Book Research: Using “what if” questions to plot a novel

The story of Reid and Riley in Born or Bred takes place in a world where the few with power control what they expect from the many. Part of that expectation revolves around how people should look and act, what they do for work and where they should live.

When I drafted my young adult novel, I decided that the rulers in my fictional world (Cora and Claire, aka The Guardians) would have control over others beyond the boundaries of what I would consider reasonable. This would include control over reproduction and genetics, as well as freewill and movement. Until recently, I had to guess what it would feel like to have these individual rights taken away. However, the recent time spent dealing with the pandemic definitely gave me a taste of what it’s like to lose control over free movement.

As I began to build the world in my story, I thought about what I would find most intrusive when it comes to control over citizens. The following are questions I thought about as I wrote the story of Reid and Riley, as well as information related to research I discovered along the way.

What would the world be like if we were told we couldn’t have children, at all, unless they were genetically enhanced?

What if babies were born only after DNA editing was used as a way to create what some might call ‘designer babies?’ There’s much to debate over this possibility, which has its own list of pros and cons. But as of today, is the idea of designer babies the thing of science fiction or have doctors gone rogue in their attempt to build a “baby-designing business?” Would the world find it acceptable to allow doctors and scientists to offer “genetic upgrades” to parents willing to pay the cost of such an “upgrade?”

The Guardians, who are also twins, have certain requirements as rulers, which you can find here. The third rule on that list mandates that parents cannot reproduce unless they undergo DNA editing to guarantee genetic enhancement. The reason for this directive has a lot to do with the past of both the antagonists, and was born out of fear but morphed into keeping power over society as a whole. Even though I already had my mind set that my antagonists would require DNA editing, I researched the topic to see how close, or far we were from the possibility. The above articles as well as others I reviewed during my research on the topic were interesting and also eye-opening.

What if DNA editing was used as a means to prevent genetic disease?

Would that warrant regular use of DNA editing and reduce moral and ethical limitations? Should scientists be allowed to change DNA to prevent genetic disease by replacing defective DNA? And should scientists be allowed to “tinker” with human DNA if they believe they can avoid introducing harmful mutations?

All that may be well and good, but my antagonists decided to tighten the noose when it came to control of reproduction in order to limit disease and mental health disorders. Which was added to the story due to my next question…

What if parents weren’t allowed to reproduce, at all, if it’s learned they have certain predisposed conditions, a history of mental health or neurological issues or a criminal background?

This is a requirement mandated by the rulers in Born or Bred; although the female parent is allowed to carry an embryo from another that has undergone DNA editing. I’ve heard the offhand remark someone might make about a parent and how they shouldn’t be allowed to have babies for one reason or another. The flippant remark may be made and the person making the remark might believe it, but for someone in power to actually have the right to tell us whether or not we can have children is extremely intrusive. Which is why it was added to the list of rules society must abide by in my novel.

Of course, not everyone will follow the rules, right? Some parents are going to have babies without DNA editing, even if they are susceptible to certain diseases or mental health disorders or have criminal backgrounds. So what happens then? This led to my next question…

What if parents had babies against the rules and experienced the worst case scenario due to their actions?

In Born or Bred, families who go against the rules will pay the ultimate price, which is to have their child taken away from them. In current times, children are removed from the home when their safety is at risk because of the actions of the parents. In my novel, children are removed because The Guardians believe the children will someday be the safety risk. The antagonists in my novel have a certain belief that any child born to someone with a mental health disorder or a criminal background are more than likely to end up like their parents and later present the same behavior. In order to protect society, as they see it, they have to remove the risk.

Is it fair to believe a child will turn out a certain way, just because the natural parents have certain disorders or committed acts of violent crime? I researched the idea related to whether mental health disorders are linked by genetic traits because the main concern would be whether mental health disorders are hereditary While many disorders have a hereditary component, there are also other factors to consider, such as the social and physical environmental elements and how the child will be influenced by them.

