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Space-Based Umbrella
The Specter of Psyche follows an NYPD detective who is offered a job in space exploration that turns into a multi-murder investigation in space. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The primary activity in the story is solar-system space development or exploitation, not space exploration. The Psyche asteroid is real. NASA is about to send a probe there because the increasingly rare and essential metallic minerals potentially contained in the asteroid could be worth quadrillions of dollars…if the ore can be successfully and economically mined. I propose some food for thought on a possible mining method, one not without considerable risk and astronomical upfront investment. I never try to make light of technical challenges in my books. I try to explain them in layman’s terms. Perhaps I will lose a few viewers along the way. But I hope others will enjoy the ‘hard’ science and engineering, and perhaps build on my ideas. Because I think we could very well need to find a way to mine a metallic asteroid if we are to save and further evolve our industrial-based civilization.
When creating Detective Kelly Seamus, did you have a plan for development and character traits, or did it grow organically as you were writing the story?
I started out with a fair idea of the character of Seamus Kelly. He is a street-smart cop, but a highly intelligent guy with a big heart. He makes sincere friendships, and that helps him crack some tough cases in a very challenging environment.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The book is the sequel to ZONT-2 and Beyond. It, too, was thought to be a bit too technical by a Literary Titan reviewer. But it proposes a design for a space-based umbrella for combatting climate change. And the challenges it details are just as daunting as those posed by trying to economically mine a metallic asteroid. And I hope that book will also be food for thought because unfortunately, it looks increasingly likely that we will need a space umbrella of some sort. To make technical aspects more digestible, if you will, I try to involve interesting but believable characters, with a few sidebars like a love story or a detective story.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
Yes, there will be a sequel to make a three-book series. Readers will note that intelligent aliens seem to also covet the mineral wealth in the Psyche asteroid. Who are they, and will they be willing to share? Stay tuned…
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