Marie: Nice to see you again Arthur. What a beautiful
October day! We couldn’t have asked for a better day for an interview!
Arthur: Great to see you too, Marie. Yes, an absolutely
fantastic day! Thank you, Marie, for setting up this interview. And thank you
for your precious time!
Marie: I read your manuscript and I really liked it. I have
a few, well more than a few, questions about your book. I thought that it might
be a good idea to ask you about it in an interview-type of a format. [It’ll]
allow your readers to get to know your book’s characters a little better. And maybe
learn a little about you as well. Let me get the questions page out and we’ll
start. First off, why did you choose this particular location?
Arthur: Across the street is Princeton Public Library - I
don’t have to tell you that. It holds a lot of good memories for my daughter
and I. We love hanging out in Princeton whenever we get a chance. Ever since
she was five or six she’d ask me to stop by this library. It always looks
inviting form the outside especially on those wintry, cloudy days when the air
smells like it’s about to snow. She loves the shops here too, not to mention her
favorite record place - Princeton Record Exchange. She collects Cold Play’s LPs
to help the cause.
Marie: Ah, good for her! Yes, we love spending time here
too. The shops here are amazing – from artisanal cheeses to amazing bread.
Mmmm! I am making myself hungry [laughing]
Arthur: Oh yeah, fantastic place to walk and munch and
discover. You are making me hungry too!
Marie: OK. We’ll be talking about your first of the two books
of Ci is for Cireelia. Pronounced as Cy-ree-lee-ya, right?
Arthur: Yes, exactly right.
Marie: What is Cireelia?
Arthur: Cireelia is Humanity’s new home planet. The readers
will learn a lot more about it in Book Two. The future [that Tim briefly visits]
in Book One, we do survive as the species. We survived our adolescent stage and
moved past the superficial differences. But two things remain – over-population
and a looming shortage of natural resources including water. But instead of
fighting over it or controlling access to it, we, as the People of Planet
Earth, put all of our combined efforts into finding an alternative solution. The
discovery of Cireelia is a huge part of that solution. Our advances in
planetary terra-forming allowed us to make it a habitable planet. Tim’s Father
[in the future] is the man who is in charge of coordinating the first multi-ship
voyage of the first thousand or so families to Cireelia.
Marie: It seems that the popular genre today is
post-apocalyptic survival mixed in with Zombies who munch on anything that
moves. Why did you choose the opposite – the future where Humanity survives?
Arthur: Not only survives but prospers. We truly can become
intergalactic species if we direct out collective thinking towards what’s
prosperous, harmonious, just. What’s lifeward and loveward. The freedom is in
the choice. We, ultimately, choose our destiny. And in Ci is for Cireelia we,
as the species, chose survival and unity. We chose prosperity.
Marie: Listening to you I can almost hear the voice of Yuri,
Tim’s neighbor upstairs.
Arthur: Precisely, Marie! Yuri, is the character in the book
who touches upon this theme.
Marie: Book One opens into the life of a pre-teen – Tim, who
is going through a very difficult period of his life. The events take place –
judging by the absence of familiar to us now gadgets – in late Eighties, maybe.
Maybe earlier? But mid-way through the book we are allowed a glimpse into the
future of our species.
Arthur: Yes. Tim is our window into the future. And you are
right again. The events do take place around mid-Eighties. Nothing escaped the
eye of a journalist, did it?
Marie: Well, after so many years it becomes second nature.
Marie: In Book One we learn that Tim is a Spatial. Who is a
Spatial?
Arthur: A Spatial is an individual who possesses a gift of
Spatial Transference. Tim, when he’s in a meditative or dreamy state, can
construct a different reality so vividly that his brain’s spatial zones take
over and create a real, tactile reality. The first fMRI procedure became a
boost for his already incredible imagination. Not only that but it allowed Tim
to find the Spatial Pathway – the very mechanism by which he can find his
future self.
Marie: That’s amazing that Tim’s mind is able to generate the
reality so complex… But this ability comes at a price. Tim ended up in the
hospital after the first… procedure?
Arthur: Yes, after the first portation. But, it gets easier
for Tim in Book Two.
Marie: Tim is a second, ever discovered, Spatial. Who was
the first?
