A POTPOURRI OF READING ENTERTAINMENT

Do you like short stories? They have the appeal that one gets to meet the protagonist, learn about his or her particular problem, and enjoy the final resolution all in one sitting. I came to like short stories with surprising endings. In my recent book, Bright Figures Sinister Shadows, I have tried to craft stories with a “twist” at the end. Here you will find a man who hears his long dead father’s voice on the phone, and other stories about everyday people who suddenly encounter a time warp, living elves, a mermaid, or an alternate universe leading to bizarre consequences.

Read more about Bright Figures Sinister Shadows on my website www.ellner.com.

CREATING A HEROINE

You have just finished reading a novel you liked. In particular, there was one character who impressed you. As a matter of fact, you identified with him and cared what happened to him in the story.
You may have wondered how the author was able to create such a realistic person.

There are a variety of techniques that authors can employ to make their characters 3-demensional, but sometimes the character comes out of nowhere to insert himself into the story. This is how Kate Morrison, the protagonist (my favorite character) in And Evil Shall Come, came into being.

One evening my wife and I were in bed watching a movie called You’ve Got Mail. It was a cute story about a young man and woman who found each other in a computer chat room and finally met for a happy ending. When the film ended, my wife went to sleep, but I lay awake intrigued by the novelty of the concept. I knew that chat rooms were vehicles designed for online dating and approaching 70 with three grown children that was not my interest. I was curious though to see what one was like.

I tiptoed into the next room where my computer lived and somehow found a chat room. To my surprise a young woman from Nebraska selected me. Her name was Carol A.  She was excited to meet a professor from the east coast where all the intellectuals lived. It quickly became obvious to her that I was not interested in dating. I was enthusiastic to meet a professional woman from the Midwest.  We exchanged names, brief bios, and email addresses. We promised to meet the next evening.  Would she actually contact me? The next night I received an email from Carol asking questions.   We began to correspond. Carol was a reporter for an Omaha agricultural newspaper, with an abusive boyfriend. She dreamed of becoming an investigative reporter for a major newspaper. Over the next nights, weeks, we told each other about our childhood experiences. In time our exchanges became personal. Carol gave me much more than I gave her. She related dreams and even sexual fantasies. She wanted to talk, and it was almost as if I was a surrogate therapist. I admired Carol’s dedication, persistence, and courage.

I now had reams of printouts of our conversations over the months. I decided to use the material and write a book called “Pen Pals”, but soon dropped that idea because it wasn’t exciting enough. During my professional career I was actively involved with the U.S. Public Health Service and had accumulated a great deal of information about biological weapons. That would be the subject of my next novel. It took 11 years and 19 versions to finish the book. I would call my protagonist Kate Morrison and utilize many of Carol’s characteristics as well as a few interesting incidents she had related. Characters in my future novels would be more challenging.

A BIOTERRORISM THRILLER

When Kate Morrison, a young reporter, accidentally comes upon a U.S. Army camp in a desolate area of Nebraska, she is irritated and perplexed by the bizarre treatment she experiences. Kate, who dreams of writing for a major newspaper, investigates and is amazed that the army denies the existence of the camp. As she continues her investigation, she learns that the camp is actually an Al Qaeda operation manufacturing and distributing biological weapons to terrorist groups. Masterminded by a sinister Japanese who has compelled the acquiescence of a U.S. senator, the Al Qaeda carry out biological attacks around the world. Together with FBI Special Agent Matt O’Neill, Kate is able to forestall a biological attack on the U.S. Capital, but the Nation is left in turmoil when a devastating anthrax attack on the auto show in New York City leaves thousands dead. Thousands flee the city in panic when a miniature nuclear bomb is planted in Grand Central Station. In this gripping tale Kate is kidnapped, experiences betrayal, and faces beheading by the Al Qaeda.

Although my novel is fiction, it is based upon the details learned about bioweapons during the years writing the book. I actually visited sites of fictional attacks such as an Israeli kibbutz, an Indian village far up the Amazon in Colombia, a camping area near Washington, D.C. and, of course, the Javitz Center in New York City. Attacks with bioweapons are different in that the target may not know that it has been hit until hours or even days later when large numbers of victims suddenly develop similar symptoms.

Unit 731 really existed and so did General Ishii Shiro. See my previous post on BIOTERRORISM.

