‘The Murder Plague’ unleashed on the world
At a press conference that drew more than 30 people Feb. 1, I launched “The Murder Plague”, unleashing my new dystopian thriller novel on the world.
Worldwide publication launch though Black Rose Writing is set for Feb. 8. The Murder Plague will be immediately available through Black Rose Writing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and cooler bookstores everywhere.
Among the highlights of my answers at the press conference, held at Devaney’s Sports Pub, in Winter Park, Fl.:
“It was difficult to convince people that a book about mass murder and plague could be a fun read.”
“Kanetha Wilson is probably the main character of the book. I followed her. When I first created Kanetha in the second chapter, I didn’t expect her to be the main character. She just took over. She was a force of nature.”
How many people die? “Millions over all. But people you explicitly watch die? Probably no more than 60 or 70.”
“In one order, I ordered books on plagues, genetic engineering, and the maintenance and operation of a public water system. So I fully expected the FBI to show up at my doorstep. I got away with it.”
“I’m actually hoping to get banned. As I look at the list of banned books and banned authors out there, I’d feel honored be mentioned in the same sentence as some of them.”
“Actually, I borrowed all these ideas from the lunatic fringe, so they’re already out there.”
“The question is when it makes it to the big screen, not if. For Dr. Andrusek, I’m told by my wife it needs to be Matthew McConaughey. He’s a little older, but maybe a younger Matthew McConaughey. Kanetha, the actor I have in mind is Denée Benton. She was in The Gilded Age recently. A couple of things I like about her is she’s from Orlando. I always like to keep local people in mind. I also liked her speech at the Tony Awards. For Marty Francisco, maybe someone like Benicio del Toro. He was in Traffic. He won the Academy Award for that. That guy has to be someone who is simultaneously sensitive and scary as hell.”
“There were a couple of characters in this book that were based very specifically on people I know. They weren’t the main characters. What I did with those particular two characters was, I caused them to die really painful deaths.”
“We live in a community where mass murder is a real thing, not an imaginary thing. The whole time I was writing this book I had in mind how to deal with people who lived through this kind of trauma, this kind of pain, this kind of terror. I know some. I know many people in this community do. We’ve all be touched by what happened at Pulse.”
Comments from emcee Mark Mills included:
“He’s covered space and he’s covered politics. And what do they have in common? Emptiness and darkness.”
“This book is so important. This book will change the face of western civilization. This book will save humankind. That’s why Ron DeSantis can’t wait to ban it.”
“He’s become so important, so iconic, he needs three names. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the wizard of words. The king of the keyboards, the pro of prose—and if you went to Florida public schools, that’s prose: p-r-o-s-e., Scott Michael Powers.”
Special thanks to emcee Mark Mills, producer Patrick Devlin, Devaney’s Sports Pub, and the journalists who peppered me with tough questions.
