Man with Two Brains – and Some Sci-Fi Fun

Of all the novels I’ve written, Revision 7: DNA is the one that recalls moments of my past. I don’t know how people spend 20 years writing one novel, but now I know how an idea might need 20 years to come alive. It was more than 20 years ago when I read that if one hemisphere of the brain was damages, the synapses between hemispheres could be severed and the un-damaged hemisphere would take over for both.
I wondered, if the two hemispheres were severed purposefully, and neither side damages, could both sides be trained…you know where this is leading, I’m sure—that’s exactly where the idea for Neil Altman came from. (So, let’s be clear here, he doesn’t really have two brains.) I could have made him a bit more like someone with multiple personality disorder, but chose not to. Had I done that, the novel would have been about the disorder more than about the science. Science rocks.
But so does magic. So, I chose to make Neil’s wife, Mavra, psychic. I used to read Tarot cards (still do, really), work with numerology, and am really into a lot of occult stuff. I probably know more about Native American magic and shamanism than I should. I know more about the activities and abilities of psychics than most people, not just because I’ve talked with them, but because I run in the same circles sometimes. So, throwing in a spouse that’s diametrically opposite of the scientific main character was going to be fun.
Throw in a few rampant robots. I had read once that there had been so many stories about time machines and time travel that most sci-fi magazines didn’t want to see any more of them unless they offered “something completely different” (Monty Python quote intended). The same went for robots at one time. Anyway, I thought that if inanimate objects could disappear into a time machine, but people couldn’t, perhaps a robot could go through. Yeah, tried that and it didn’t come back. Plus, there’s no communications link between the past and future – not yet. I may invent that later.
Anyhow, if robots can travel through time and we can’t then the robots get this idea that they are actually further along on the evolutionary path than we are. Which means that robots are closer to God than man is. Yeah, I said it. This posed some interesting questions and the potential for having a megalomaniacal robot as an antagonist.


My sci-fi novel couldn’t be complete without a few mad scientists, the FBI, the military, and all the conflict and tension and science that goes with that. Hey, I left out the kitchen sink. Bottom line is that I loved writing this book, for me it was fun and challenging. I got to use some real science, bend a few scientific rules, and add a bit of my own made-up science so that I could push the envelope a little. For a guy like me, that was fun.
Remember, if you read Revision 7: DNA , please, oh please, review it online, tweet about it, and let me know what you thought. Seriously, folks, I want to know that things are working for you.
Have a blast.-Terry
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Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. His novel, Cathedral of Dreams is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist in the science fiction category. His novel Sweet Song just won a Silver IPPY Award, too. His latest novel is, Revision 7: DNA , a sci-fi thriller. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon HERE.