The Top is a Lonely Place

“Cold tea, sixteen-hour work days and nasty thrumming headaches came packaged with all the glory of the presidential chair.” – U.S. President Addison Hale, from the cross-genre thriller, Emissary.

When I first heard the quote, “There’s plenty of room at the bottom,” I didn’t know it came from the famous speech by Richard Feynman that foreshadowed the science of nanotechnology. For me, the statement conjured up a completely different meaning that made perfect sense.

In our plans for the future as writers and artists, who doesn’t dream of reaching the top? After all, we only hear of those who make a big splash in their field or a revered place in history. Yet for every Michelangelo and Picasso, for every Dickens and Poe and Twain, for every Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan there are thousands of hardworking artists, writers, and muscians who create beautiful works.

One of my favorite writers is T. J. McGregor, aka Trish Janeschultz, aka Alison Drake. Author of 30 novels, including Out of Sight a winner of the 2002 Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Paperback Original, McGregor does not come instantly to mind when we speak of “bestselling” authors. Nevertheless, she is a talented craftsman, and I love her work.

Perhaps this idea was behind my thoughts when I created President Addison Hale as one of three major players in my latest novel, Emissary. Addison never expected to win the election when she agreed to run. Her goal, as with most third-party contenders, was merely to get her party’s issues in front of the American people. Targeted and nearly killed by a sniper, she made national headlines at precisely the moment when voters were trying to decide between two major-party but equally unpopular candidates. And once in office, she struggles to do the best job possible even as she learns that it’s cold at the top. As she attests in the book, “Among her political adversaries, she was a bug under a microscope.”

Emissary is available now for pre-order at: ChartHousePress.com/Chris-Rogers/