Bio:
Originally from California, Nicholas
Conley has currently made his home in the colder temperatures of New Hampshire.
He considers himself to be a uniquely alien creature with mysterious literary
ambitions, a passion for fiction, and a whole slew of terrific stories he’d
like to share with others.
When not busy writing, Nicholas is
an obsessive reader, a truth seeker, a sarcastic idealist, a traveler, and —
like many writers — a coffee addict.
My
newest book is Pale Highway, a science
fiction novel about Alzheimer’s disease. It’s the story of Gabriel Schist, a
genius immunologist whose AIDS vaccine won him the Nobel Prize. But now, he has
come down with Alzheimer’s disease, and is spending his remaining years in a
nursing home — until a devastating new superbug starts infecting his fellow
residents. He’s the only one capable of finding a cure, but doing so will mean
racing the clock against his own dementia symptoms.
This
book exists because of my work with Alzheimer’s patients in a nursing home.
After years of interacting with people who have this disease, I felt strongly
that they deserved a greater representation in the media. All too often,
Alzheimer’s is cast aside as if it’s a “normal” part of aging, which is
definitely not the case, as it’s a horrendous disease that changes the entire structure
of the brain. Considering that over 46 million people are estimated to suffer
from some form of dementia, it’s really shocking that Alzheimer’s, and similar
diseases, don’t receive more attention. Hopefully Pale Highway can help inspire people to rethink our society’s
current discussion on Alzheimer’s.
I
always have a slew of projects in various points of development, but my next
focus is on a story I first conceived of back in 2010 after a visit to New York
City. It’s of a similar genre to Pale
Highway, but a different subject.
I
started writing in elementary school, and was immediately enthralled with it. In
some ways, I think that the storytelling gene existed in me even before that. Looking
back on my childhood, I realize that all of the games I’d play with my younger
brothers were epic sagas possessing elaborate storylines, spaceships, dragons, and
intricate character dramas—and amusingly enough, commercial breaks, which we
would then act out briefly before returning to the main story.
Coffee
consumption is as much a part of my writing process as typing, reading and
sitting down. Starting my work for the day never quite feels right unless I
have a mug of steaming black coffee in hand.
A
writer, of course! From the point I wrote my first story until now, there’s
never been another thing I felt so passionate and sure about.
I can
be found online at www.NicholasConley.com.
For frequent updates about writing, books, movies, travel, mixed with the
occasional coffee pictures and obsessions, check out my blog. I’m also on
Twitter at @NicholasConley1.
Links:
Thanks, Nicholas! Happy writing.
