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I\u2019m usually the one asking the questions. On a recent episode of The Miami Book Hub, however, author and longtime journalist Ana Veciana-Suarez took over my chair. Suddenly, I was the guest, explaining how an urban planner ended up writing about ancient mysteries, secret societies and world domination. Apparently, asking the questions is the easy part.<\/p>\n
Our conversation began with my September 22 launch at Books & Books, where Ana had joined a standing-room-only crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was so much love in that room,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There really was. \u201cIt was amazing. It was a relief. It was a joy,\u201d I told her. I had worked to create an immersive experience, with food featured in the story, music inspired by it, an induction ceremony, themed giveaways, and a conversation moderated by Dr. Paul George, himself a character in my book. Having him there was especially meaningful: some of my earliest dates with my wife were on his history tours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But how did I get there? Oddly enough, by failing to meditate.<\/p>\n
Sitting on a swing beneath a banyan tree overlooking a canal, I was trying to quiet my relentlessly busy mind. Instead, I started wondering whether technology could help. Could someone invent a wearable device that would balance Qi and make meditation easier?<\/p>\n
That question sent me down a rabbit hole of research and business planning. Eventually, I concluded that bringing such an invention into the world wasn\u2019t a project I was equipped to pursue. But imagining it? That was another matter. And what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That became the seed of the arQitect, the first book in my planned nine-volume Maya Lin & the Ancient Order of Seshat saga. Maya, a young architectural historian at the University of Miami, is drawn into a collision between ancient knowledge and a corrupted Silicon Valley technology company. The adventure draws on my love of The Goonies and Indiana Jones, with philosophical questions and a little of The Matrix woven in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a yin-yang to technology, just as there is to everything\u201d I explained. \u201cThere\u2019s potential for good. There\u2019s also potential for bad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That duality runs through the characters and settings, too. I described Miami and San Francisco as both contrasting and complementary, from their landscapes to their immigrant communities. Or, as I put it: \u201cThey have sourdough, we have pastelitos.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I also drew a connection between planning cities and building fictional worlds. Both begin with a vision, then require figuring out how the pieces fit together. Before writing this saga, I needed a blueprint: the larger story, the individual books and the themes connecting them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve even written the ending of the ninth book.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t start writing until I know the ending,\u201d Ana agreed.<\/p>\n
Now comes the small matter of getting there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, an outline doesn\u2019t protect you from self-doubt. I shared how impostor syndrome had helped sideline the manuscript for almost a year. Finding time around a demanding job and family life was another challenge, with writing squeezed into early mornings, evenings and weekends. Then came the education in editing, publishing and promoting a book myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We ended by welcoming Ana into the Ancient Order of Seshat, recognizing her years of service to Miami\u2019s literary community. It was also a chance to explain why I\u2019ve extended this adventure into music and a reader community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really want people to feel like they\u2019re in this story and a part of it,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My thanks to Ana for taking the host\u2019s chair, Books & Books for an unforgettable launch, and Miami\u2019s Community Newspapers for helping us share these conversations.<\/p>\n
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