One of the things that I think is interesting about COVERT REICH is that it was the very first book I ever wrote (20 years ago). At the time when I wrote it, my son Alex had just been born. He was a preemie baby who required a two week stay in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. When I brought Alex home he needed extra care than the average healthy baby. It was the kind of care where I needed to stay home and be a full time mom, which is exactly what I did. It was during this time at home taking care of my son that I decided to finally write my first book. I had written short stories and half written books before, but it was time for me to commit and get a book completed.
The idea for COVERT REICH started in some ways as a catharsis for me. It was difficult being a young mom with a sick baby and writing was a way to help me get through the tougher times. When Alex had been in the unit I pondered "Why my baby?" I had been healthy, taken good care of myself, etceteras. At one point while in his incubator, Alex was pitching one helluva fit. I mean, this kid was having a full blown temper tantrum, turning bright red and screaming as loud as his tiny lungs would allow. It was pretty upsetting for me to witness. Then, one of the NICU nurses put her arm around me and took me over to another baby's incubator. She commented that the baby was silent, lethargic. "He has no fight in him. His mother came in, gave birth and left. She was addicted to drugs. He will likely become a ward of the state. Now, your baby is a fighter. He knows his mom is here and he wants to go home with you." Those words relieved me and so did the care that the nurse showed Alex and me.
Alex was a fighter and he did come home with me after two weeks. It was not long after he was home that I was watching a 60 Minutes Show on Sunday night. The segment was an interview with Louis Farrakhan and his claims that the U.S. Govt. and the Jewish nation had created drugs, Aids and certain alcoholic beverages to destroy African Americans. I found the interview disturbing on several levels. It was also during that time that I read an article about the ideology of sterilizing welfare recipients. Again, I was disturbed.
Those few months, the articles I read, The 60 Minutes segment and my sons tumultuous beginnings into the world, along with the decency and kindness of the NICU staff at Cedar's Sinai in Los Angeles helped me come up with my very first "what if..." It was: What if a neo-natal intensive care doctor uncovers a plot to annhilate factions of society that an extreme group considers "undesirables."?That what if led to the writing of COVERT REICH, which I initially titled COVERT WOMB, then EXTREME SUPREMACY. For the past six months I have been rewriting the book in its entirety. I've added characters, changed the plot some, and reflected current times. It is not the book I wrote twenty years ago. I would like to think that after twenty years of experience in writing full length fiction and having 16 books published that the book is something I can be proud to publish. I hope you will agree and take a chance on it.
I hope you will check out tomorrow's blog, where I will write about who the book is dedicated to and why. I will also upload a description of the book.
Cheers,
Michele
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