The Scoloderus Conspiracy

Synopsis

The Scoloderus Conspiracy is a thriller set 300 years in our future when the United Americas Trade Federation rules the known world. Chief Delegate Kara Nevin runs this formidable government and General William Leland leads the Army. Their only opposition is the Libre Voyageurs, a nomadic group of information-traders living in the harsh northern territories. For decades, the Voyageurs have refused to submit to the UATF and the UATF has continued to persecute the Voyageurs. They have been in a constant state of war.

After suffering one devastating defeat after another, the Voyageurs have a plan to defeat the UATF. They have begun building the weapon that will annihilate their enemy; however, they lack the vital information needed to complete the project. A high-level defector within the UATF is helping the Voyageurs and they know who has the information they need. A Voyageurs espionage team will abduct Colonel Anthony Hammond, the senior military commander who helped to develop the weapon and use his daughter to trick him into revealing the secrets of the Scoloderus Project.

When Colonel Hammond vanishes during a battle in the Northern Territories, hours later his daughter disappears from her home and then his wife dies in a suspicious accident, Chief Delegate Nevin draws on every resource at her command. She must find the villains who are destroying her family, recover her son-in-law and granddaughter, and deliver a terrible revenge. The Chief Delegate recruits Professor Allen Taylor to join the military team that is trying to find Colonel Hammond and foil the Voyageur’s plans. Professor Taylor is a brilliant academic; but he does not know he has become part of a life or death drama—his life or death.

Set against an undercurrent of resentment and mutual suspicion between Professor Taylor and General Leland, The Scoloderus Conspiracy is a three-day journey of uncovering plots within plots, navigating mazes with surprises around every corner, and racing through time to avert disaster.

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Ellen M. George's Interview of D. A. Blankinship

Ms. George is an Amazon Top-500 reviewer. She conducted this interview with Dr. Blankinship to learn more about "The Scoloderus Conspiracy" and to explore the craft of writing. This interview also appears on Author's Den.

Why did you write this book?

I wanted to tell a story about big government and power, conflicts and conspiracies, and a very bright university professor who is swept-up in all the scheming and intrigue. It is fascinating to explore what happens when almost everyone is deceiving everyone else. The tension rises continually and no one knows what will happen next.

Who is your intended audience, who would enjoy this book?

This story is for people of all ages. As a writer, I do not rely on cursing or graphic sex or violence to prop up a weak or dull story. A brilliant writing instructor once wrote that if you must make a word bold to make the reader notice it, then you have not expressed the thought clearly. I am an advocate of writing clearly and forcefully enough with ‘G’ level language that the dialog carries the impact. Scoloderus will entertain a junior high student, a college student, a day laborer, a physicist, or someone who speaks English as a second language. It can be done. Young adults appreciate this story and Teens Read, Too has recommended the book. Anyone who has served in the military, worked for the government, taught at a school, worked in a hospital, or has endured working in a bureaucracy will enjoy this book. Anyone who likes to discover plots within plots and turn each page wondering what is going to happen next will love this book.

What is the author's responsibility to the reader?

Non-fiction authors owe readers truthful accounts of the subject. Authors who write fiction, particularly speculative fiction, owe the reader an “authentic experience.” Fiction is a significant challenge. It begins with something familiar and takes the reader into times, places, and circumstances that are simultaneously recognizable and strange. Every story teaches something. It is inevitable that our readers will interpret what we write as an insight into the nature of the world or the reality of the human experience. Fantasy and science fiction are the most powerful teaching tools in human culture. A good author knows the topic, understands that he or she is presenting a ‘message,’ and makes the experience believable and entertaining.

Why did you call it “The Scoloderus Conspiracy”?

Scoloderus is the Latin name for the Orb Weaver spider. These spiders are so clever. They build specialized webs to catch the bugs other spiders can’t get. An alternate title could be, “With the Right Web You Can Trap Anything.”

Are there spiders in the story?

No.

What is the story about?

Three hundred years in our future, the United Americas Trade Federation controls the known world. The Libre Voyageurs are a small nomadic group of rebels who have desperately struggled against this super-government for decades. The Voyageurs have a spy working at a UATF military research facility. Their spy tells them how to get the information to assemble a weapon that will defeat the UATF. The Voyageurs are convinced that getting this weapon is worth any risk. They send in an espionage team to abduct the Army Colonel who was the leader of the project and using his own daughter, they begin a charade to trick him into revealing the secrets of Scoloderus. This Colonel is the son-in-law of the UATF’s top leader, Chief Delegate Kara Nevin. Meanwhile, a disillusioned university professor resigns his post and the Chief Delegate recruits him to join the military team that is working to find her son-in-law and get revenge against the Voyageurs. Scoloderus is a story about many very clever people trying to outsmart and out-maneuver each other and avert disaster.

Would you like the book made into a movie or mini-series?

