Journalist Rose Writes Novel, Coining New Literary Genre 'Science Faction'

Richard Rose, a New York City-based journalist and investigative reporter, has drawn upon decades of working at the most top-secret military facilities in the world and written his debut novel, Release the Butterfly, based on plausible events. Inspired by the most cutting-edge technology, including particle accelerator colliders, that he was able to witness first-hand as a reporter, Rose envisions a world in which tension between the United States and China has come to a head and the nuclear arms race has reached a horrifying state. Release the Butterfly depicts a perhaps not-so-distant future that is plausible, prompting Rose to invent the new term "Science Faction."

Beyond its being grounded in reality, what sets Release the Butterfly apart from other science fiction novels is its protagonist, Parker James, a spy as adept in both combat and logic as he is crippled by nightmares. Set in the near future, the United States has elected its first president - the daughter of a conservative ranch patriarch and an illegal Mexican immigrant - and finds its tensions with China coming to a head and the nuclear arms race reaching a horrifying climax. The novel has, in one instance, already proven to be eerily prophetic: on January 8, 2011, after Rose had completed the novel, China introduced its first stealth jet - the same kind first featured in Release the Butterfly.
Having dedicated his life to investigative journalism and reporting, Rose has witnessed technology and military operations that, to the average American, would seem like the setting of a science fiction novel. He has reported from secret military facilities such as NORAD inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado and M-X missile silos in Western Nebraska, been invited aboard aircraft carriers and naval ships, been inside numerous air and army bases and picked the brains of the most brilliant people in the world. In addition, his reporting expertise has instilled in him a concise and fast-paced writing style well suited to the 240-page book. He doesn't waste time slogging through exposition; the story takes off from the first page. For military buffs, conspiracy theorists, science fiction enthusiasts and even romance fans, Release the Butterfly will appeal to all types. And with "exclusive" information becoming increasingly available - starting with the Internet boom and escalating with Wikileaks - the public has an ever-growing desire to know the inner workings of political and military information, and "Science Faction" is expected to become the next big trend in literature.