Arthur: I don’t want to spoil it for the readers. We’ll read
about it in Book Two.
Marie: I see. The events in the first half of the book:
Tim’s step-father, the running away, Tim’s life – it is all written with great
realism. How much of it is based on real events?
Arthur: Thank you, Marie. Kant’s character is true to life. The
school, the apartment we used to live in – they are real. And so is the
character of Tatu, my grandmother.
Marie: She sounds like an amazing person.
Arthur: She truly was. I am blessed to have known a
grandmother, a person like her. She truly had a Divine heart and great wisdom
which she readily shared with my sister and I.
Arthur: Incidentally, a week before I finished writing Book
One, my sister’s best friend informed us that that very same apartment building
is scheduled for demolition. The convergence of two seemingly independent events
over the span of thirty plus years is incredible.
Marie: Hmmm, it doesn’t seem like a mere coincidence.
Arthur: I am inclined to agree.
Marie: What is the message of Book One?
Arthur: Tim’s life changes profoundly after his father’s
death. It’s about the search for answers, and the discovery of who you are in light
of the events that unfold in front of you. It is about believing in yourself
and the image of your future self that you hold on to despite the onslaught of
negativity. It’s about faith. And it’s about Humanity’s future.
Marie: So the trials of a pre-teen – his search for answers,
the claustrophobic confines of their apartment, the ugliness of Kant’s
character is all [later] contrasted with openness and beauty of Space, love of
his [future] parents and the solutions that we, Humans, found to our survival and
prosperity. How did I do?
Arthur: You nailed it! Couldn’t have said it better myself; you
didn’t miss a thing! I wanted to leave the discovery of the contrasts to the
readers. But it’s right on.
Marie: Thank you. It’s fun to follow the plot. You do leave
out some of the details, on purpose, to make us ponder.
Arthur: Correct again.
Marie: I remember you did mention it once or twice that
meditation should be taught starting in Middle School. I myself practiced
mediation when I was younger. What is meditation to you?
Arthur: Meditation has had a very positive effect on me, in
every aspect. Couple that with the great teachings of Dr. Murphy and a book on
re-programming our Subconscious minds and the effects are multiplied several
fold. Meditation can be used as a creative or expressive tool or a business,
decision-making tool. In a sense that it allows you to tap into your Infinite
Intelligence or Divine Guidance – to draw inspiration or answers to complex
business issues. Not to mention the healing powers of our minds. Many, who have
discovered meditation later in their lives, say they wish they did so much
sooner. It could help our children in every single aspect – better grades, less
anxiety, better self-perception, greater understanding of the
interconnectedness of our World, greater creativity, innovation, etc.
Marie: It all sounds very fascinating. And I love to hear
that drive in your voice as you talk about it.
Arthur: Thank you, Marie. Societal change starts with every
single one of us. Meditation is a tool that elevates us as individuals and as
citizens and as Earthlings. It helps realign one's thought-life. And that in essence helped us, the Humanity,
through our turbulent adolescent years; we did not become Zombie-ridden,
post-apocalyptic, scorched inferno. An advanced society driven by the laws of
the Divine knows no wars or plight or famine.
Marie: I whole heartedly agree and wish the same to
ourselves. In conclusion, will you share some of the interesting highlights
from Book Two? What amazing technologies do we, humans, possess in the future?
Arthur: Yes, there are many. The way students learn in the
future, the non-existing grading system, the transportation infrastructure, the
political structure of the Planet and many more. Tim will tell us a lot of
interesting facts as he answers Dr. Snyder’s questions in Book Two. And we’ll
get a glimpse at one of the indigenous species of Cireelia when Loraine, Arthur and Tim visit the Central Zoo. We’ll also meet an ancient alien life –
the Aceeyans. I made a few sketches of them in their natural settings. I’ll share
them on my blog.
Marie: I look forward to Book Two! And I wish you and your
daughter health, happiness and prosperity!
Arthur: Thank you kindly, Marie. And I wish you and your
family the very same and in abundance! Stay well! And thank you again for your
time and your enthusiasm!
Marie: It’s been my pleasure! Enjoy this beautiful day!
Arthur: Thank you. I am!
Marie: Bye now.
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