And what about criminal behavior? Is this trait inherited or learned over time? One of the reasons behind my title: is this type of behavior BORN or BRED? I touched on this subject in my last post, The Study of Twins and Nature versus Nurture, as it relates to twins but it can relate to any child born to parents with a particular set of traits. I don’t believe experts in the field will ever completely agree on the answer when it comes to nature versus nurture. Not only am I curious about what traits (good or bad) a child might inherit from their parents, I was especially curious about whether twins would end up with similar traits even after they were separated at birth. The findings about some real-life twins is pretty extraordinary and you can read about them in my study of twins post.

We can’t control who we’re born to, which led me to my next question…

What if babies were labeled at birth and treated differently the rest of their lives based on their DNA… something they had no control over when they are born?

Plenty of individuals are treated differently based on something they have no control over: the color of their skin, their sex, where they were raised, or the actions of their own parents. Later in life individuals are treated differently based on traits they have no control over (such as mental health disorders, physical appearance) and behavior many would argue can be controlled (such as substance abuse, criminal behavior).

When I wrote Born or Bred, I wondered what it might be like if those in charge could decide to slap a “bad egg” label on a baby specifically because of its DNA, should the parents refuse DNA editing. Is that something individuals have to be concerned with during current times? I know that insurance companies and employers are not allowed to discriminate against an individual when it comes to genetic information. There’s the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 to remind them of that fact.

That act relates to insurance and employers, which might appear to cover the most important aspects of our lives. But when I researched the topic, I was surprised to find an article from 2016 about a school accused of genetic discrimination when they allegedly excluded a student because of his DNA. Apparently, the school learned that the student carried genetic markers for cystic fibrosis and later the parents of two siblings who suffered from the condition were concerned about the children attending the same school together because of the greater chances of spreading infection. Although the student in question didn’t actually suffer from the condition and wasn’t a risk, the school asked the student to leave anyway. DNA discrimination is real but not often heard about, but I decided to make it a key component in my story.

And finally, last but not least, one of the questions I had when I wrote my novel involved our movements, or more specifically, the ability for others to track our movements…

What if citizens were required to receive an implant so that every person could be tracked and accounted for? And what if implants were necessary to avoid being forced out of society?

You have to admit we’re all being tracked in some way already…personally with our phones, the GPS in our vehicles, other devices we use, and capturing us when we move about with cameras that are ever watchful from street corners to bridges and business buildings to private residences.

But what if those in power required their citizens to be tracked with an implant? That’s what my antagonists in Born or Bred have made law and while a citizen can refuse, their status will change to that of a radical and they will no longer be allowed to live in the city where they are safe inside the walls.

My story was going to include implants either way, but I was curious about where we are currently in the science behind the possibility of implants. What I found surprised me, was somewhat interesting and also concerning.

There are many arguments for and against implants. Some examples of why people might believe implants to be a good thing would include keeping track of children in case they wander off or are kidnapped and to track the elderly who suffer from dementia who might wander off and need to be found quickly.

Some companies have already made use of placing microchips in their employees, both here in the United States and also in Sweden. The U.S. company hasn’t stopped there and has continued to work on additional ways they might be able to make use of microchips.

The idea of implants might seem like fiction, but it has become somewhat of a reality and it makes many wonder whether microchips are our future. In my novel, implants are definitely a reality but I decided to take it even further than just a way for The Guardians to keep track of the citizens. I added an element to this issue which includes a real danger when someone else has control of a foreign object inside your body.

Those are some of the “what if” questions I had as I was plotting the story of Reid & Riley and Cora & Claire in Born or Bred. These “what if” questions are what made writing my novel and the research behind it even more interesting, because the topics have a mixture of both truth and fiction.

Book Research: The Study of Twins and Nature versus Nurture

Born or Bred is the story about identical twins Reid & Riley, separated shortly after birth, and raised differently from one another in a dystopian era. An era when society is divided between those who fight for and follow without question, whether due to their beliefs or fear, the rules formed by dystopian rulers, against those who refuse to adhere to totalitarian control and risk everything to fight against them.

