Alien Plague
by Chris Koehler
GENRE: Science Fiction
BLURB:
Dr Avery Hutton lives in good times. All of humanity now lives under the Global republic, a democratic government that works hard to protect the rights of their citizens, expand orbital infrastructure and explore space. The last of which is helped by the relatively new Warp Drive, allowing probes to travel to and from the nearest stars over the course of a few years.
This is part of Avery’s job, helping organize the missions form the ground, his specialty being the analysis of microorganism form other star systems. But this most recent mission will change everything. For while every return mission previously had gone well, and few issues were observed, this time one of the returning samples is a bit… nastier than any previous sample. This time something has returned that could wipe out all life on Earth.
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Excerpt:
“It can’t be that dangerous,” said Anna. “Diseases were something that killed our ancestors, not something we deal with today.”
Dr. Foster sighed, “If we could fight it, we could have saved Nicole. Don’t you think we would have done that if we could?”
“Are you saying you’re incompetent?”
“No, I‘m saying that these pathogens can’t be dealt with by modern medicine, and we have no more ways of stopping a Beta Strain infection today, than we did when Nicole got infected.”
But I felt like a dead man in here, like this was my tomb, where I had been taken to die. That if I did not escape, I would die. I knew that was not true, that if I escaped I would either die or live with my location not mattering at all… How did Elia, the man who died on me, and so many of the others keep so calm? How did they face death so well? I wish I could be half as calm as they were… I think I understood the people who rioted… #$%$ this sucks.
Interview with Chris Koehler
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
In college, I was an environmental science major. One of the classes that I took that was only slightly adjacent was about infectious diseases. Before this class, a friend of mine had discussed the idea of alien diseases with me. With some encouragement, I wrote the story Alien Plague. I am also a fan of Sci-Fi and on some level hard sci-fi, so I went with a semi-hard sci-fi route.
What were your goals and intentions with this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
My primary goal was to entertain. If readers come out thinking, “That was a good read” then I will call that good enough. As for success, while few people have read it so far, those that have told me that they enjoyed it. So I am hopeful that others will do the same.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Getting it out there. I started in 2016, and only got it published in 2022. It took this long in part because I was worried about how to get it out there. Editing was not so hard, planning was easy, and I even got some people to review it, but figuring out exactly how to get it out there was the single most difficult obstacle.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The parts where I got onto a role. When you know where you are going, and how to get their words can just flow onto the page easily. Then when you are done, you look around and think, “well that didn’t take too long”, and “Wow I actually accomplished something.” By no means is it easy, but it was very fulfilling to have started with a blank word document and to have filled it up.
Were there alternate endings you considered?
Honestly not really. I had an idea of how I wanted it to end when I started on the first word of the first chapter. While parts of the book, and the ending did change a bit, the general premise was the same. Were there additions to some parts of the ending? Sure. I fleshed out the last obstacle to overcome and gave a bit more of a wrap-up to the book. But the core idea of how the story ends didn’t change.
Can you share stories of people you met while researching this book?
For the initial writing, most of the knowledge I needed came from classes at college. Though I did make many friends there, including one who suggested I write this. Some people who I only met because of this book would be my writer’s support group. We’re an eclectic mix bound to no one genre, and one member, Ann Jeffries, keeps people working with “The golden whip” and if that doesn’t work “The wet noodle”. While thankfully not physical whips, or noodles, they are her way of keeping people working. So that no one stops because of anything like writer’s block, or trepidation of getting it out the door. Her encouragement actually is part of the reason why I finally published.
What Genera do you enjoy reading?
Science fiction, hands down. Maybe it was because my parents watched too much Sci-fi when I was little and imparted their love of Sci-Fi onto me. Maybe it is just the ideas, be it hope or despair, wonder or realism. Maybe I am just a geek or nerd, who knows. But I do enjoy science fiction, though I am also partial to some fantasy.
Thanks for having me.
Welcome to The Avid Reader. Glad you could visit with us today!
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
I am a new author and this is my first book. I started working on this story around 2016 and have been refining it ever since.
I first got interested in writing years ago, I took part in a junior writing fare, and wrote as a volunteer from a teenage perspective at a local newspaper. My parents loved Science Fiction and Fantasy and passed on that love to me.
While this is my first book, I hope it’s not my last, I hope you enjoy it!
You can find my Facebook here
3 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Sounds like a great book.
Sounds like a good book.
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