The Making of Freedom’s Fuze
The prequel to the story about American democracy you hoped you would never read
My fourth novel, Freedom’s Fuze, blends historical fiction with current politics and technology, delivered as a fast-paced, chillingly real geopolitical techno-thriller that will keep you thinking while you read and long after you finish. Here’s how I wrote it and why I chose that approach.
The Story
Narrated by Carl’s grandson Luke, a 28-year-old law professor, it’s the fictitious story of Carl Hanson, who turned a family-owned maker of bomb fuzes and industrial equipment into a global military powerhouse in advanced technology, precision-guided munitions and autonomous suicide drone systems. As Luke uncovers the truth about his grandfather’s secret life with the CIA, he moves from author and narrator of a fascinating biography to an unwilling character and target in a deadly global race that threatens his life and those he loves.
While Luke and his girlfriend struggle to stay alive in the face of enemies they don’t understand, they confront a world of political and business intrigue, betrayals, revenge and deadly attacks — a world filled with AIs, tech CEOs, CIA and political operatives and Chinese and Israeli spies.
Vividly set in today’s world of artificial intelligence, drones, smart munitions, espionage, echo chamber media and bitter partisan politics, Freedom’s Fuze weaves historical fact and fiction so tightly you will wonder where the facts end and the fiction begins.
It’s a story within a story — a bio of Carl Hanson’s fascinating life overlaid with Luke’s present-day efforts to survive long enough to finish his book, packaged into short, rapid-fire chapters with twists and turns that keep you reading, looking for more.
The Message
Like my earlier novels, Freedom’s Fuze encourages you to confront the issues the book raises and the troubling outcomes it portrays. As the story unfolds, the book foreshadows the accelerating crisis in American democracy and global leadership and confronts the political, technological and cultural issues threatening our destiny as a nation. The issues in the book are real and will become even more challenging in the years ahead as massive arsenals of drones, misleading information and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools are weaponized and deployed legally or illegally by politicians, businesses, activists and governments.
As Luke says in the Introduction:
“The demise of American democracy was fueled by the rise of political violence and extremism on both sides of the partisan divide, made worse by the concentration of power in the presidency and Congress’s failure to govern. Artificial intelligence and the China crisis provided the sparks that changed the world.
“We should have seen it coming, but most of us could not connect the dots. The few who did were ignored or dismissed as bigots, elites, science deniers or conspiracy theorists. The rest of us were the lemmings who plunged headlong over our respective partisan cliffs, led by the media, misguided politicians and our own self-centered materialism and greed.”
Luke calls Freedom’s Fuze “the prequel to the story you hoped you would never read.” It’s an apt warning. We either manage the issues that the book foretells, or we will face consequences we never want to think about.
The Title
The title Freedom’s Fuze is a double entendre: it refers to the Hanson family’s original, highly successful bomb fuze business that built its empire, and it reminds us that our freedom is attached to a volatile, potentially explosive mechanism created by today’s bitterly divided, powder-keg political climate.
The Research
As a lawyer by training, I enjoy doing research, identifying issues, and understanding the pros and cons of different points of view. For Freedom’s Fuze, I had to create Carl Hanson’s life across decades against a backdrop of global events and technological advances that shaped his life and mine as well. With that background, I had to meld in the political, technological and cultural events of the present. I used a spreadsheet to overlay the plot and the lives of the characters against the historical events and current politics and technology that my research provided.
The Magic
The magic came from tweaking those facts just enough to place my characters and storyline in historically accurate events, while embellishing current politics and technology with just enough foresight and science fiction to create an interesting, exciting story. It’s my favorite part of writing, and this book’s numerous details gave me plenty of room to enhance reality while keeping the story believable.
Keeping the story believable is the ultimate test for me as an author. I always enjoy the questions I receive about whether something in my books is true. I know I have met my standards when readers think the actual facts are embellished and that the things I embellished are true.
Most of the technology in Freedom’s Fuze exists today, although some of it has yet to be commercialized into products, and a few items will need further technical advances to be as effective as the book depicts. I have intentionally drawn a muddled line between fact and fiction to portray the challenges we face.
The Result
Rather than write a non-fiction book that lectures readers about today’s important issues, I chose to include those issues in an entertaining, fast-paced thriller that would appeal to a broader audience. I tried to make Freedom’s Fuze a “purple” book rather than a red or blue one — not by avoiding politically charged topics, but by exposing them and exploring why they matter.
As a novelist, I am not out to sell you on a particular political point of view, but I do want to encourage you to think about the issues and consider the consequences. The characters have their own political opinions. Like me, you do not have to agree with their positions to consider how they shape their actions and, ultimately, our country.
I enjoyed the effort. As a reader, you will have to decide whether my approach was successful.
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