DR. MEL'S MESSAGE - From my novels to my other projects, no telling what you will read. This is the only place you will get to read about how I developed a screenplay into a novel and what is the driving force. I will talk about many things from films to books to acting to producing. It really will depend on where my mind takes me. I hope you will join me on this journey.
Okay, it has only been a couple of days since Thanksgiving and I am now getting in the mood for decorating for Christmas. Wow! Have you ever tried to put up a ten foot tree, artificial, without directions? I just did. Where was Einstein when I was growing up? What do I mean by that? I recently came across a fantastic book by Mark Wakely called AN AUDIENCE FOR EINSTEIN. I needed this book when I was in middle school or high school. Trust me, it will get you thinking about a lot of things, even assembling a ten foot Christmas tree.
After my struggle, I asked the author, Mark Wakely, to be a guest blogger. His mind intrigued me. The best news was that he agreed. Enjoy!!
Hi everyone.
I'm Mark Wakely, author of the award-winning young adult science fiction novel An
Audience for Einstein. My novel was just revised and reissued last month by
Canoe Tree Press, an imprint of DartFrog Books. Dr. Mel has invited me to go
more into depth about my novel as a guest blogger on her blog, which I'm more
than happy to do.
An Audience
for Einstein wasn't meant to be escapism literature or light reading. There are
more than enough of those novels out there for young adults, and I didn't want
to add yet another one to that burgeoning pile. Instead, I wanted to write a
thoughtful novel about a serious subject that gets scant attention despite the
enormous implications it holds, especially for the younger generations. That
subject is the rapid advances being made in the genetic manipulation of the
human genome, and how we will soon have the ability to alter what it means to
be human. While there will be much to celebrate when we can eliminate diseases
like cancer, genetic manipulation could also lead to a whole new class of
humans being created, ones deemed “superior” in both physical and mental
abilities. As you undoubtedly know, the last time someone tried to create a
perfect “master race,” things took a decidedly evil turn. The problem is that
many of these medical procedures are so new, few laws or regulations are
governing them. We see the noble promises of the procedures but aren't
discussing the genuine dangers.
An Audience
for Einstein discusses those dangers, in a way designed to promote debate among
readers young and old as to the pros and cons of “playing God” with human
creation.
It's the
story of three main characters, and how they intersect and change each other's
lives. There's Doctor Carl Dorning, the neurosurgeon who abandoned his
lucrative career as a premier brain surgeon to pursue his dream of human memory
transfer; Professor Percival Marlowe, the elderly, dying astrophysicists who
bankrolls Dorning's experiment in the hope of obtaining some small measure of
immortality; and Miguel Sanchez, a homeless boy who's manipulated by Dorning to
be the recipient of Marlowe's memories with promises of wealth and fame, not
knowing that if the experiment succeeds, his memories and personalities will be
lost forever.
Like all
novels, it has its source of inspiration. For An Audience for Einstein,
that inspiration was A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. When Marlowe
is “reborn” for days and weeks at a time in the body of the young Miguel, he
finally sees himself as others saw him in his previous life, and the image
isn't flattering. Like the ghosts of Christmas past and present- who show
Scrooge in A Christmas Carol the realities of his selfish ways, Marlowe
sees for the first time how his arrogance and conceit diminished him, despite
his significant scientific achievements. This epiphany leads him to make the
ultimate sacrifice to redeem himself and restore things as they should be.
When An
Audience for Einstein was first published, it began to find a home in
both middle school and high school classrooms. Many teachers told me how well
their students responded to the book, and some of the exciting things they
wrote had to say about it. I ever conducted a few Skype interviews with classes
assigned my book and answered several emails from students asking me questions
about its purpose and meaning. All that is what I had envisioned for my novel
from the beginning, but then my publisher struggled and went out of business,
and my book faltered and faded. With this new edition, I'm hopeful that schools
and teachers will rediscover an Audience for Einstein and serve an essential
purpose in the classroom once more.
