A hidden world beneath Washington, D.C.
Thomas Greanias revealed Antarctica as the hiding place for the lost continent of Atlantis in Atlantis Rising. Now, the hero of that remarkable discovery must keep it a secret. On a visit to the grave of his father, he discovers a cryptic message concealed on the tombstone. The deciphering of the code will propel him to discover a conspiracy buried in plain sight in the heart of the nation's capitol. Clearly, the intensity increases in The Atlantis Prophecy. What sparked the idea for The Atlantis Prophecy?
I was in Washington, D.C., as an on-air correspondent for NBC television affiliates, having just wrapped my report on the president's State of the Union Address outside the U.S. Capitol Building, when a friend in the government took me on a secret tour below the Capitol. We're talking way, way, way below. Then we went up a hidden staircase to the top of the Capitol Dome. I was 21, and you could do those things back then in 1987 that you can't do 20 years later in this post-911 world. Anyway, that night introduced me to the hidden world beneath Washington, D.C., and the secret history of America's capital city, and, ultimately, the American military's history of using astrology to wage war.
How much of the background of Washington D.C. (the layout of the streets, the laying of the cornerstones, the underground tunnels, etc.) is real as opposed to fiction?
It's all real. Even my fictional hero Conrad Yeats's ancestor-a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention and opponent of ratification-is real. The only three things I made up-at least I'm pretty sure they don't exist-is the existence of a "secret" U.S. Constitution that Washington buried in a celestial globe somewhere beneath the Mall, the Capitol R.A.T.S. special forces that patrol the tunnels beneath the Capitol (although surely they're needed), and the specific date and time in the future when the U.S. Capitol, White House and Washington Monument will "lock" with their celestial counterparts Arcturus, Regulas and Spica. Freemasons and lay experts like David Ovason believe it's more like an annual event (Aug. 10), whereas I take the view there's a master, once-in-history alignment.
How did you conduct your research?
Over the years I've returned to D.C. and visited with my friends, now considerably higher up the power chain both here and abroad, and, well, I better stop, because now this is sounding like some kind of secret society. But it was a lot of fun taking my wife, Laura, down a couple of those interesting tunnels. This summer we're taking our boys, 12 and 8, for the above-ground festivities and fireworks-if only to show them that, my fiction aside, the United States of America is NOT going to end on July 4.
What did you do before you became a writer?
There was world travel and journalism, of course, and then Washington, followed by a stint on the corporate staff of one of the world's largest communications giants, which connected me with Wall Street and Hollywood. I then wrote screenplays for a few years and later got involved in a couple of the big billion-dollar film finance deals for the Hollywood studios. In short, I got a real education in doublespeak, paranoia and conspiracy while I worked on becoming a writer.
Fans will be thrilled to learn that not only is a film being developed but next year will see The Atlantis Revelation.
ITW contributing editor Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket
Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library
Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle
Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine.
It's all real. Even my fictional hero Conrad Yeats's ancestor-a delegate to theConstitutional Convention and opponent of ratification-is real. The only three things I made up-at least I'm pretty sure they don't exist-is the existence of a "secret" U.S. Constitution that Washington buried in a celestial globe somewhere beneath the Mall, the Capitol R.A.T.S. special forces that patrol the tunnels beneath the Capitol (although surely they're needed), and the specific date and time in the future when the U.S. Capitol, White House and Washington Monument will "lock" with their celestial counterparts Arcturus, Regulas and Spica. Freemasons and lay experts like David Ovason believe it's more like an annual event (Aug. 10), whereas I take the view there's a master, once-in-history alignment.
How did you conduct your research?
Over the years I've returned to D.C. and visited with my friends, now considerably higher up the power chain both here and abroad, and, well, I better stop, because now this is sounding like some kind of secret society. But it was a lot of fun taking my wife, Laura, down a couple of those interesting tunnels. This summer we're taking our boys, 12 and 8, for the above-ground festivities and fireworks-if only to show them that, my fiction aside, the United States of America is NOT going to end on July 4.
What did you do before you became a writer?
There was world travel and journalism, of course, and then Washington, followed by a stint on the corporate staff of one of the world's largest communications giants, which connected me with Wall Street and Hollywood. I then wrote screenplays for a few years and later got involved in a couple of the big billion-dollar film finance deals for the Hollywood studios. In short, I got a real education in doublespeak, paranoia and conspiracy while I worked on becoming a writer.
Fans will be thrilled to learn that not only is a film being developed but next year will see The Atlantis Revelation.
ITW contributing editor Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket
Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library
Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle
Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine. ThrillerFest
ITW's annual celebration of the thriller world is the largest event of its kind, a meeting place for authors, readers, budding writers, and publishing industry professionals.
For 2011, we’ll be back in the heart of New York in July with the ThrillerFest conference including CraftFest and AgentFest.
ThrillerFest VI will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The dates will be July 6-9, 2011.
More information to follow.
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