GYDO: Jeanne Ryan

Jeanne Ryan, Author of Nerve (2012)

Hi blog-friends-of-Nikki! I thought I’d chat with you about writing on the edge. No, not composing prose while sky-diving or bungee-jumping, more like working on book premises that could exist now, on the fringe of what’s possible. Both NERVE, the book I have coming out next week, and CHARISMA, which is scheduled for release in 2014, are based on ideas that I believe could happen today, if they haven’t occurred already.

In NERVE, a major theme is privacy, and what we have to gain, or lose, by exposing our lives on the Internet. It features a game of dares, which are captured on phone cameras and broadcast on-line for bigger and bigger prizes. Although all of the technology involved in the story is available today, surprisingly, I’ve seen a couple of on-line comments about the book which refer to its “sci-fi” elements. At first, this perplexed me since I didn’t want readers to have the impression that this book was in a genre that it wasn’t. (Don’t get me wrong. I love sci-fi. I just haven’t written any. Yet.) But then I realized that maybe these readers’ comments were a sign I’d gotten things right. If you’re telling a story about events/technology/societal norms that are on the cutting edge of what’s possible, it stands to reason that some of your audience will believe they’re impossible. At least for now. J

Ten years ago, when folks were using little flip phones, who would’ve imagined that we’d have smart phones packed with games, linked to the Internet, and able to make video calls? I wonder what phones will look like ten years from now. Maybe they’ll be imbedded into our clothing somehow. Or maybe we’ll all just have little phone implants (to go with our brain-processing and memory implants). For now, these kinds of ideas might fall under the category of science fiction, but the minute a prototype is available, it’s fodder for a contemporary thriller.

And so I’ll keep reading the news, hunting for stories that I didn’t realize were possible until the moment I read them. Stuff such as gene therapy, which plays a role in my next book. For example, did you know there’s a type of congenital blindness that has been cured by injecting good genes to replace the faulty genes in patients’ retinas? And maybe the little rover that’s busily driving around on the surface of Mars will reveal something incredible. Who knows? This stuff is happening now!

How about you? Have you read anything recently that you didn’t realize was possible? It’s only a matter of time before someone turns it into a story.

Nerve Blurb

A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly

When Vee is picked to be a player in NERVE, an anonymous game of dares broadcast live online, she discovers that the game knows her. They tempt her with prizes taken from her ThisIsMe page and team her up with the perfect boy, sizzling-hot Ian. At first it’s exhilarating—Vee and Ian’s fans cheer them on to riskier dares with higher stakes. But the game takes a twisted turn when they’re directed to a secret location with five other players for the Grand Prize round. Suddenly they’re playing all or nothing, with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE?

Debut author Jeanne Ryan delivers an un-putdownable suspense thriller.

Short Author Bio

I’ve lived all over the world, raised in a family with eleven brothers and sisters. I spent my early childhood in Hawaii and the rest of my growing-up years trying to figure out a way to get back there, with stops in South Korea, Michigan and Germany along the way. Before writing fiction, I tried my hand at many things, including war game simulation and youth development research. But I decided it was much more fun to work on stories than statistics.

These days, I still love Hawaii, but have found my home under the moody skies of the Pacific Northwest.

 

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