Internationally published novelist and nonfiction author Joe Massucci was born and raised in steel-town Pittsburgh, Pa. He published his first newspaper (The Berry Street News) at age 10, and has been a writer and editor ever since.

After graduating from Duquesne University (undergraduate-journalism) and the University of Pittsburgh (graduate-rhetoric and communications), Joe spent 25 years in corporate communications. He is now U.S. General Manager, Communications, for BP based in Houston, Texas.

Joe has written more than 2,200 articles for corporate and trade publications on a variety of technical topics. His editorial assignments have taken him to Egypt, Argentina, Sharjah, The Netherlands and England.

Joe's debut novel, CODE:ALPHA (Leisure Books, 1997), is a "heart-pounding technothriller" about a beautiful and brainy biochemist whose inadvertent creation — a genetically engineered virus known as "Saint Vitus" — becomes a terrible weapon of revenge for the Middle East's most dangerous terrorist. With nonstop action, cutting-edge medical science, romance and the very real specter of domestic terrorism, the book has garnered rave reviews from critics and readers alike, with a first printing of 70,000 copies. "Totally believable!" says Kirkus Reviews. USA Today: "This fiction can become reality. Our reality." Most recently, the book was translated and published in Polish by Amber Press as "KOD ALFA."

His second novel, a sequel to CODE:ALPHA titled The Millennium Project (Leisure Books, 1998), is touted as "one of the most popular books about Year 2000 and the Millennium," (TIMEANDDATE.COM). The Herald Tribune (Pasadena) says, "This thriller takes readers on a ride made even more compelling by the idea that its events could really happen. A good read, with plenty of bang for your Millennium buck." The book was translated and published in the Czech Republic by Alpress, and in Poland by Amber Press.

Joe has completed a new novel, a thriller titled The Sabbath Experiment, and is working on a fourth.

When he isn't writing, Joe is a recording musician and a photographer. He is married to Patricia and has a 20-year-old daughter, Jenny (a Marine reservist), two miniature dachshunds, Shorty and Tanner, and a calico cat, Peaches. His sister, Marianne, is a noted painter, who recently opened an art school in Pittsburgh for young gifted artists.

For some great thoughts, ideas and impressions, visit Joe's BLOG PAGE.

What's the story line of your novel The Sabbath Experiment?

With the most important scientific discovery in the history of mankind at stake, the elusive Dr. Jonathan Sabbath will stop at nothing to keep his fantastic experiment the world's most closely guarded secret. Only one man can expose Sabbath’s incredible scheme with its global implications — a fertility doctor who was murdered a half century ago.

Do Julie Martinelli and Joe Marshall return for more adventures?

Julie and Marshall took a break from The Sabbath Experiment. Because the story takes place over a span of 50 years, I needed to create a set of original characters, including the world's greatest inventor and the first woman President of the United States.

Your other novels blend memorable characters with intriguing science from today's headlines. What will The Sabbath Experiment teach us?

The Sabbath Experiment explores cryogenic revivication, life extension, age-regression and "artificial twinning" (the perfect way to create identical twins from a single embryo).

Let's go back to your first novel. What inspired you to write CODE:ALPHA?

Several real-life events brought to my attention the drama of genetic engineering and domestic biological terrorism. The first was an article in Science magazine about how the US Army's institute for infectious diseases at Ft. Detrick, Md., was looking for scientists to introduce human nervous-system genes into bacteria through recombinant DNA methods — which they eventually received special permission to perform from the National Institutes of Health. It seemed the US military was working on some very serious stuff.

Then along comes a Stanford graduate candidate who proposed splicing toxigenic genes into E. Coli bacteria found in the human intestine. Her adviser dissuaded her from going ahead with the experiment in the event the anomaly ever escaped the lab. Finally, a former researcher at Ft. Detrick made a charge that more than a quart of disease virus was discovered missing from a biological warfare program there. The former lab director said security is so lax at Detrick that large amounts of deadly organisms could be carried out of laboratories in a pocket or briefcase by any employee with clearance to work there.

I put these real-life incidents together and thought, what if a terrorist stole a weapon-grade virus from Ft. Detrick, something that an innocent Stanford graduate intern working there had inadvertently created? What would be the consequences of that?

You're not a biochemist or gene-splicer. How did you develop the background to write such a technical book as CODE:ALPHA?

Research. Just about anything you want to know about a topic is available if you know where to look or whom to ask. It helps to have an investigative journalism and research background. For more than 25 years I've researched heavily technical articles and translated the subject matter into common language, which turned out to be a very useful skill for writing technical novels. What I couldn't find through research, however, I made up for my stories.

What did your research reveal about genetically engineered viruses — is it actually possible to create an organism as dangerous as your "Saint Vitus"?

