tear-jerker scenes in his movies to manipulate his audience. Think of the movie ET. Steven, I apologize!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I wanted to be either a scientist or engineer. I have managed to do both in a very small way, but perhaps I made some contribution. Being a writer was certainly not uppermost in my mind. Only vague notions of it came about in my mid to late thirties, though as I said, I always talked myself out of it. Engineers and scientists do have to write and the only real writing I did was for my scientific papers and patents. That is not the same thing, but one still has to be able to express oneself on the page. I know that I have always been more precise in writing than in speaking. There’s more time for thinking clearly and logically. My contention has been throughout that most engineers do not know how to write well, so in my head, comparisons were made.
Anything additional to share with the readers?
For the readers, I want to say that though my books are science-fiction, and that is not everyone’s cup of tea, they are about far more than laser battles and space ships. They are about inspiring people in what human beings are capable of both on their own and in joining with others. They are about men and women taking back their personal power and the so many freedoms that have been sacrificed for the greater good, or other misdirected tropes. What we have left is a gray mushy sameness with the Animal Farm notion that some are more equal than others – so you had better take comfort in societal Stockholm Syndrome in praising your abusers. Further, I try to demonstrate that people are not free because they say the are. They are free when they can act as free men and women – and not always without fear.
My first book, Sol is Not Lost, is very much about this freedom. I am giving away 100 e-book copies in either .epub or .mobi (Kindle) format. Send inquiries/requests care of: authorScharen@physicist.net
Links:
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Thanks for being here today, Michael.