FACTOR-7
by
J.D. MAY
Genre: Suspense/ Science Fiction / Romance / Medical Thriller
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
Date of Publication: January 5, 2021
Number of Pages: 468 pages
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Dr. Sam Hawkins’s friend and mentor, Dr. William Roberts, has been struck down by an unknown and hideous disease. Roberts’s dying words are cryptic, and Sam is soon confronted by a massive cover up of his friend’s death. He reluctantly partners with Dr. Rainee Arienzo, an Italian infectious disease specialist, and together they uncover the terrifying truth about Factor-7, a bio-weapon with a 98 percent mortality rate.
Roberts’s journal tips them off that a clandestine plot for using the virus is about to be unleashed by a secret society, the Keepers Collegium. The Collegium, an international group of rogue intelligence agents, ex-military, and government officials, has a demonic plan to use the pathogen to destroy anyone who threatens their twisted ideology.
Sam and Rainee soon realize that public exposure of the evil plot would be as dangerous to the world’s security as the bio-weapon itself—the fallout could lead to World War III. Therefore, they must not only shut down the plans of the Collegium, but also keep the top- secret information away from the media. But as they work to stop the plot, Sam and Rainee are kidnapped by the drug cartel. The kingpin, who financed much of the Collegium’s plot, wants them to hand over Roberts’s journal because it lists the names of the major players in the Collegium who had double-crossed him. He plans to carry out his own revenge. In order to survive, Sam and Rainee have no choice—they must play with one of two devils, or be burned by both.
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Welcome to my blog, Diane. It’s great to have you here, and I can’t wait to read your book. It sounds like a great story, and right up my alley.
How has being a Texas influenced your writing?
I use a lot of the Texas colloquialisms in the book. I patterned Sam Hawkins after what I know to be a good ol’ Texas boy. Although he is a doctor, Sam likes things that are unique to Texas and the Southwest/or ranching locales.
Why did you choose to write in your genre or sub-genre?
I first wrote Factor-7 in the ‘90s. It was about a group that had created a virus, but little else is the same as the Factor-7 of today. After the death of my first husband and the surprise knowledge, two weeks later, that I was pregnant with my daughter, the original manuscript was put away. Life happened, but nothing was done with the book until Annlyn was in college. She had found the yellowed manuscript while a visit home, read it and called me immediately. She urged me to sit down and re-write it. I did. When I wrote the original manuscript, I, of course, knew nothing about COVID-19 or any other virus. So, the Factor-7 of today is rather serendipity. I liked the premise in the ‘90s and it was startlingly possible after MERS, SARS, and H1N1 emerged in the 2000’s. In 2019 when I began to re-write the book, I did put a couple of mentions of COVID-19 after the new manuscript was completed, but only then did I realize how “on target” I had been with the story.
Where did your love of books and writing come from?
Heaven, I guess. Not to say that my work is divinely led or inspired, by any means. I just think talents are divinely bestowed and it is up to us (perhaps even a responsibility) to explore those God-given talents. I am a painter and always loved books, writing and the arts in general. I particularly liked fiction growing up as an only child in the country. It was animals and fictional characters that kept me company.
How long have you been writing?
I have written something since I was a kid. I would make up stories and type them out on my blue electric typewriter. I think my parents knew I loved to write when they gave me that in high school. I always had a wild imagination. I wrote poetry during my hippie days and tried to put to music, but that was not my forte’. Of course, I wrote the original Factor-7 in the ‘90s and I wrote some articles around that time. I sold one article to Self Magazine, before life as a single mother with a baby got too busy to write anymore.
What kind(s) of writing do you do?
I think I could only write fiction. I don’t care much about non-fiction, other than history. But I might write a story sometime about how we have battled my parent’s Alzheimer’s over the years. Maybe it could help someone.
How do you write? Any backstory to your choice?
I make notes in a spiral notebook daily. If I read or hear something of interest, I jot it down. But I do not make outlines. I write on a laptop and I do not check grammar or spelling until I finish a chapter–if even then. I dream a lot of my work and get up in the middle of the night to put it on paper. Words roll rapidly out of me. I tell people that my characters talk to me and they do. I’m perfectly sane-I just hear my characters. LOL! Sometimes they talk so fast that I can’t type quickly enough to keep up with them. But strangely, I cannot dictate my work. I have to write or type it. Otherwise, it just doesn’t happen.
What cultural value do you see in books?
Without books, we would have very little insight into humanity. Aside from history which documents (hopefully) accurate events, the soul of a person is put into his or her artwork–the written word.
How does your book relate to your faith, spiritual practice, or life path?
Honestly, I don’t think it does any of those, unless my stories, like Factor-7, show a good and evil side of mankind. The free will to be good or be evil. I mention prayer in Factor-7, which I call upon constantly.
Who would you cast to play your characters in a movie version of your book?
I’d love to see Matthew McConaughey as Dr. Sam Hawkins. His Texan accent is perfect for Sam. He wouldn’t even have to practice a new dialect. Someone needs to tell him. No, really–someone really does!
Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?
I am a full-time writer, part time painter.
Do you now or have you ever considered writing under a pen name? Why or why not?
I write under J.D. May. I am called Dianne by everyone. Had I to do over, I would have used Dianne. However, the method in my madness to use my initials was that Factor-7 is rather racy and raw in parts and has some strong language and situations. I thought people might think a man wrote it, therefore I decided to use my initials so it could go either way. But that didn’t last long, when pictures, biographies and other personal things surfaced through publicity. Oh well. C’est la vi.
What projects are you working on at the present?
I am working on a sequel to Factor-7
Is there any person(s) you credit for being your inspiration for reading and/or writing?
My daughter, Annlyn
Do you have a mantra for writing and/or for life?
You can’t set buzzard eggs and hatch canaries!
What do you want your tombstone to say?
She was a kind person with a good sense of humor and could write a pretty good book.
J.D. May is a third generation Texan from the Lower Rio Grande Valley. She loves her band of house cats as well as the large tribe of fat, happy TNR’d feral cats that came with her rural property in a small citrus-growing community. Palm tree-lined roads, natural waterways, and roaming wild animals including alligators, deer, wild hogs, and birds of every color make Bayview a perfect place for a writer and painter. She also loves the beach, rock and roll, Tex-Mex food, cooking, Shiner Bock beer, and she believes wine is a legitimate food group. She shows her paintings at The Laguna Madre Art Gallery in Port Isabel, Texas.
J.D. May attended Sam Houston State University, San Miguel de Allende Instituto, and Rice University where she studied drama, art, creative writing and Spanish. J.D. May worked in advertising for most of her career. She is married to a former award-winning surfer and has a daughter and soon to have a new granddaughter.
◆ WEBSITE ◆ EMAIL authorjdmay@gmail.com◆
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| 2/2/21 | Excerpt | Hall Ways Blog |
| 2/3/21 | Character Interview | The Adventures of a Travelers Wife |
| 2/4/21 | Review | Jennie Reads |
| 2/5/21 | Review | Book Fidelity |
| 2/6/21 | Video Interview | All the Ups and Downs |
| 2/7/21 | Guest Post | Forgotten Winds |
| 2/8/21 | Review | The Clueless Gent |
| 2/9/21 | Author Interview | It’s Not All Gravy |
| 2/10/21 | Review | Reading by Moonlight |
| 2/11/21 | Review | Chapter Break Book Blog |
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“You can’t set buzzard eggs and hatch canaries!” Love that! Great interview. Thanks for sharing the book!
That is a great quote. Very fresh.