James J Valko has been a professional writer for more than twenty-five years. He has written hundreds of articles, advertisements and manuals for businesses, as well as produced numerous radio and television commercials. A native of Chicago, he moved to the Tampa Bay area in 1986. His first novel, a mystery thriller entitled The Find (Fireside Publications), was released at the beginning of 2010. He is interviewed by Linda Breeden, a writer and poet, who is a premier member of one of south east America’s largest writer’s organizations: PINWOR.
Breeden: In The Find archeologists discover time capsules buried in the Grand Canyon that aren’t hundreds of years old, or thousands, but millions of years old. At a glance this is an unrealistic premise. Yet, I must admit that reading the book it was easy for me to suspend disbelief and buy into it. I kept asking myself, “could this be true?”
Valko: When I first had the idea about time capsules being discovered that were millions of years old, I too thought it was unrealistic. But then I started doing research and was pleasantly surprised—actually, I was ecstatic to learn that archeologists, geologists, and every-day people have factually found many human artifacts which indicate that intelligent life may have existed on earth hundreds of millions of years ago.
Breeden: In The Find you describe in wonderful detail how we might not have been the first civilized race here. But in reality, what kind of artifacts have factually been found?
Valko: There have been many. In the late eighteen hundreds, a woman in Morrisonville, Illinois was putting a big piece of coal into her coal-burning stove. The coal broke in half, and embedded inside she found a beautiful (human manufactured) gold chain, ten inches long. Scientists were able to determine the coal was about 300 million years old, the same age as a human skeleton found in the same state. Another example; while searching for gold in Table Mountain in Tuolumne County, California geologist J.D. Whitney discovered stone tools and spoons and even a human jaw. The rock strata they were found in is dated as early as 55 million years old. There have been many finds like these.
Breeden: Why doesn’t the general public know about these finds?
Valko: Well, they are starting to learn about them due mostly to the efforts of Michael Cremo who is co-author of the book, Forbidden Archeology. Now, before I stick my foot in my mouth, I’m going to put in a disclaimer; I’m a fiction author, not a scientist, geologist, archeologist or anthropologist. That said, I will say that there is such a thing as “knowledge filter” where scientists, and just about all of us else, filter out things that don’t align with our agreed upon paradigm. For example, when Isaac Newton first proposed his theory of universal gravitation other scientists of the day attacked his theory as being nothing more than occult. Attacks on new findings or theories have been very common throughout history, and it is no different today. Most archeologists and geologists are under the payroll of universities and governments. To a degree, they are paid to fit the paradigm those organizations subscribe to. It’s not like there are a lot of scientists out there—Indiana Jones types—that are free to do research without their findings being questioned by their employer. If you Google Forbidden Archeology you can learn more.
Breeden: But almost just as bizarre, what the archeologists were originally searching for in the first place wasn’t time capsules but Egyptian artifacts.
Valko: Again, that’s not just my idea. It’s based on my research. In 1909 The Phoenix Gazette published an article on their front page about archeologists having discovered a lost Egyptian city in the Grand Canyon. Reportedly, an archeologist named Jordan was sponsored by the Smithsonian institute to do the excavation. Jordon found a vault in a cave containing Egyptian and Hindu artifacts and even mummies. There has also been Egyptian Hieroglypilics found in Australia, north of Sydney. One theory is that Egyptians had sailed the oceans in search of gold. The Grand Canyon is the most excavated canyon in the world, because of people looking for gold. So. . . the archeologists in The Find went into the Grand Canyon to pick up where Jordon had left off, but instead of finding Egyptian artifacts they found the time capsules, which of course, are much more fascinating.
Breeden: Someone recently asked me to describe what The Find is about and I said something like “It’s a mystery thriller story about a woman Indiana Jones who learns the true nature of reality—how the universe was created— according to the teachings of a super ancient civilization that lived on earth millions of years ago.”
Valko: Pretty good. Can I use that?
Breeden: Without giving away too much, the crux of The Find—the payoff for the reader—has to do with the spiritual teachings found in the time capsules—teachings of the super ancient civilization—teachings that somewhat resemble quantum mechanics, correct?
Valko: Well, yes and no. Quantum mechanics is a vast and interesting subject that has to do with studying invisible units of energy. Out of quantum mechanics comes the theory that the universe might not be constructed of “solid” atoms at all, but rather a matrix of vibrating energy strings that are nothing more than thought patterns generated by those who perceive them. That would be us. The people of the ancient civilization that lived on earth millions of years ago saw the universe in this fashion. They didn’t believe in evolution or creation. Well, they did believe in creation but not in a god, or gods outside themselves that had created the universe sometime in the past. Instead they believed that perception truly is reality. The world we see is the world we are creating now in the present, each of us, moment to moment. According to the ancients, your perception of the universe is not objective at all but one hundred percent subjective, and this is true for each of us. An ancient could easily answer the question: “If a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it would it make a sound?”
Breeden: How would they answer it?
Valko: Ahh, for that you’ll have to read the book.
Breeden: We’ve been talking about science but The Find is, refreshingly, not just about science. It’s about family, romance and even music. I found the characters to be quite real, sensitive and interesting.
Valko: You often hear people describe a book as being either “plot driven” or “character driven.” Why can’t a book be both? What good is a great plot with flat characters, or interesting characters with a dull plot? My favorite books have a great plot plus characters I can sink my teeth into, so to speak. I tried to make the characters in The Find interesting enough that the reader doesn’t mind spending time with them.
Breeden: I found Megan Eastwood particularly interesting. The antagonists she fights in the story are involved in a plot for world domination. Again, this sounds “out there” and almost cliché, but the way it’s written it seems very plausible.
Valko: Between you and I, I believe it is real. As our technology expands our world shrinks. Today you and I can instantly communicate with anyone anywhere in the world at any time. People in industrial nations of the world all watch the same movies, hear the same news and read the same books. As the world gets more technical and smaller there are those who feel compelled to control it—that is, to covertly control people and events so that they can mold the shape of things. I’m hoping The Find opens a few eyes in this regard.
Breeden: Are you trying to send a message with The Find?
Valko: I think it’s dangerous to mix entertainment with a message. With The Find I tried to, first and foremost, entertain the reader, but secondly, yes, if I am going to be honest, I did want to communicate my view of what is happening in the world today, and perhaps what we can do about it. The reader may agree or disagree with me. As long as he or she is entertained, I’m happy.
Breeden: Why did you write The Find?
Valko: It was the book I wanted to read that I couldn’t find in any bookstore. Don’t get me wrong, I admire any author who has the courage to put his thoughts down on paper, but how many murder mystery novels can be written? How many dysfunctional families can be written about? How many horror stories can be told? Many a great writer as written in these genres. Nothing is wrong with such stories, but I craved to read something that went beyond the normal genres, and beyond the headlines we read every day in the newspapers, a story that had adventure, and yet was real enough to not be fantasy. I wanted to take the reader on a voyage, in this case a spiritual voyage that went beyond normal existence. I couldn’t find a book like that, so I wrote it myself.
Listen to a radio interview with James.
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