Don’t try to be topical. That’s what writers, agents, and editors say. By the time you’re done with the book and it’s in stores, it could be over two years since you came up with the idea for the story. So when I wrote my debut novel, The Ark, what were the odds that, a couple of weeks before the novel’s release, two attention-grabbing news stories would relate directly to the plot of my book? Apparently, the odds were very good, because that’s exactly what happened. I wasn’t trying to be topical, but I did want to explore universal themes like the dangers of religious fanaticism and recovery from personal loss, which makes The Ark sound like a PBS documentary combined with a Very Special Episode of Blossom. It’s not. The Ark is a thriller about a former combat engineer named Tyler Locke who must find Noah’s Ark in seven days to stop the end of the world. There were some eerie links to my book that made the news in the weeks leading up to the release. At the beginning of The Ark, Tyler is on an oil rig in the north Atlantic when he discovers that bombs have…

Add to Wish List May 2010 On Sale: May 11, 2010 Featuring: Dilara Kenner; Sam Watson 432 pages ISBN: 1439181799 EAN: 9781439181799 Hardcover $24.99 Thriller Arcane Buy at Amazon.com The Ark by Boyd Morrison A MODERN-DAY INTERNATIONAL THRILLER HAILED BY JAMES ROLLINS AS “ONE OF THE BEST DEBUTS I’VE READ THIS YEAR . . . HERE IS A NOVEL THAT WILL HAVE YOU HOLDING YOUR BREATH UNTIL THE LAST PAGE IS TURNED.” When brilliant archaeologist Dilara Kenner is contacted by Sam Watson, an old family friend who says that he has crucial information about her missing father, Dilara abandons her Peruvian dig and rushes to Los Angeles to meet him. But at the airport, Sam speaks instead of Noah’s Ark—the artifact her father had long been searching for—and the possible death of billions. Before Sam can explain, he collapses. With his dying breath, he urges Dilara to find Tyler Locke—a man she’s never heard of. Two days later Dilara manages to track down former combat engineer Tyler Locke on an oil rig off Newfoundland. Her helicopter transport goes down well short of the oil rig’s landing pad and Dilara and those aboard nearly drown. No sooner is Dilara safely on…