It’s the story about brothers, twins who know nothing of the other, and who meet for the first time as teenagers when they are on opposite sides of the regulations currently in place. This isn’t the first time I’ve drafted a story about twins. The novels in my mystery series also share a story about twins, although fraternal versus identical, who knew nothing of the other until later in life.

I’m not a twin so I really can’t say why or when my interest in twins was born, especially with regard to stories about twins being separated at birth. I imagine it’s possible I read a story or an article in high school or college about twins or separation of twins or possibly the study of twins, which left its mark on me somehow. All I know for certain is that the idea of twins has always interested me and the idea of twins separated at birth along with the arguments about nature versus nurture is a blend of subjects that’s always peaked my curious mind.

The studies involving twins is fascinating, so I thought I’d share with you some of the unique stories or articles I came across while I conducted my research. Initially, my research involved studies of twins separated at birth but with Born or Bred, I had to dive further into the question about nature versus nurture, especially as it relates to twins.  I titled my story as such because I’ve always been interested in what makes someone do bad things; are they born that way or are they bred to become that type of person? While one serial killer might blame his behavior on the abuse he received as a child, another might have never been subjected to anything beyond the sting of unkind words. What truly makes someone commit to choices they know are unhealthy, immoral or completely beyond evil?

The first study on twins

You might wonder when the first study on twins even began…I know I did. The first study was in 1875, before scientists even understood why some twins were more similar to each other than other sets of twins. It was Sir Francis Galton, a scientist and half-cousin of Charles Darwin, who published the first study about twins. His focus was on nature versus nurture and based on his findings, his belief was that nature had a larger hand over the development of twins than nurturing did. How did he determine that? Based on his review of twins, he found that twins who were dissimilar as children were unlikely to become similar even if brought up in the same household, and twins who were similar during childhood rarely became dissimilar as they matured even if they were raised in completely different environments. If you’d like to read more about Galton’s findings, you can find his notes here.

Twins separated at birth

In 1990, a study was completed at the University of Minnesota where twins who had been separated since birth and raised by different families were studied. The study apparently became a sensation after the discovery of a particular set of twins, James Lewis and James Springer, who had been separated when less than a month old and who weren’t reunited until they were 39 years old. Even after being raised in different households, their similarities were startling: they had first wives with the same name, both were divorced and married a second wife with the same name, both worked in law enforcement, had childhood pets with the same name, had the same unhealthy habits, and even named their sons exactly the same. You can reach more about the Jim Twins here.

A unique study on twins to understand impact of spaceflight

While it doesn’t necessarily relate to either sets of twins in my novels, another case I thought was interesting was the story about Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year in space while his twin brother remained on Earth. To better understand what happens to the body during spaceflight, NASA completed a twin study about the changes Scott Kelly and his body were subjected to by comparing him to his twin after his return.

If one twin is a bad apple, will the other follow suit?

The study of twins has helped scientists understand whether traits in twins who had been separated were caused by genetics or by the environment they grew up in…Nature versus nurture. And it appears from many studies that for the most part, nature might trump nurture. Or as Popeye always said, “I yam what I yam.”

But what about twins who partake in criminal activities? Were they both born with a genetic code that predisposes them to aggressive or murderous behavior? If you’ve heard of the murder gene, you may be aware there have been arguments relating to whether some people are just “born that way,” or whether it’s disingenuous to allow criminals to blame it on their DNA. If the “murder gene” isn’t real, is criminal behavior the exception and therefore a learned trait, rather than something buried in genetics? Essentially, this is where the family life or environment comes under fire.

However, additional research found that adopted children had a similarity to crimes committed by their biological parents over their adoptive parents. Again, these studies suggest nature trumps nurture and that criminal behavior might become a way of life due to personally traits and psychological disorders that might influence bad behavior, regardless of the upbringing.

