WHAT INSPIRED THE PLOT OF PROJECT
MOSES?
by Robert B. Lowe
There are a few elements to the plot.
There is the grand conspiracy that the main characters discover and
must reveal before the rogue agents and corporate masterminds can
find and kill the heroes. And, there also is the dynamic of how
everything occurs. How the pieces of the grand conspiracy come to
light. And, how the main characters uncover the plot and launch
their counterattack of sorts against the bad guys.
Journalism.
I’ve made a couple of career changes
but my first was as a journalist out of college. I spent 12 years
working on newspapers in Arizona and Florida. During most of those
years, my job was to work on investigative stories. Sometimes this
was based on tips that came in, information that beat reporters had
turned up, or simply something in the news that just didn’t look
right and deserved more scrutiny.
When it came to deciding on the main
character for Project Moses, it was natural to make him – Enzo Lee
– a reporter. Like a cop or a lawyer, a journalist is a handy
protagonist since he or she always is looking into something new and
interesting. Whether it’s a crime or just a light feature,
reporters are out there gathering information and in a position to
stumble upon something that can drive a mystery-thriller –
horrendous crime, massive conspiracy, some truly bad guys, etc.
So, a lot of the things that occur in
Project Moses happen with that in mind. What kind of event would
pull a reporter into the story? Based on how he would research a
story, what might he find or how would that trigger a reaction from
the conspirators? Once he knew the outline of the conspiracy, how
would Enzo Lee flesh it out and get the evidence? What tricks or
tools would he employ to wage war with the bad guys?
Law.
My second career was as a lawyer. So,
it’s no surprise that Enzo Lee’s partner and love interest turns
out to be Sarah Armstrong, a lawyer, and that a key part of the plot
revolves around what occurred in her law school experiences.
Bioterrorism.
The main crime in Project Moses –
aside from the murders of many possible witnesses – has to do with
bioterrorism and the use of genetic engineering techniques to cause
mischief.
I’ve long been interested in the
technology and implications of various types of genetic engineering
and simply understanding what genes do. When I was in law school,
one of the requirements to graduate was to write an extensive paper –
almost like a dissertation – about some topic with some significant
legal issues. I tackled the implications of the genetic testing of
people in terms of health insurance. What happens when employers and
insurers can tell through genetic tests whether you are a higher risk
for heart attacks or cancer? One answer, of course, is that they
might figure the smart business decision is to not hire you or give
you insurance. But, the idea of everyone having their fates
determined not based on merit or choices they’ve made but by the
good or bad luck of their genetic makeup seems unfair in our culture.
Anyway, my interest in this realm was
really the genesis of the main conspiracy in the book. I just
started thinking about what might happen if some bad characters could
use the technology of genetic engineering. Early in the book, I
wanted to have a mysterious murder that would be one of the threads
pursued in the beginning. I picked a plant as a key element and that
sort of drove the plot toward a plant biology story.
Of course, I set the story mainly in
the San Francisco area since that is where I live and have worked for
the past 20 years. It’s a place that people love to visit and have
almost a Disney view of it. The Golden Gate. Cable cars. Lombard
Street. It is quite a beautiful city with an amazing mix of
lifestyles and ethnic backgrounds. So, it’s a beautiful and
interesting frame for a story. Having a plot heavy on the high-tech,
biotech themes was a natural for this setting as well.
Robert will be giving away a $10 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter at the close of the tour as well as to the host with the most comments, not counting the hosts or his own.) and encourage your readers to follow the tour and comment; the more they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/04/virtual-book-tour-project-moses-by.html.
About the Author:
Robert B. Lowe is a Pulitzer-prize winning author whose fiction is based in San Francisco, his adopted home.
His past experiences – a 12-year career in investigative journalism and a Harvard Law School degree – enable him to write gripping mystery thrillers in both the legal and journalistic fields. Lowe draws his inspiration from John Grisham, Dick Francis and Lee Childs and adds his own San Francisco twist. Readers will enjoy his references to the city’s landmarks such as Chinatown, North Beach and Pacific Heights and the Bay area’s foodie culture.
When Lowe isn’t writing he enjoys a day at the golf course and spending time with his wife and daughters.
http://www.robertblowe.com/
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/RobertBLowe
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5621745.Robert_B_Lowe
https://twitter.com/#!/AuthorRobBLowe
I wonder how different the style of writing is for journalism as opposed to writing a novel or vice versa really?
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thank you for hosting today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me on the blog today!
ReplyDelete@marybelle
ReplyDeleteHi Marybelle. Of course there is a range in both kinds of writing. The distance between a standard news story and a stream of consciousness novel is huge. But, a Sunday magazine piece for the newspaper and and a lighter novel might be pretty close. Of course keeping interest for 290 pages vs. 20 column inches is much different, even if paragraphs are similar in terms of style. Journalism was good, I think, for me as a writer. Might have been terrible for James Joyce!
Don't remember seeing this question asked before, but if so, forgive my senior moment here: Your book sounds like it would make a terrific movie. So if that were to happen, who would you like to see play the lead characters?
ReplyDeletekareninnc at gmail dot com
Karen askes an interesting question. I don't know how old Enzo is...possible actors might be B.D. Wong or Harry Shum (I like him in Glee...but he's so young).
ReplyDeleteSan Francisco is a great city. I've been there only once but I'd like to go back.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com
I vote for Tony Leung from Infernal Affairs as Enzo...apparently he does speak excellent English, though he's never done an English-language movie. Love him! Have the book on my Kindle as we speak, can't wait to start!
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(dot)com
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI was asked about the movie question. I lot of people say it reads like one. One person even wondered if it had started as as screenplay (no!). But, possibly my story telling is influenced by cinema. Anyway,best I could think of from a half-Asian but thoroughly American standpoint were Johnny Depp (maybe getting a little old for late 30s and don't seem like his kind of role); Keanu Reeves (enough playfulness?) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (played opposite Zoey Deschanel in 500 Das of Summer - probably would jump at a thriller role). Don't know the other guys mentioned well enough to comment. Be a nice problem to encounter!