Humanity vs. Technology: How My Tech-Inspired Novels Explore Our Deepest Connections (plus my favorite motivational writing tips)

I spend a lot of time thinking about technology. This is not exactly a hardship. I’m the person who wants to know what the new thing does, how it works, who thought it was a good idea, and approximately how long it will take before somebody uses it in a way nobody intended.

I’m fascinated by what humans build. I’m even more fascinated by what happens to humans after we build it.

That tension sits underneath most of my fiction. Genetic engineering can cure disease and force us into uncomfortable questions about who gets to define “better.” Artificial intelligence can solve problems at a scale we couldn’t touch before and make us wonder which decisions we’re comfortable handing over.

Technology can connect people across the world while allowing two people sitting three feet apart to ignore each other completely. Very little of it is simply good or bad, which is probably why I keep coming back to it.

The interesting part is what happens when extraordinary capability collides with very ordinary human nature. We still love badly. Misunderstand each other. Protect our egos. Chase status. Make decisions out of fear. Convince ourselves that our intentions should matter more than the consequences. Give a human being a revolutionary technology and they do not suddenly stop being a human being.

For a thriller writer, this is excellent news. The technology gives me the situation. The people give me the story. That distinction matters to me because I never want the science in my books to exist simply so I can show off the research. I love the research. I can happily disappear into a biotech rabbit hole and emerge several hours later with fourteen browser tabs, three new questions, and no recollection of what I originally sat down to look up.

But eventually I have to ask the only question that matters to the novel:

What does this do to the people involved?

What happens when someone has access to a technology that could save a person they love but carries consequences they cannot predict? What happens when a system designed to protect people starts making decisions about them instead? What does power do to someone who sincerely believes they’re using it for the greater good?

Those questions interest me far more than gadgets for their own sake.

They also explain why connection matters so much in my work. My characters may be dealing with genetic manipulation, artificial intelligence, corporate conspiracies, or institutions with far too much authority, but their problems are usually painfully familiar underneath all of that. Trust. Family. Loyalty. Ambition. Fear. The need to be understood. The uncomfortable realization that sometimes the person standing in your way is you.

That’s the part I hope readers recognize. Not necessarily themselves in one particular character, but something they know. A bad decision made for a good reason. A relationship complicated by old history. A moment when two people who care about each other manage to communicate with all the efficiency of rival governments. Technology changes quickly. People are remarkably consistent. That combination gives me a lot to write about.

The actual writing process is considerably less philosophical. It involves notes everywhere, abandoned ideas, research detours, occasional conversations with myself, and a great deal of staring at sentences that seemed much better yesterday.

Over time, I’ve learned not to romanticize that part either.

I keep ideas where I can grab them because inspiration has no respect for my schedule. I use technology when it makes the work easier. I write in places that are less than ideal because waiting for the perfect conditions is a terrific way to accomplish nothing. And when I’m deep enough into a project that the rest of the world is becoming intrusive, I’ll carve out longer stretches of uninterrupted time.

None of these habits is particularly revolutionary. That’s probably why they work.

The bigger lesson has been letting go of the idea that there’s a correct way to be a writer. I can learn from other people without copying their routines, use tools without allowing the tools to become the work, and take the craft seriously without requiring every writing session to feel profound.

Sometimes it’s wonderful. Sometimes it’s work. Usually it’s both. And somewhere in all of that mess, eventually, there’s a story.

If the kinds of questions I write about sound like your sort of thing, I hope you’ll stick around. This blog is where I follow some of those ideas beyond the books, especially the real science and technology that makes me wonder what we’re building and whether we’ve thought through what happens next.

You can also join my launch team if you’d like to be part of supporting upcoming releases. Launch-team readers help give new books an early push and are some of the first people I turn to when it’s time to send a new story out into the world.

Or subscribe to The Chase Signal for book news, behind-the-scenes updates, and whatever rabbit hole has managed to get my attention lately.

I’ll keep asking uncomfortable questions about technology.

You bring the humans.