Whatever causes someone to harm another, some research has discovered that identical twins are twice as likely to have similar criminal behavior than that of fraternal twins. There are definitely a number of cases involving twins who committed disturbing crimes together or completely separate from each other and even some who committed crimes without any knowledge of his or her twin doing the same. In fact, one such twin said he thought he “was the only murderer in the family.”

Down the rabbit hole

My research on twins led me down the rabbit hole a number of times as I gathered information on all levels and I could certainly go on about the subject of twins, as well as research conducted on the matter of nature versus nurture. Some of the information I came across was helpful as I wrote my stories and some only fed my curiosity when it comes to the intriguing connection between twins. However, I won’t deny I’m a writer with a natural curiosity always yearning for more information on subjects that interest me. I hope what I shared with you piqued your interest and gave you some additional insight as to why my stories have centered on twins.

What I enjoy most about writing

There’s a long list of what’s great about being a writer, but today I’d like to focus on creative freedom.

When I decided to write a novel based in a world that had changed drastically due to the power of others, I have to admit it was freeing to realize there were no limits when it came to creating the story. The possibilities are endless when your imagination is allowed to play and create something unique to your characters’ circumstances. This is why creative freedom tops my list of what’s great about being a writer.

Writing Born or Bred was rewarding due to the permission to I had to “make stuff up” as I went along. The world of Reid and Riley is what I created based on what I felt might happen if only a limited number of people had control over everyone, decided to wipe out anyone who didn’t align with their agenda, and developed laws and rules based on their own personal beliefs.

This same creative freedom isn’t really an option for me when writing my mystery series. The world is current, the characters are dealing with regular daily problems and while there are criminal elements with regard to what characters are capable of in each novel, it’s based on what people are capable of in a world where the law and government are still in play.

Writing a story around characters in a new world, which can be as normal or bizarre as you’d like, gives the author an option to take the reader to a place or time they’ve never been. This also includes creative freedom with regard to making up names, titles or phrases. I didn’t get creative with characters names, as I prefer to keep names easy to read and pronounce, but I did use different titles and phrases to make sense of the current situation in Reid and Riley’s world. You might think it to be an easy task, but I often wondered whether a word or phrase I chose was the right fit for how I wanted to describe something. In the end, I finally had to make my choices and move on or the book might never have been completed.

I thought I’d share some of the names, titles and phrases I used in the novel, with more detail on what they mean or why they are included in the story:

The Emerald City – This is the name of the city ruled over by sisters, Cora and Claire, and which is the only major city left where citizens can reside and work in safety as long as they abide by current laws. The sisters have their reasons for why they became the rulers they are today, and they believe what they are doing is what’s best for society. I chose the name Emerald City to give individuals a sense of false hope, because the spiritual meaning for emerald is unity, compassion and love, but in truth it’s the opposite of what citizens have received for decades. Unity is forced, fear paves the way to compliance and loyalty is based on untruths.

The Revised System of Operation (RSO) – This is a long list of requirements expected of the citizens who reside in the Emerald City. The rules include the necessity for implants, designer babies, the removal of children who are considered GPC’s, and what will label a citizen as a threat to society.

DNA editing – part of the requirements under the RSO involves allowing citizens to have babies, but only if the embryo has undergone DNA editing so that it has been genetically altered and enhanced. Part of the reason for this is to reduce disease and mental illness but due to Cora and Claire’s backstory, it’s also to have control over what everyone looks like.

Radicals – anyone who goes against the rules of the RSO

Genetically Predisposed Criminal (GPC) – Any child born against the laws who is not genetically enhanced are deemed by Cora and Claire, via the RSO, to be genetically predisposed to become a criminal. Due to this law, the child cannot live in society as a civilian past the age of 12 years old.

Mandatory GPC retrieval age – at the age of 12, any child born against the rules (who did not receive DNA editing), will be removed from their home and reconditioned to work as a soldier for Cora and Claire.

GPC soldiers – all GPC’s removed from their homes by the age of 12 are trained as soldiers, and in reality, as killers; the very monsters Cora and Claire believe they will become anyway.

