Vitalerium: Descent into the Void follows a rogue criminal living in the golden age of space exploration who winds up at the center of a conspiracy of a government faction looking to implement a Machiavellian vision of utopia. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The inspiration for Vitalerium – Descent into the Void, though stemming from numerous influences, is first and foremost a result of my life-long love of science fiction. I have always admired the ability of sci-fi writers to extrapolate a vision of the future (and how that vision could go terribly awry) through the lens of their own knowledge and experience. The restorative property of escaping to worlds filled with technological marvels, glorious triumphs in space combat, and endless possibilities of the future is something I cherish. I also find the dystopian elements so commonly captured to be humbling in a way; reminding us that we are still human, and thus prone to err no matter how advanced the world around us becomes. There’s value in identifying potential pitfalls and unexpected difficulties that lay in wait for humanity in the uncharted waters ahead. Although progress is inevitable, we could just as easily progress into a burning building as we could greener pastures. I pull from many authors’ examples that came before me, including some of the greats in classic sci-fi writing, cinema, and video games. I even went so far as to leave small easter eggs within the first book that highlight some of my influences. That part was a lot of fun for me, and I hope the readers will enjoy finding them, too.

Other sources of inspiration came from within. “Write what you know” was a phrase I never fully understood until I started hitting the keyboard at regular intervals. I tend to pull from real-life experiences to craft narratives throughout the book. Vitalerium documents the rediscovery of purpose and the growth of numerous characters throughout their trials and tribulations. Although the stakes are certainly higher in Vitalerium than in my own experiences, the lessons learned are undoubtedly transferable. A number of the major characters in the book are based on people I know or have met that made a lasting imprint. I feel this breathes life and sincerity into their personalities. Even the dream sequences that emerge are altered versions of some of the most vivid dreams I’ve ever had. Sleep paralysis is something I experience on a regular basis. For those of you who understand the feeling associated with the phenomenon, I’m sure you understand how impactful the experience can be. Ultimately, I find that if I’m focusing on the right things, I can find inspiration anywhere, and everywhere.

Current events also provide plenty of fuel for the fire. Today’s world presents no shortage of inspiration for the potential emergence of a dystopian world. All one has to do is turn on the TV or open their preferred news app. To watch the way narratives are portrayed and subsequently spun by both sides of the aisle is like watching two different planets reporting on entirely different stories. The dichotomy of left and right today is portrayed as a vast chasm, where only the extremes are highlighted by each respective camp. The resulting weight of interpreted division is one that we carry into our daily lives, whether we realize it or not. Nuance is a thing lost to the binary world of left or right, right or wrong, win or lose, omitting the infinite shades of gray existing between them. Although this manufactured portrayal of the world is far from reality, where people have more in common than they are told to realize, its effects endure.

In Vitalerium – Descent into the Void, I forecast a world where this vision is carried forward—one where obedience means surviving, and disagreement means suffering (for those who remember their high school English curriculum, this is undoubtedly Orwellian-reminiscent). For when perceived division accelerates and is pitted against itself, and the populations lose all sense of the common ground on which they walk, the only option left is for one side to emerge victorious; and that is when all of society loses.

While it incorporates the ethical dilemmas and cutthroat politics of an advanced civilization, Vitalerium remains non-partisan. The thematic focus is on philosophical exploration, and the often-blurred lines of morality the human condition exposes us to…and yes, it’s got lots of action! So, for those of you who are sick of being preached to in every book, movie, play, or fading sticker you happen to read on a bathroom stall seeking to teach you the error of your personal leanings, don’t worry. It’s my belief that adults can make their own decisions, and I wouldn’t bore you with that horseshit.

I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?

I have always been fascinated with space travel. Although my professional career took me down a different path, I still maintain that childlike curiosity when it comes to new cosmological discoveries, breakthroughs in modern physics, or anything else that falls into the realm of exploring the great void. Perhaps in an attempt to fulfill my own desires to explore the cosmos, I created the element Vitalerium: the gravity-bending catalyst to accomplish such a monumental feat. However, the ability to traverse any space poses an important question: to where, then, do we go? Although the exact number is not known, it is calculated that anywhere between 200 billion and 2 trillion galaxies exist in the observable universe. Zoom in a little closer, and you’ll find there are anywhere between 100 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way alone—each with their own potential for harboring orbital exoplanets: each with the promise of life in some form. So, why couldn’t we assume that given our current limitations in measuring such things, that a planet similar to our own exists somewhere in the celestial neighborhood (so to speak)?

