During his virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, Anthony will be awarding a $20 Amazon gift card to one (1) randomly drawn
winner, and an autographed copy of The God Organ will be awarded to four (4) randomly drawn winners (US ONLY). To be entered for a chance to win one of these prizes, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too.
Bio:
Anthony J Melchiorri is a
writer and biomedical engineer living in Maryland. He spends most of his time
developing cardiovascular devices for tissue engineering to treat children with
congenital heart defects when he isn't writing or reading.
Read more at
http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at
http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.
In The God Organ, a company has developed
an artificial organ that gives its users near-immortality. But suddenly those
same patients are dying. Inventor of the technology Preston Carter must discover
what—or who—is responsible for causing the failure of these artificial organs.
With the organ implanted in his own body, he must race to save the lives of
hundreds of thousands before he’s killed by his own invention.
What inspired you to write this book?
Since
Vernor Vinge popularized the concept of The Technological Singularity, there’s
been quite a few discussions regarding the acceleration of technological
progress and its potential repercussions on our society. Many technologists
have questioned what happens when biotechnology becomes so advanced that people
start living drastically longer lives and The
God Organ is my stab at exploring those questions on a very personal level
through a few different character’s whose lives have been drastically altered
by biotechnology.
Excerpt
from The God Organ:
Monica Wolfe sat in the Corner Street Bakery, sipping on a
chai tea latte. The scent of freshly baked muffins and bread floated around the
bakery, mingling with the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. While the clatter of
dishes and dripping coffee sounded from behind the counter, the morning patrons
came and went quietly. Most everyone entered bundled in coats, a smattering of
neutral grays, browns, and blacks, dripping with the snow that melted off their
clothes. Low-hanging mist clung to the windows and fogged up the air outside as
passing cars whipped up blusters of snow in their drafts.
The warmth of the latte crept into her fingers as she held
the cup, combating the icy feelings that had followed her in from the streets.
When a chilling blast of air followed another patron into the store, she
scrutinized the new face.
Again, it wasn’t him.
She was sure he would show up, as he did most every day.
And, today, she would risk everything. She would steal everything from him; she
would steal the secrets of the LyfeGen Sustain, the god organ.
What exciting story are you working on
next?
My next
book is a sequel to another Sci-Fi Thriller I’ve published called Enhancement. In the sequel, a
genetically manufactured cancer is spreading through Baltimore. As doctors and
researchers struggle to identify a cure, it’s up to Christopher Morgan to use
the skills he’s honed in crafting illegal genetic enhancements to develop a
working treatment for the disease.
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
I’ve
written stories for a long time but it wasn’t until after I took my first
creative writing workshops at the University of Iowa that I considered myself a
writer. Once I started making writing a daily habit just like my working out
and running, I finally felt confident in calling myself a writer. That being
said, I think I’ll always have more to learn and work on as I improve my
craft—but that’s something any writer should continually be striving to do.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you
do other than write and how do you find time to write?
By day, I’m
finishing up my PhD in Bioengineering, which means I’m putting in full-time
laboratory research. Every night, I make sure that I fit in writing at least
one thousand words sometime between dinner, running, and going back to sleep
before I take on another day of experiments and laboratory work. I find time by
making time for writing; in other words, I prioritize it above any other
hobbies, social events, or past-times. It can be grueling at times, but it’s
something that I want to do and I
think it’s worth making time for.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
As far as
my writing process, I love to write while listening to Irish pub music. Not
sure why, but those songs keep me fingers clacking against the keyboard. This
may or may not be accompanied by a cold pint glass filled with my beverage of
choice to better simulate a pub environment. Maybe it’s because I’m an
extrovert by nature, so when I write, I like to be surrounded by other people
or feel like there are others around. And of course, when I’m at home listening
to my pub music, I eliminate the distractions of actually having to write
around other people!
As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?
Besides
dreams of becoming an author, I always thought I’d be a veterinarian. As a
child, I had every pet imaginable—ducks, snakes, turtles, geckos, salamanders,
toads, frogs, fish, rats, hamsters, hermit crabs, dogs, and I’m probably
forgetting some. I loved taking care of those animals and the bonds that I was
able to create with them (okay, maybe not all of them. Hermit crabs aren’t
super social.). In addition, my mother went back to school to become a
registered nurse, and I perused her text books. Medical science fascinated me.
So, I thought becoming a veterinarian would be a fitting combination of animals
and medicine.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
Thanks for
having me on the blog! I’m a big fan of talking about both science and books. A
good story can enable us to question the implications of our scientific
progress and how our society might evolve as the pace of advancing technology
increases. It’s a fascinating subject and if people want to join the
conversation, they can join in at my facebook page
(facebook.com/anthonyjmelchiorri) or follow me on twitter
(twitter.com/tony_melchiorri).
Thanks, Anthony!
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5 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks so much for having me on the blog, Lisa. Always fun to do an interview!
Interesting interview.
Wow it sounds like you have an incredibly rewarding career outside of writing
Sounds like a great read.
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