Reconditioning – Cora and Claire have an ability not only to recondition young minds, but also to brainwash them, so that they remain under the sisters’ control and have the desire to do only what the sisters believe is good for society.

GPC Territory – this is any area located outside the safety of the city limits and those who protect it. Anyone living in GPC Territory is labeled a Radical.

Unchipped GPC’s past the age of re-entry – These are children over the age of 12, who haven’t been chipped or genetically enhanced, and who are located during raids by the soldiers in GPC Territory. Cora and Claire believe these individuals can no longer be of use to them and therefore, will not attempt to recondition them.

Snapshots – the soldiers who guard the city gates have a weapon they use which includes a ball covered in quills filled with liquid that quickly enters the blood stream and causes numbness, exploding pain in the head and then unconsciousness. The soldiers use sling shots to hit their marks, if someone from GPC Territory tries to enter the city unlawfully.

Unfazed – based on the RSO all individuals must be chipped, which allows for tracking civilians and keeping them accountable, but there’s also an unknown aspect to the implants not commonly known, which results from the chip being destroyed, but not completely, so that the human part of the brain is gone, but an angry and instinctive animal is left behind. This is basically my take on zombies. I’m a Walking Dead fan and couldn’t resist throwing in this hurdle for my characters.

Forest Maniacs– civilians might not know the truth about how implants might cause them to become an unfazed, but Cora and Claire have allowed stories to circulate through the years to scare children so that they don’t become tempted to leave the city. The stories are told to young children with final warnings about how anyone who decides to become a radical by leaving the city and going against the RSO could turn into a forest maniac, which is just another name for the unfazed.

Subsistence – this word came up when the characters were looking for someone in a medical facility and they came upon a medical record that mentioned subsistence. This is one of those times in writing when I feel as if I’m watching a movie in my head and I just write what I see. I don’t recall exactly how I came up with that term at that time, but given what the person they were looking for was going through, it was perfect. It effectively describes what happens when an unfazed goes through different levels or phases of subsistence and they use only minimal resources necessary for survival.

So there’s a little peek into how my creative mind works specific to Reid and Riley’s world. Although, compared to authors who create vastly new worlds filled with different types of characters and even new languages, this just barely scrubs the surface of what’s possible. Someday, maybe, I’ll venture into another adventure while creating an undiscovered world with strange and unique characters.

I hope this post and what I’ve shared has piqued your interest about Reid and Riley’s story. If it has, you can find the eBook and paperback for purchase here. If you read and enjoy the novel, please don’t hesitate to let me know (I enjoy hearing from readers!) and don’t forget to leave a review. Reviews help authors in more ways than you can imagine.

Until next time, happy reading!

Ready to meet Reid and Riley?

It’s time to cue the confetti with the announcement that my young adult novel, Born or Bred, is officially available for purchase! You can find Born or Bred and all other titles by me on my Amazon author page here, but if my YA novel hasn’t yet been added to that page, you can also find it here.

Whether or not you’ve followed me since I first began blogging as I went through the process of publishing the first book in my mystery series, you can imagine how exciting it is for an author when they get to share the release of a new book. It’s also a bit scary, to be honest, no matter how many titles you have under your belt.

It is also without a doubt one of the most surreal experiences I’ve taken part in; each time as surreal as the last. Having completed such a huge undertaking as to even write an 80,000 word novel, you tend to become a bit overprotective about what you’ve created as you also go through the emotions about when and how to release it to the world. It’s a little like when your child leaves home. And while parents might not care to hear the opinion of others about how they raised their children (unless it’s positive…), I do care what others might have to say about my fictional boys, Reid and Riley, and the story I’ve shared with readers.

I hope you decide to take the journey with Reid and Riley, as they learn how to live in a world designed to control them. If you read Born or Bred, first of all, thank you. Also, I’d appreciate it if you might share an honest review on Amazon not only for me, but also for other readers who are in search of their next new novel to read.

