Hello, I’m Paul Franks and I’ve written a conspiracy-thriller called ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, based upon my four years researching HIV/AIDS. In this original podcast series, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the story behind the story, the four-year research and writing process from inspiration to publication, and all points in between.
In Episode Thirty-One of ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, ‘The Road to A Dive Into Darkness’, I will tell you how I went from my first attempt at writing a novel, ‘Race’, in 2020, to my, at least, fourth attempt, ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, in November 2022.
As I said previously, ‘Race’ was based upon my research into what I termed the rabbit-hole of Edward Hooper’s ‘AIDS caused by HIV caused by contaminated polio vaccines in the late 1950s’ hypothesis. By Easter 2021, my following of the evidence had led me to conclude that the American, UK and French medical-science establishment had become obsessed with an unicorn – that AIDS had been caused by a new retrovirus, and this had led to the ‘discovery’ in 1983 (Paris) and 1984 (Washington) of a ‘deadly’ pathogen, and the naming of that pathogen as HIV in 1986. My research had uncovered the simple, basic scientific reality, that the ‘deadly’ pathogen was a double-contaminant, found only in ‘HIV’ labs around the planet, nowhere in nature. I had established that the official ‘Cut hunter / soldier’ theory of the origins of HIV was another nonsense, but unfortunately another nonsense that was swallowed hook, line and sinker by a gullible public and a rapacious ‘Medical-Science-Big Pharma-Media’ complex, blinded by riches, rewards, research grants, fame and prizes.
I had discovered a much simpler, less glamourous, or rewarding, truth, that ‘fast-lane’ bath-house-attending gay males, shooting-gallery frequenting IVDUs and Factor VIII ingesting hemophiliacs, had, as a result of too many infections entering their bodies on a too regular basis, simply burned out their immune systems, leaving them defenceless to ward off usually harmless ‘invaders’. No new pathogen required.
By Easter 2021, my job was to transfer hundreds of hours of research into a readable book and my first attempt at doing this was ‘The Fast lane Experiment.’ Looking back at the ‘Chapter By Chapter’ plan, I can see that this was
A) An ambitious work, starting with the Stonewall Riots of June 1969, and concluding round about 1992.
B) Not much good!
In the summer of 2021, I read Montagnier’s autobiography, ‘Virus’, which I read as almost a confessional. There are enough nuggets in there to take down the official ‘HIV causes AIDS’ narrative from the horse’s mouth. I also learned that he kept a record of his experiments in a red book, a piece of information which would very quickly come in very useful. By late October 2021, I was struggling to put down on paper my desire to write a commercial novel based upon my HIV/AIDS research. It was only then, the day before I went off to France for a week’s holiday, that I had an epiphany. I loved murder mysteries, thrillers, especially Dan Brown-esque conspiracy thrillers like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ – why not write a conspiracy thriller? I began to watch as many Dan Brown interviews as existed on Youtube, to listen to any conspiracy-related podcasts and to read conspiracy-novel guides. Dan Brown’s major legacies were thorough planning, chapter by chapter, time pressure (ticking clock), the inclusion of a crucible – the physical point of no return and, seemingly, no escape, and lastly the contract – by the end of the book there should be no loose ends or unanswered questions. By the time I stepped off the ferry in Dunkirk, I had planned out ‘The Red Book’- my third attempt at an HIV/AIDS novel. This was a hybrid of ‘The Fast-Lane Experiment’ and a couple of other ‘novels’ that never got beyond the title and planning stages. By the autumn of 2022, it had become a tale of two narratives. First, Jean-Marie Montreau’s adventures in America in 1976, where he learned of the incoming AIDS storm in New York and San Francisco, and helped deal with the Legionnaire’s outbreak in Philadelphia. Second, his Parisian daughter, Anne-Marie Montreau’s, discovery that what she had been told about his death was not the truth. The conspiracy element was the propagation and protection of the fake ‘HIV causes AIDS’ narrative, the truth of which is contained in the eponymous red book.
So, ‘The Red Book’ was the forerunner to ‘A Dive Into Darkness.’ I spent a year planning and writing it, as well as carrying out plenty more research into AIDS – none of which swayed me from my conviction that there had been a 40-year global conspiracy and cover up.
However, by September 2022, I was still unhappy about my work-in-progress novel. It most definitely wasn’t the next ‘Da Vinci Code.’ Tom Hanks had no need to hold his breath.
Thank you for listening to Episode Thirty-One of ‘A Dive Into Darkness’. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please tell your friends about it. In Episode Thirty-Two of ‘A Dive Into Darkness’, I will tell you about my how The Red Book became ‘A Dive Into Darkness.’
Till the next time, goodbye and happy reading.
A reminder that ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ is available both as an ebook and paperback, with Barnes & Noble and Amazon and all the references/links connected with this podcast can be found at my ‘A Dive Into Darkness’ Substack page.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-dive-into-darkness-paul-franks/1145527746?ean=9781917129855
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dive-Into-Darkness-Paul-Franks-ebook/dp/B0D32DP97S
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