I'm really excited about my latest book, The Devil's Workshop. My inspiration for the book was some fascinating research I ran across one day while working on my computer. I pulled up some websites about bioweaponry. The more I read, the more fascinating it seemed to me -- not so much just the whole idea of bioweapons, but the idea that our government might still be involved in actively pursuing new generations of bioweapons when, in fact, we, along with around 100 other nations, signed the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which prohibits the proliferation of bioweapons. But the research clearly shows that many countries are disregarding this treaty and are actively developing bioweapons. It then occurred to me that it is highly unlikely that our own CIA wouldn't also be aware of these facts and for defense reasons be operating a unit to do the same. As I began expanding my research, I began to find out some shocking facts, such as the story run by "60 Minutes" about the bacterial tests with dangerous contaminants run by a government unit in the New York City subways. There were also some other strange things going on. For instance, more than one million mosquitoes a month were being bred in Fort Detrick, Maryland; needless to say, there were numerous complaints from nearby residents. When you put that fact together with the fact that mosquitoes are an excellent vector (or targeting mechanism) for bioweapons, and with recent congressional testimony about the rooms full of illegal anthrax and sarin that were found at Fort Detrick, it's easy to conclude that illegal testing is happening in the United States.
In the Fort Detrick case, the scientists argued that they had to have samples of antitoxins in case a terrorist attack does occur, and so in order to develop antitoxins they had to have strains of anthrax and sarin on hand. But you don't need two or three rooms full of that stuff, which is enough to kill the whole planet! All of this fueled my imagination to think, "What if this unit still exists and what if all of the evidence that I'm seeing here is evidence of a secret off-the-books unit that's developing bioweapons?" I decided that I would name it the Devil's Workshop, and it became the focal point of the story. But every story needs more than a great plot -- it needs interesting characters.
The main character in the novel is Stacy Richardson. I always want my female characters to be as important and as strong as my male characters. When creating a character, I always start by asking, "What's important to this person?" I gave Stacy a relationship that's very important to her, which she believes is nurturing and has allowed her to achieve her dream of becoming a microbiologist. Then, at the beginning of the novel, that relationship is snatched from her in a shocking way that doesn't make any sense to her. She believes she's being lied to about her husband's so-called suicide. So she starts on a quest; it's her quest that starts to unravel the conspiracy to hide this off-the-books program. Stacy is a very strong character: She stands up to some really powerful people, like Admiral Zoll, one of the main heavies in the book. I especially enjoyed writing the scenes where she takes on the macho military guys, with only her brains and courage to back her up -- those guys really underestimate her. She also has to find out for her own peace of mind what her husband was actually doing when he was stationed at the Devil's Workshop. The answers may not be what she's expecting.
I really enjoyed the process of writing The Devil's Workshop. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!
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