I’ll continue to share posts here with regard to some of the research or other interesting information I came across while I was writing this novel so be sure to check back for future posts.

And, finally, if you know of anyone who might be interested in my YA novel, please don’t hesitate to tell them about it!

Until next time…Happy reading!

The beginning of a story…

Welcome to the first post on the dedicated website for the novel, Born or Bred. This is a story I crafted over a number of years, between the time I was also writing and publishing other books as part of my mystery series (the Jorja Matthews mystery series, which you can find more information on here), as well as other stories.

Born or Bred took much longer to write for a number of reasons: it’s in a completely different genre than I was familiar with; the main characters are teen boys and giving them a voice was a learning curve for me; the plot involved more of my imagination than the everyday mysteries I was familiar with plotting, so that it took more time to bring everything together the way I wanted; and, it usually took the back burner when I was neck deep in my other stories.

The story of Reid and Riley as told in Born or Bred is the story about twins, which is not new to me. I’ve written about twins before. The subject of twins has always fascinated me and when my creative mind began to see a story involving twin boys separated at birth in a time when their family history and the current rules surrounding births would label them as potential killers, it wasn’t an idea I could turn away from.

Of course, the idea was just a seed, which needed to be fed and watered. There was more to the story I needed to unearth and additional characters I needed to meet. If you’ve read my earlier posts on the blog on my main website, or heard me speak at events, you’ll know I’m more of an organic writer. I meet the characters as they present themselves to me and I get to know them as I write the first draft of the story. I may have an idea of what they’re all about, or what they will do to further the story, or if I expect them to survive the cut…but oftentimes the characters surprise me and the story takes a turn. I’ve learned through experience that this isn’t a bad thing. In my mystery series the twists and turns are what readers favor the most and I truly believe that if the characters or a plot twist can surprise me, then it’s a guarantee it will also surprise the reader. It’s what makes reading that much more fun.

However, the plotting in Born or Bred required additional research beyond what I usually research when I’m plotting my next mystery. My past as a private investigator for criminal defense attorneys is useful as I create stories around my female private investigator protagonist, but I needed to research other subjects and issues not familiar to me for the world Reid and Riley were immersed in. Some of those subjects and issues included: DNA manipulation, designer babies, disorders linked by genetic traits, microchip implants, possible reasons why some people commit crimes and others don’t, how the parents’ social status affects a child’s opportunities and, of course, studies on twins, especially as it related to criminal activity.

I’ll try to share more about the research behind the book as I’m able. Overall, the research helped me get more in tune with the mindset behind two other important characters in the novel, twin sisters Cora and Claire, also known as The Guardians, who are the reason behind why Reid and Riley’s world is the way it is.

This is more than a story about good versus evil or survival or self-reliance. It’s about where someone stands in society based on someone else’s idea of what makes society fit. It’s also a story about siblings, and what it might take to make them rage war on anyone in their path, or make them work together even when their own agendas are on different tracks.

It’s also a story about hope when it comes to an uncertain future and it’s a story I hope you’ll enjoy.

Born or Bred will be available in paperback and eBook formats September 2020. I’ll share when it’s available so be sure to watch for future posts!

Born or Bred: the blurb

Are killers born or are they bred?

This is the story about Reid and Riley, twins separate at birth.

One is a soldier, the other a radical and each are fighting for a cause.

While the brothers have differing beliefs, one common factor is that because of their family history and the circumstances surrounding their birth, the current laws in place deem them unfit to live among society. Laws which were created based on someone else’s idea about what makes a society “fit.” Laws which were formed when a world was covered in chaos and those in power made the decision to first monitor and then remove potential threats from society. 

Are children doomed to a life of limitations because of the family they are born in to?

Will history repeat itself and cause a child to follow in the footsteps of their criminally-minded parents?

This is the story of two brothers, who know nothing of the other, and whether their fates will run parallel or collide, when one has been trained to hunt down the other.