My inspiration for 2065 wasn’t immediately sparked by just one thing; rather, the spark was initiated and fanned by several different sources. In high school and college I learned about a number of highly unethical but widely praised science experiments, and while several of my peers regarded these experiments with awe or apathy, learning about them always left a bad taste in mouth. Often times my disgust was not directed as much at the experimenters specifically as it was at people’s acceptance of cruelty in the name of academic pursuit. Of course, such tolerance is not universal, but the easy acceptance by so many forms a big part of the culture I created for 2065.
That this culture also vastly underappreciates the arts and humanities reflects my experience with individuals who are very dismissive of people who study or pursue careers in those fields despite enjoying consuming creative content. In short, they appreciate the product, but not the creators. I envisioned a world where this mentality expanded to the point where creativity itself was devalued, something which is an ongoing conflict in the heroine Emma’s life.
The relationship between Emma and her fiancé Knightley was originally inspired by the romance between Abby Arcane and Alec Holland during Alan Moore’s acclaimed run on Swamp Thing. I was moved by how their love flourished in spite of great adversity and intrigued by the obstacles they faced due to Alec’s beastly appearance. A lot of love stories focus on how the couple gets together and end once obstacles to their union have been defeated. For this reason, the idea of writing a love story in which the couple is already in an established relationship at the start appealed to me.
Emma is named after Emma Stone, whose character in La La Land strives to have a creative career, something with which my protagonist likewise struggles. Emma Stone as Mia Dolan also looks a little like how I imagine Emma Beaumont. Knightley is named after Emma Woodhouse’s love interest in Jane Austen’s Emma, as I thought Knightley would make an interesting first name – and besides, what author can resist an homage to Jane Austen?
I have been writing 2065 for a year and a half now, and intend to post excerpts of it soon.