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Novel by Steven and Michael Meloan
The Shroud
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Q: Tell us a bit about THE SHROUD.
A: THE SHROUD is a science-adventure novel in the vein of Carl Sagan's Contact—offering a compelling scientific backdrop, while exploring many of today's headline-making scientific, spiritual, and ethical questions.
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Q: What is the basic plot?
A: The story takes place in the near future, where a genetic research team from the NIH is asked by the Vatican to use the latest findings of the Human Genome Project to shed new light on the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. The lead researcher, Robert Strickland M.D., is an agnostic with spiritual leanings. But as the inquiry proceeds, it appears that this is indeed the burial cloth of the historical Jesus—and the vestment's bloodstains open up the possibility of cloning. The ensuing investigative journey—from Washington D.C., to Israel, to Belize—has global repercussions, and forever transforms the lives of all involved.
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Q: Who do you see as your target audience?
A: THE SHROUD aims at an audience similar to that of Contact and the works of Deepak Chopra.
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Q: What exactly is a science-adventure novel? And how does that differ from a thriller?
A: Thriller novels tend to be primarily action-driven. THE SHROUD includes plenty of action, but is primarily character-driven, with events rooted in hard science fact. Here, personal transformations are the heart of the story.
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Q: Since THE SHROUD involves the Shroud of Turin, and also explores religion/spirituality, do you consider it to be "religious fiction"?
A: No. The book has no sectarian agenda. At bottom, the message is one of exploring the human spiritual impulse away from the tenets of any particular organized religion. And while the story takes place in the near future, and the science is in some instances partially speculative, it is firmly grounded in the basic principles of physics, chemistry, and biology.
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Q: There have been a number of other books centered around genetics and the Shroud of Turin. Why another?
A: At the time THE SHROUD was first formulated as a concept, we knew of no other related works of fiction. And the majority of these subsequent novels are evangelical Christian fiction, often using the basic concept of the Shroud and genetics as a vehicle to support end-times apocalyptic themes. In THE SHROUD, the specific genetic analysis of the Shroud of Turin is simply a vehicle used to explore broader issues and themes, including the human spiritual impulse, the impact of organized religion in the modern era, the interface between science and religion (and the conflicts therein), "tribalism" and its manifestations in human behavior, and the arguable re-convergence of science and spirituality within certain scientific disciplines.
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Q: What was the original impetus for writing THE SHROUD?
A: As with most works of fiction, the original inspiration was one of imagining the outcomes and implications of a relatively simple turn of events—a genetic scientist being asked to investigate the purported blood on the Shroud of Turin. From there, broader issues of the "science vs. religion" wars came to light. And research into these issues brought to light the human/animal tendency toward tribalism—what we consider to be the true crux of most human conflicts. These issues of tribalism were brought more sharply into focus in the aftermath of 9/11.
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Q: Why present religion and/or spirituality in a positive light? Isn't religion responsible for almost all human conflicts, and most particularly in the case of 9/11?
A: In our opinion, no. Looking back at the major genocides of human history—Stalin, Hitler, the Cultural Revolution in China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and Rwanda—few were truly centered around religion. While Jews were a major focus of Hitler, he also targeted gays, gypsies, and other "non-Aryan" groups. Meanwhile, there have been countless major world conflicts between those of the same core religion—the Sunnis and the Shiites of the middle east, and even Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, members of the same groups behind the events of 9/11 have subsequently attacked many of their own people, on their own soil. The common denominator in all of these conflicts has been either ethnic or tribal conflict, not religion.
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Q: You say that your book has no "religious agenda," yet it presents explicit spiritual "beliefs" on the part of a fictional group within the story. You even have a web site pertaining to the group (www.neoteric.net). Is this simply a veiled presentation of a new brand of religious dogma?
A: No. THE SHROUD poses far more questions than it answers. The discussions of science and spirituality are more about exploration, engaging in dialog, and considering possible paradigm shifts in our modern definitions of science, spirituality, and consciousness. We are genuinely interested in such topics, and hoped to foster a dialog with the Neoteric site. We also believe in the potential of technology and the Internet in terms of exploring the spiritual impulse, nurturing states of spiritual transcendence, and facilitating greater understanding among diverse groups.
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Q: Do you believe in God?
A: The term "God" means many things to many people, and has profoundly evolved over the course of human history. For some, the term still evokes an anthropomorphic, white-bearded father figure sitting on a throne in the sky. For others, like Albert Einstein, the term has become the embodiment of the totality of the universe, and all of our physical laws and constants—"the God of Spinoza," as Einstein termed it. We definitely believe that there is "more to the picture than meets the eye" in terms of the universe and our place in it as sentient beings. And we welcome new knowledge and understanding in both the scientific and spiritual realms, and in areas where they overlap. Virtually every generation throughout human history has believed that they, for the most part, understood the universe and its workings. And every generation has been proven wrong, some more profoundly than others. There is nothing in our current model of biology, physics, and the universe at large that would predict consciousness and self-awareness, much less explain how it operates. If it were simply a matter of complexity and interconnection, one would expect that the Internet would have achieved self-awareness. An increasing number of physicists, cosmologists, and physicians are coming to believe that our western reductionist/materialist worldview is fundamentally flawed in terms of consciousness—on par with the Newtonian worldview prior to Einstein. A growing number of modern physicists and cosmologists believe that consciousness may be woven into the very fabric of the universe.
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Q: Have you ever seen the Shroud of Turin?
A: No, but we would like to. Ironically, Steven and Michael lived in Torino, Italy for six months during grade school. But neither became aware of the Shroud until many decades later.
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Q: I've heard that you make mention of "Noetic Science" in THE SHROUD, something also explored in Dan Brown's most recent work, The Lost Symbol. Is this mere coincidence?
A: Yes. Rigorous investigation into consciousness and the spiritual impulse has long been a topic explored in THE SHROUD, before either of us became aware that such research was actually being conducted, or that it was being mentioned in other works of fiction. Perhaps the parallel exploration of the topic in our two books is an example of "entangled minds."
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Q: You say that THE SHROUD is based on hard-science. Isn't "Noetic Science" really just an umbrella phrase for a lot of pseudo-science mumbo-jumbo?
A: No. The Institute of Noetic Sciences, in California, conducts (according to their web site) "leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness, exploring phenomena that do not necessarily fit conventional scientific models while maintaining a commitment to scientific rigor." The Institute was founded by Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut who experienced a spiritual epiphany during his return from the moon in 1971. Mitchell has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering, and a doctoral degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT. Meanwhile, Dean Radin, the Institute's senior scientist, has a master's degree in electrical engineering, and a doctoral degree in psychology. The institute regularly hosts guest lectures from the likes of medical professor Bruce Lipton, to physician Diane Powell.
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Q: What are your professional backgrounds?
A: Steven Meloan graduated from USC in Biology, and briefly worked in medical/cancer research. He has worked extensively in the software and web development world of the San Francisco Bay Area, for such companies as Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems. His written work has appeared in Wired, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Buzz, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. He was also a scriptwriter for a Los Angeles based "Webisodic" entertainment site (American Cybercast) that was featured in both Time and Newsweek.

Michael Meloan studied at the graduate level in Bio-Medical Engineering at USC, and was a Project Engineer at the Aerospace Corporation. His fiction has appeared in Wired, Buzz, LA Weekly, and in a number of anthologies. He was an interview subject in the documentary Bukowski: Born Into This, and has collaborated with NPR monologue artist, Joe Frank, as well as having co-written a tech-thriller screenplay with actor Michael O'Keefe (Academy Award nominee for his work in The Great Santini, and recently seen in Michael Clayton).



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