Anything's possible. Most of my material comes from today's headlines. Just when the naysayers state that some form of gene spicing or cloning isn't possible, along comes a news story that announces yet another breakthrough. As a society, it's prudent if we keep an open mind and expect the impossible.

In CODE:ALPHA you quote US defense consultants as saying this country is entirely defenseless against biological and chemical terrorism. Do we, in fact, have an "ALPHA" Team out there to protect us from crazies who might be plotting such an attack on US soil?

Gosh, I hope so.

Are you happy with the reception of your first book?

Very. I had great fun writing it and, apparently, the readers have fun with it too. Leisure Books printed 70,000 copies. They had enough confidence in it to offer me a contract to write a sequel. CODE:ALPHA has been very well received, and I continue to get e-mails and letters from readers who enjoyed the experience.

Does your next novel The Millennium Project pick up where CODE: ALPHA left off?

The Millennium Project is not a sequel, per se; it's a different scenario with the same characters set two years later. The story begins five days before the end of the century. CODE:ALPHA's Julie Martinelli is unexpectedly and suddenly drafted by a special branch of the US Military to work on a highly classified project and sealed away with several of her colleagues deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, the military's high-tech NORAD bunker.

There she learns that the microprocessors controlling America's top-secret strategic defense satellite network have failed, rendering the network useless. Julie's job is to find a solution before our enemies discover we're vulnerable to attack. Meanwhile, a mad genius and his small army of doomsday mercenaries are using this window of opportunity to commit the crime of the millennium.

The heroes of both books are Julie Martinelli — a smart, beautiful biochemist working in a government lab — and Colonel Joseph Marshall, a seasoned Special Forces commando. How did you create these characters?

Julie and Marshall are purposely larger than life. After all, those two novels are escapist reads, so I needed to go beyond the normal, everyday types. Marshall and his Gunnery Sergeant Williams are extraordinary soldiers caught in very dangerous situations. In CODE:ALPHA, for example, they're forced to fight an enemy they can't see. Julie, on the other hand, is more "normal," but undeniably gifted. It's fun watching her get swept up in extraordinary situations she really doesn't want any part of.

To develop a character, it often helps to visualize a film actor or actress playing the part as though in a movie.

What was the biggest challenge writing The Millennium Project?

Trying to make reading about computers exciting. I use computers merely as the means to give our bad guy, Alexander Skile, a way to perpetuate his crimes. To create action, I introduce other elements and scenarios that lend themselves to adventure and suspense.

Such as?

Well, for starters, the story opens with the crash of a 767 airliner on its final approach to Dulles International Airport. The pilots lose control when the aircraft's 140 computers mysteriously begin shutting down. Other interesting scenarios include surviving a helicopter crash atop the Colorado Rockies; thwarting a hijacking of a military train; recovering a satellite from a murky mountain lake bed; having the air slowly sucked out of NORAD's bunker city; a shoot-out at a crowded Chicago Mercantile Exchange; the collapse of one of Chicago's water tunnels; a sexually dysfunctional genius; torture and dismemberment — wholesome fun for the entire family!

So The Millennium Project is not for children?

Absolutely not a book for children. Nor do I recommend it for the squeamish.

Isn't it difficult weaving romance into a technothriller?

The relationship among characters is a fundamental part of any good story. No less so in a good thriller. In fact, characters who really care for each other but are separated by insurmountable obstacles add to the thrills and the action. I'm not saying it's easy, because in this genre the plot tends to dominate the characters, driving them — they're motivated by extraordinary events thrust upon them.

Will we see Julie and Marshall in more adventures?

Julie and Marshall took a break for my new novel, The Sabbath Experiment. However, I'm considering a sequel to CODE:ALPHA, where "Saint Vitus" raises its horrific head once again in an even more deadly mutation in the jungles of South America.

Speaking of your other novels, what's the deal with The Resurrection of Andrew Finsbury?

Andrew Finsbury is my most personal. It's certainly my most ambitious — I started writing it out of grad school and was forced to put it aside for CODE:ALPHA, The Millennium Project and now The Sabbath Experiment. Only recently have been I been able to finish it. I had refused to submit it for publication until I was completely happy with it.

Is it a technothriller?

No. Believe it or not, it's a turn-of-the-century paranormal adventure set in this life and the hereafter. A colleague described it as "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea meets What Dreams May Come." (Click HERE to read the synopsis and sample chapters.)

What kind of paranormal adventure?

The occult element introduces readers to ghosts and otherworldly landscapes. The novel is a grand adventure — a journey that takes a desperate man to the darkest corners of the globe and, ultimately, to the valleys of Hell, where he must unlock the secrets of Eternity to save the woman he loves. Andrew's emotional passage through a world shaped by his own sins leads him on a odyssey of self discovery, where he comes to terms with his destiny, his slain comrades he promised to protect and to an ultimate confrontation with the man who killed him and those he loved. At stake is the fate of his soul and the life of the woman he loves.

