Fade to Blue follows an Alzheimer’s researcher who is being hunted and manipulated after accidentally creating a drug that can almost instantly wipe out all brain activity. Where did the idea for this novel come from?

In 1998, I was working at a steel mill. One evening during a break, a coworker suggested we write a short story together. While considering ideas, I remembered that an annealing line had crashed because a computer controlling its speed and torque had lost all Random-access memory. I said, “How about this: a scientist creates a drug that can erase a human’s memory.”

How much research went into the neuroscience and Alzheimer’s elements of the story?

My father was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease when I began writing Fade to Blue. That had a huge impact on me and the story.

Regarding the research, neuroscientist Dr. Brian Cummings invited me to his UC Irvine laboratory, where I saw firsthand the experiments and brain research being done by his students. The Memory Research Institute depicted in Fade to Blue is the result of my visit to UC Irvine. And it was Dr. Cummings who explained how a brain-destroying drug like T-3 could be created.

I later went to New York City at the invitation of Dr. Bernardo Rudy, head of the Rudy Lab at NYU Department of Neuroscience, to get a tour of his laboratory and discuss the science in my book.

The novel builds tension through small, everyday moments—driving, showering, simply being alone. Why was it important to show fear in those ordinary situations?

I wanted to infuse fear into normally mundane aspects of Sarah’s life so a reader could identify. We all drive a car and receive phone calls from friends. Those events shouldn’t stoke fear or panic. They do in Fade to Blue because unknown and unseen adversaries are following Sarah’s every move and listening to her every sound. This fear is omnipresent, but she must maintain a happy façade and keep her friends in the dark. At the same time, she channels her fear into courage, cunning, and resolve.

What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?

Unfortunately, I’m not planning to write more books at this time. It took me 25 years to write Fade to Blue.

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