You can learn more about this thriller And Evil Shall Come on my website, www.ellner.com. You can even read a four-chapter excerpt. 

ABOUT BIOTERRORISM

I learned details about bioweapons (BW) as a Public Health Service Officer on special assignment to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). FEMA was concerned that federal and military resources were inadequate in the event of a mass casualty disaster. These would include natural occurrences like hurricanes, earthquakes, and epidemics or an attack with nuclear, chemical, or biological agents. I was tasked to recruit, develop, equip, and train civilian volunteer groups of medical personnel, who would function as Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATS). In the event of a disaster, DMATS would be activated, federalized, and transported to a critical area where they would triage and stabilize victims.

The use of biological agents as weapons is not new.  In 1346, Tartars attacked the walled city of Caffa in Crimea.  When cases of Bubonic plague appeared among the Tartars, they catapulted the corpses of the victims into the city to start an epidemic. Genovese sailors stranded in the city escaped and returned to Italy carrying the disease, bringing the dreaded Black Death to Europe.

During the French and Indian War (1756-1763) in Pre Revolutionary America, smallpox broke out among the occupying British troops. Officers ordered blankets from sick or dead soldiers to be distributed to the hostile Indians hoping to decimate the tribes.

The Japanese were the first to methodically study the effects of various pathogenic microorganisms on humans. In 1937, the Japanese occupied Manchuria and set up a camp there known as Unit 731. By the end of WWII, almost everyone in Europe and America became aware of the Nazi death camps like Auschwitz, but Unit 731 was worse than any of them. Surrounded by barbed wire and machine-gun nests, it was a place of horror where human beings were used as guinea pigs for lethal agents. General Ishii Shiro, a Japanese physician, was in charge of the camp where more than 3,000 men, women and children were murdered by using them as experimental subjects for testing. Most of the victims were Chinese who had been convicted, sentenced to death, and sent to Unit 731 in lieu of execution. As the Russians approached the camp, Shiro dropped thousands of infected rats on Chinese communities resulting in 20,000 fatal cases of bubonic plague.

Shiro and his staff were captured and turned over to the Americans for prosecution. Now this will sicken you.  American generals, anxious to learn the results of Shiro’s experiments and determined to keep this data from the Russians, persuaded President Truman to pardon them. The Soviets were no fools and lost no time in establishing a huge organization called Biopreparat devoted exclusively to the development of bioweapons.

Eventually the Americans started researching bioweapons. Fort Detrick in Maryland was a center for researching and developing germ weapons, and the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah was designated as a testing site. Experiments were conducted secretly in the U.S. without informing the subjects. In 1950, ships of the U.S. Navy sprayed a cloud of bacteria over San Francisco and many residents developed pneumonia-like symptoms. Three years later the Army, Navy, and CIA sprayed bacteria over New York City and San Francisco.

In 1966, the U.S. Army dispensed bacteria throughout the New York City subway system.

In 1972, President Nixon signed an Executive Order banning the use and production of biological agents. By the 1980’s, details of the above experiments were de-classified.

Non-fiction books and novels began to appear. Among them: A Higher Form of Killing by Ken Alibek (a defector from Biopreparat), The Cobra Event (Richard Preston), Vector (Robin Cook), Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War (Judith Miller) and many others.

My novel, And Evil Shall Come, is a thriller based upon much of what I have learned about BW.

CIA CAREER?

I was in Atlanta attending the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology hoping to find a better position. It was1963, and I was an assistant professor at the University of Vermont School of Medicine in Burlington.  The Microbiology Department was small with little opportunity for advancement.  Also, I was lonely since my former wife and daughter Diane were now living in New York.

A stranger approached me and started a casual conversation that somehow morphed into a job offer.  He told me the “agency” could use a man like me. I could tell he was referring to the CIA , and I envisioned myself in Eastern Europe with a pistol and a raincoat. He indicated I would be working as an analyst in Washington D.C. perusing scientific literature.   He explained “if the Russians published a paper describing immunization of humans with an aerosol of flu vaccine, we would be interested and your report might be considered at a high level.” He gave me a contact in Philadelphia and asked me not to discuss our conversation with anyone.

I thought about working for the CIA until the following day when Dr. Harry Rose, Chairman of the Microbiology Department at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, interviewed me. He offered me a position there, and I jumped at the opportunity. Also, I would be closer to Diane.

I never called the contact in Philadelphia.