The book creates a whole cosmology in the afterlife, combining elements of fantasy, drama, horror and spectacle.

Interesting. So what are the secrets of Eternity?

That would spoil the fun. You'll have to read the novel.

How does a technothriller author become interested in paranormal and New Age themes?

New Age literature enlightens us to the nature of our existence and the mysteries of the Universe — issues that innately fascinate most people. Turning these themes into action thrillers has always interested me.

These types of books aren't new or obscure. The fiction and nonfiction bestsellers' lists are full of this material. For example, James Redfield was on a fascinating road with The Celestine Prophesy. Sure, his style may have been awkward, but his insights, and the thrills his characters go through to find and understand them, creates an interesting read. I'd love to read more titles that blend these two genres.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I was writing stories in the third grade. I created characters and dialogue for my friends so we could put on backyard plays for the neighborhood's parents. My dream since then has always been to create new worlds and new characters through novels.

How has working for Corporate America prepared you for being a novelist?

Writing for Corporate America has been very good to me. Besides sharpening my journalism skills, I've been very lucky in getting writing assignments all over the world where I could ask people at the very top whatever I needed for my articles. Over 25 years, this experience has put me in some unusual places — a natural gas offshore platform in the middle of the North Sea, the prehistoric mountains of Argentina, an Egyptian ghetto, a newly discovered tomb, and the engine room of a 70,000 deadweight ton oil tanker.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I've enjoyed and have been inspired by Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler, Stephen King, Alistair Maclean, Tom Clancy and H.P Lovecraft. Unfortunately, most of my time these days is taken with nonfiction reading. However, on vacations I'll grab a mainstream thriller off the bestseller rack — and, frankly, I'm usually disappointed.

What advice can you give writers hoping to get published?

Keep working on your craft until you've successfully written a commercial manuscript — that is a novel a publishing house can market to a large audience. This can take years for your first book, or it may not happen until your third manuscript. Someone who gives up after unsuccessfully trying to publish a first manuscript isn't truly committed to becoming a published novelist.

When your manuscript is as good as you can make it (don't you dare ask anyone to read a half-assed work in progress!), then comes the frustrating business of finding an agent and, ultimately, a publisher. This part of the process often proves even more difficult than finishing your manuscript. Agents are the gatekeepers to the publishing world, who, like editors, will put their business self-interests ahead of all other considerations. For example, ideas, trends, styles and genres that have sold well in the past will be sought after for today markets. This can actually put new ideas, imagination and creativity at a disadvantage. It's also the reason the majority of new books I pick up off the bestseller rack tend to disappoint me with stale and repetitive themes and style. However, in the end, no one — not you, an agent, or the publisher — knows what combination of plot, characters, technique, genre or themes will delight an audience and make the next best seller.

To succeed in this industry, always think marketing — from the genesis of your idea all the way to creating an enticing artwork that gets noticed on book racks. Draft a three-page synopsis that reads like marketing copy for the book's jacket (see the synopsis of my books elsewhere on this Web site). This may be your single most important writing project. Also, draft a sentence or two "hook" that summarizes your story for your cover letter (e.g., "With the most important scientific discovery in the history of mankind at stake, an elusive Dr. Sabbath will stop at nothing to keep his experiment the world’s most closely guarded secret. Only one man can expose Sabbath’s incredible scheme with its global implications — a fertility doctor who was murdered a half century ago.").

The goal of your presentation is to get agents and editors to dig deeper into your query package to find out more about you and your story. A query package should contain a brief cover letter, your bio, a multi-page synopsis and, optionally, the FIRST fifty pages of your manuscript. If you have the opportunity, attend writers' conferences to meet editors and agents in your genre and pitch your work with a five-minute oral presentation of your query package.

The key to success is to not give up. As I've stated, don't write just one manuscript and then hang it up if you don't generate any interest. It's very difficult for first-time authors to get noticed regardless of the quality of their work. Remember, you're competing with best-selling authors for editors' and, ultimately, readers' attention. If you are truly a writer, you will always be working on a manuscript.

Keep sending out quality query packages, varying your approach if you're not generating interest in you and your project, until a potential agent or publisher reads your manuscript seriously. It may take hundreds of query letters before you find an agent who likes your style enough to feel confident representing you. It's a thankless, frustrating, imperfect process.

As for the writing life, set aside time each day — at least an hour for writers who juggle full-time day jobs — to work on a project. Listen seriously to your inner voice that tells you not to give up. If you're a natural storyteller, with enough perseverance you will get published. n

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For more great thoughts, ideas and impressions,
visit Joe's BLOG PAGE.

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© 2006 Joseph Massucci
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