No. Books are profoundly personal experiences. A well-written story invites the reader to co-construct the experience with the author. When I tell my readers about a man or a woman, I intentionally use very few details. That character becomes an image, a voice, and a personality from that reader’s life experience. The reader and I co-create the characters; we co-design the rooms, the landscapes, and even the food that will be served at a meal. If I do it right, the reader will have vivid recollections of the story that I didn’t write. A reader once told me she started to tell a story from the book as if it was something that had happened to a friend; but she stopped herself when she remembered it wasn’t real. I was so flattered. Scoloderus is a different experience for each person who reads it because the drama is also his or her drama. Another reader called my home one evening and said she couldn’t sleep until she knew if some of the characters were going to be all right. I want people to be engrossed in my stories and that can only happen with reading. Reading nurtures our imagination and opens possibilities for us to explore. Reading engages us in asking questions; movies present the answers. I would like to add quickly that Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” stands as an exception to this and if Jackson approached me on adapting Scoloderus to the screen and he had a few hundred million dollars, I might reconsider my position on this issue.

Your book has many characters; do you have a favorite?

I like Professor Taylor. More than any other character, he has the reader’s perspective. Taylor meets each new person or situation and tries to make sense of it all. Taylor loves the mystery and he is so insightful, yet he is also naive about the danger. One reviewer described him as a Sherlock Holmes type of character who “who notices what no one else notices, puts clues together in novel but logical ways, and helps solve numerous mysteries by his ability to think.” That is a great description of Professor Allen Taylor.

Who are your favorite authors?

I like authors who bring me into their world. When I carry a book with me to read at every opportunity or I settle into a recliner and emerge hours later with no sense of time, I am grateful to that author for the experience. My favorite authors include Douglas Adams, Orson Scott Card, Michael Crichton, John Grisham, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Louis L’ Amour, Jack London, James Michener, Mario Puzo, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Years back, I read Crichton’s “The Sphere” during a cross-country flight in a jumbo jet airliner. That setting was superb for reading about a pressurized research facility on the ocean’s floor. Perhaps we’ll see a day when we can go to libraries and they will have book-appropriate environments for reading (e.g., we’ll sit in desert sand while reading “Dune” or sit in a jury box while reading “The Runaway Jury”).

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I have always been writing something. Most of my life, I have made my principle living by writing and public speaking. I wrote scientific papers, policy analysis papers, funding proposals, and occasionally parody pieces that circulated around and really upset those who believed they were in charge. For the past several years, I have been writing reports and plans to reduce hunger and illness in Ethiopia and sub-Sahara Africa, and I helped to write the plan for an academy to train people in natural resource management. There is more information on that side of my life at www.PraxisEthiopia.org. Extreme poverty is a very serious and often discouraging topic, so when I need a mental vacation, I write fiction. I have been immersed in writing fiction for about five years.

What advice do you have for folks who have a story in them and want to try to write?

I suppose there are at least three tidbits of information that might be helpful. First, read a variety of great authors continuously. This is somewhat like becoming a good chef or mastering a musical instrument. If you learn what great food tastes like or listen to the most respected classical music, you will recognize it as you start to achieve it. Second, the Gestalt psychotherapist Fritz Perls said the secret to writing is to begin by writing ‘stream of consciousness.’ Start writing everything that enters your mind, if you do this a few times for a few hours you will discover the connection between thoughts and words on a page. This will help you to decide if you really do enjoy writing. The third piece of advice is from James Michener. Michener said the only difference between writing and great writing is re-writing. He estimated that completing his first novel, “Hawaii,” required more than one million key strokes on his typewriter. To re-cap, you need to read lots, write like you like it, and re-write until it is perfect.

What do you think of publishing today - traditional vs. self-published?

By their own admission, traditional publishing houses are not supporting new talent, they are not taking chances with nonconforming stories, and they do not have the resources to support authors at the levels they have supported them at in the past. As Orson Scott Card points out in “How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy,” a writer needs to write several well-received novels every year just to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. (Just take your desired income and divide by 40 cents to get your sales target—sell 2,500 copies a week to make $52,000 a year.) Authors who pursue self-publishing or minimal publisher involvement have greater creative control, timeline management, and will keep more money-per-book than any traditional publisher can offer. I believe self-publishing and e-books are the future. I remain concerned about ‘print on demand’ or POD publishing. Quality can vary significantly from book to book and that approach to publishing simply has not met the same quality levels as offset presses with perfect bindings. That makes the electronic book option a better choice. Potential customers can read the first dozen pages while sipping a latte at a coffee shop, and then decide if they want to buy the book. The author/publisher has no sunk costs in inventory, and if (heaven forbid) there is an error in the manuscript, if can be fixed easily and ‘republished.’ Kindle sales at Amazon continue to grow (by the way, in addition to the paperback version, “Scoloderus” is available on Kindle). Finally, carrying 200 books in something the size of a clipboard is so futuristic that everyone will want to do it. We are finally catching up to Star Trek.

What’s next?

I have two projects in progress right now. The first is a non-fiction piece with the working title, “Diary of a Pizza Fanatic.” I am very fond of pizza and I have begun recording the various recipes I use on Friday night to create memorable pizza experiences. It is everything from blue cheese white sauce garlic spinach on wheat to thinly sliced onions and apples with feta cheese and cumin. Drop by our home on a Friday evening and you will appreciate why I chose the title. My next speculative fiction novel—in progress—is “Newton’s Legacy.” It is the first installment of a series, telling the story of the people, events, and cataclysms that pre-date Scoloderus. It explains the rise of the United Americas Trade Federation and the actions that ushered in the new world order that is the setting for Scoloderus. I have posted the first few chapters at www.ScoloderusConspiracy.com.

Ellen, I would like to close by thanking you for your questions. They were great questions that let me explore my biases and share a few of my passions with the reader. Thanks.