This week I am thrilled to be interviewing author Grady P. Brown, who will be sharing with us details of his writing life, telling us all about his new book ‘The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis‘, which was released on 15th November 2021, and answering a few fun questions. This post contains affiliate links.

Grady P. Brown is a science fiction author who is diagnosed with high functioning autism. He is a connoisseur of the science fiction, fantasy, and superhero genres. In addition, he is an autism ambassador, hoping to demonstrate the potential benefits one can gain from being autistic.

As a writer, Grady P. Brown utilizes his autism to visualize the story taking place inside of his head like a movie. Also, he has a very strong memory, allowing him to store information about his characters and stories in his brain as though it were a computer hard-drive.

He is also a passionate pit bull lover and owns a pair of sweet and loving pit bulls named Wally and Fitch.

For as long as I could remember, I always had stories to tell. When I was a child, my family would provide whole truckloads of tablets for me to tell my stories on. At the time, I could only tell stories through pictures. It was not until I was in middle school that I developed an interest in telling stories through words instead of pictures.

The author that shaped my childhood was Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance Cycle. Once I read his first book, Eragon, it changed my perspective on life forever. It proved to me that even a young person from the humblest of backgrounds can make the biggest difference in the world.

My best friends were superhero fanatics and we would often imagine what we would have done if we were superheroes. One day, I decided to make that dream a reality through writing. Thus, my Young Guardians series was born.

I am a little bit of both. Some parts of the story I have planned in advance while other sections I make up as I go along.

I am a night owl writer. While everyone else is fast asleep, I am wide awake writing. Night-time in my man cave is where and when I write at my best and I can really concentrate. I dedicate between an hour to a few hours a day to writing.

Where Grady P. Brown Writes

The best thing about being an author is that I am able to share my imagination with the rest of the world.

My latest book, The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis, is a story about a man-made island filled with mutated dinosaurs. In order to gain as much authentic inspiration as possible, I binge-watched a lot of documentaries that revolved around dinosaurs and prehistory. These documentaries included Walking With Dinosaurs, Walking With Beasts, Walking With Monsters, Chased By Dinosaurs, Sea Monsters, Planet Dinosaur, and so on. Some of them may have outdated information, but they were still intellectually stimulating and gave me a good idea of how prehistoric creatures would act in their natural habitat.

I also discovered a real life experiment pioneered by palaeontologist Jack Horner that involved reverse engineering birds back into dinosaurs. I took that basic idea and did my own extreme twist on the concept. I also visited various museums to get an accurate idea of how large prehistoric animals were compared to humans.

About one year to gather the information, one year to actually write the book, and one year to refine and edit it.

I have been a dinosaur fanatic for as long as I could remember. I decided to write The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis as a love letter to prehistory and the giants and monsters of the distant past.

I honestly did not use any special process when it came to naming the human characters. I just chose their first and last names at random. When it came to naming the dinosaurs, I did something more complicated. None of the dinosaurs in The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis are dinosaurs that existed in real life like T. Rex or Velociraptor.

Instead, they are 15 fictional species of my own design. As such, I named them in a way that is similar to how palaeontologists name dinosaurs. For example, “Caldusaurus” is Latin for “New Lizard”. Naming these fictional dinosaurs was so much fun.

The scientist who created the mutant dinosaurs is Dr. Edgar Crews, who is a young genius with high-functioning autism. I based Edgar on my own experiences of living with autism and his personality is based on how I would react to certain situations. He is often supported by his childhood friend, Dr. Sarah Manning, who secretly has a crush on him and works as a veterinarian.

The one responsible for the creation of the manmade island the dinosaurs live in is terraforming expert Dr. Douglas Khan. These three work alongside a skeleton crew that chronicles and surveys the progress of the experiment on the island. The overall experiment is funded and overseen by a megacorporation called Korban Genetics, which is run by CEO Karl Prenn, who is only interested in profit and progress for the sake of progress.

I felt a strong sense of pride when I completed The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis. Not only was it the best book I have written so far in my writing career, but it was the very first illustrated book I have ever done. Now my readers won’t only envision my story through my writing. They will also physically see it as well through the illustration. In a sense, my readers have a golden opportunity to see my imagination take physical form, which was not possible with my other works. Also, these books enable me to display my knowledge of dinosaurs and prehistory, which I have never done on a large scale before.

A quote I live by is this quote from Dune by Frank Herbert:

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

This quote has enabled me to conquer my fears and insecurities on many fronts. Before I decided to become a published author, I was plagued with doubt on whether or not anyone would even want to read my stories. Eventually, I was able to overcome this limitation and become the writer I am today.

I have two sweet and loving pit bulls. Even though they are middle-aged, they have the energy and vigor of puppies. They are like Peter Pan in the sense that they are little boys who never grow up. They are my writing assistants because they are always by my side whenever I write. Because they are sweethearts, they are very charismatic dogs who effortlessly win the hearts of everyone they meet.

I am currently reading a reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, The Lost World. The novel in question is titled Primordia: In Search of the Lost World by Greig Beck. After that, I will be reading a dinosaur genetic engineering science fiction book called Edit by Rick Chelser. Then the third book on my current reading list would be a killer shark book called Scar: A Deep Sea Thriller by Michael Cole.

Having my books made into films has always been my greatest ambition. If The Kaligen Experiment: Genesis is made into a film, I would choose a cameo as a member of the board of directors at Korban Genetics. As such, I would be one of the corporate executives who authorize the dinosaur experiments.

I would choose to travel to Middle-Earth. I would spend time in the Shire amongst the hobbits. That way, I get to enjoy good food, a warm hearth, and all the comforts of home. I would visit the golden halls of the dwarven kingdom of Erebor and bask in the limitless treasure trove that rests in the Lonely Mountain. I would wander the mystical forests of Lothlorien and listen to the elves sing through the trees.

I would visit Gondor so I would marvel at the Citadel of Minas Tirith and pay homage to the king of Gondor. I would even visit the dark lands of Mordor, where I would feel the core of my essence freeze when the Eye of Sauron glares at me and the Dark Lord’s ominous voice speaks in my head. Overall, I would visit Middle-Earth to experience everything it has to offer: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I would not understand a word he says because he would speak in a language that is musical yet gruff and soothing yet harsh. It would be a language that has never been spoken by humans. I would be both frightened and uplifted by the unnatural language the penguin uses. It would provide an emotional jolt that triggers my imagination.

A big thank you to Grady P. Brown for sharing his writing life with us and for a wonderful interview.