For planet Deorum, where the majority of the first book takes place, I wanted to create similar conditions to Earth as I began to expound on this fabricated universe: one where a futuristic take on modern life was possible, yet even the smallest differences in conditions could lead to massive disparities in flora, fauna, and the course of evolution on its surface. A planet so close to the source of vitalerium, the book’s strange new addition to the periodic table, is bound to provoke some very interesting wildlife. As the series progresses, I plan to incorporate more planets with even stranger conditions and cultural traditions. Perhaps one planet was optimally positioned but required terraforming to be inhabited, resulting in a strange uniformity of flora, and a subsequently stark uniformity in its society. Conceivably, one planet’s surface could be covered entirely by water, creating a business hub for water and sea life commodities. Maybe I’ll create a planet where tectonic plate activity is much more extreme compared with Earth’s. To find out, you’ll simply have to read on, friends.

Another source of my perpetual curiosity lies in mythology, and the ruins of past civilizations. Understanding the roots of our species and the emergence of civilization fascinates me to no end: an unremitting cascade of inspiration. This was especially helpful in crafting the ruins readers will discover on planet Deorum. In the book, the Coalition’s perceived lack of desire to explore the remnants of this dead civilization mimics our own dearth of answers in regard to our predecessors.

The story has changed drastically since my initial mapping, and its future remains flexible to this day. Although there are major events that I plan for, I base how we get there off the characters, for whom I attempt to give a mind of their own. Currently, I’m about 150 pages into the second book, which promises to be even more exciting than the first. So, for the potential readers out there, I’ll leave you with a friendly forewarning: the first book was created with the entire series in mind, and thus some of the themes in the overarching narrative are left unrequited…for now. There is, however, no need to fret. Each new release in the series promises to provide new characters, new planets, new concepts, and technologies, and yes…closure for narrative cliffhangers, while potentially opening new ones.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book? Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?

Descent into the Void, though a gripping tale of its own, is only the beginning of what’s to come. It is a thrilling yet heartbreaking glance into spacefaring civilization in a technologically advanced, dystopian universe. In the first book, the reader is dropped into the story just prior to its tipping point. This starting line serves to shed light on how the immense external pressures of a hybrid authoritarian society form our protagonist, Roman Matthews, as well as other threads in this multinarrative odyssey. The horrific life experiences Roman endures shape the man we follow throughout the majority of the book. Readers will get a front-row view of his bitter evolution from a clean-cut boy with a bright future, to an aimless lost soul whose circumstances have forged a hardened roughneck; and then, his transformation into something else entirely.

Starting from this vantage point also allowed me breadth to illustrate how the Coalition for Prosperity—the government on planet Deorum—operates. Their centralized shift from governing to ruling creates a society where authority is the only currency that carries weight. The result is a stark transition from keeping its people safe, to keeping its citizens in line. When powerful “public servants” begin to serve themselves and their perceived greater causes rather than the populace they no longer feel obligated to, a ripple effect radiates outward from leadership with dire consequences. The resulting conditions create a harsh world where no freedom, or person, is safe. Together, these concepts provide only a glimpse of the storm on the horizon, one of blind ambitions, and a lack of understanding of the larger forces at play.

Although we dive into ethical dilemmas, political factions, and some hard-hitting action, the book also sets the stage for a much greater theme: That in the scope of the universe, humans are but a few atoms of a bacterium on a speck of dust floating through a never-ending black field. Humanity, in all its glory of exploration and colonization, when examined on the grand stage that is our plane of existence is magnificently miniscule, yet important none-the-less to the harmony of order and chaos. The universe, as we will discover, has a narrative of its own that it intends to see to fruition; ever balancing the forces of equilibrium on a scale that our consciousness may not fathom due to the physical limitations of our organic vessels.

Descent into the Void is only the first of seven books I have planned in the Vitalerium series, and that number could be a low estimate. When I first mapped out the universe and started writing, I realized the book I had storyboarded for was far too long to be a single novel. The reality hit me when I was starting chapter 15 on a flight to Boston and noticed the number at the bottom of the page: 229. Most of my writing is done on a plane due to the incessant travel requirements of my job in medical device sales. The majority of the first book was written at 36,000 feet. Whether it was the opportunity to disconnect from the internet and other distractions in life, or the fact that I was just a hair closer to the void of space itself, I’m not entirely sure. Whatever the case, I found it to be the perfect writing office for Vitalerium. Writing this series has been my proverbial construction of an interstellar spacecraft to explore and enjoy that which I can only dream of. It is my only hope that you all board, and enjoy the ride…

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Nearly six centuries have passed since humanity’s discovery of vitalerium, which ushered in a golden age of space exploration and colonization. Planet Deorum’s society is centered around this illustrious, gravity-bending blue crystal. The year is 2701.

Following a near-fatal disaster, roughneck freelancer Roman Matthews becomes unwittingly trapped at the center of a harrowing conspiracy. Hunted by Deorum’s government, the Coalition for Prosperity, Roman must use his deadly skillset to survive against all odds.

Roman and his band of unlikely allies will discover that the Coalition’s indiscretions threaten the delicate balance of advanced civilization. As a sect of the Coalition prepares to implement their Machiavellian vision of utopia, the proverbial pendulum begins to swing toward chaos…