An Interview with Dr. Gareth Worthington, Author of Children Of The Fifth Sun

Dr. Gareth Worthington. Scientist. Writer. Muay Thai Fighter. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd find a superhero cape while rummaging through his closet. It seems that everything he has done has made the world a better place for everyone.

I had the privilege of advance reading and reviewing Children of the Fifth Sun last month, and it literally blew my hair back. I was pulled into the story again and again, like being sucked into some vortex that defied all laws of reason.

But the best part came later.

I was excited to learn that I would be given the opportunity to interview this extraordinary person for my blog. My questions only scratch the surface of the experiences of this multi-faceted individual. He has contributed more in his young life than most people even contemplate in the span of decades.

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Tess Burnside: Gareth, thank you so much for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk with us today.  Please tell us a bit about yourself and why you decided to become a writer.
 

Gareth Worthington:  Well, in one sentence, I refer to myself Scientist, writer, Muay Thai fighter. I hold a PhD in Endocrinology, and work in the pharma industry to help bring cancer medicine to patients’ the world over. It means I travel a lot. I have also trained in various martial arts, including Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai and MMA. I love the discipline and the constant journey of becoming better – you never reach a place where you are at a finish line in martial arts.

I never really decided to become a writer. I used to enjoy writing short stories when I was a kid and was asked way back then if I’d considered publishing. I kinda fell out of practice due to my education and career taking over, until I was 29. Then, after reading many non-fiction books on alternate history, I started connecting dots and just thought: wouldn’t that make a cool story?

TB: What do you find challenges you most as a writer? How do you feel accomplished?

GW:  I’m always learning as a writer. But the biggest thing I find difficult is writing something I care about. Writing is almost cathartic for me. Children of the Fifth Sun is very personal, and the protagonist's journey somewhat reflects my own. After I finished I actually said I wouldn’t write again. I had told my story, and the character had completed his arc – thus so had I. That was until a new idea popped into my head. But even the new story is pretty personal, just from a different view point.

I feel accomplished when someone says they really loved the book. Despite any flaws – we’re all growing as writers – when someone else, who doesn’t know me, picks it up and enjoys it, I’m happy. I know it should be about sales, but for me, it’s not really.

TB:  How did you come up with the concept for Children of the Fifth Sun?

GW:  I read tonnes of non-fiction books on alternate history! There’s so much from our past we don’t understand and often ignore if it challenges the status quo. Authors such as Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval have explored other histories – in particular an educated race that existed more than twenty thousand years ago, that revealed itself to the primitive peoples on Earth after a great flood and bestowed knowledge upon them. The knowledge bringers. In my story, I considered the evidence and decided the race didn’t have to be human – nor alien – but another species that evolved alongside us. And then, given that – what would we do if one were alive today?

TB:  Please tell us about the future books in this series. About other books you are working on.

GW:  Hahaha! Well I can’t give away what happens in book one, but I am writing book 2 and 3 of COTFS. What I can tell you, is that 1) my writing will continue to improve; 2) the story will follow my own experience as a new parent, and 2) there are multiple twists you won’t see coming! In this way, I keep the series personal.

I have also just written a new, unrelated, novel with my good friend Stu Jones called: It Takes Death to Reach a Star and will be released some time in 2018. It’s a futuristic thriller grounded in the events of today. It looks at what will happen in two hundred years if antibacterial resistance continues to be a problem, widening of the social gaps continue and the war on terror endures. It’s been a really interesting ride as it’s written in first person present tense – which is not my usual style of writing. But it has been a tonne of fun to write with Stu. We’re already working on a sequel and another two other unrelated books.

TB:  Do your book characters ever get a mind of their own and change a scene? Do you expect it, or does it take you by surprise?

GW:  Not really, as my protagonists are often based on parts of me and I know how I would react. Being a little schizo, means I have a few personalities to draw upon! Haha!

TB:  Please tell us about your work as a scientist. What have been the most exciting discoveries you have made?

GW:  My R&D days are far behind me. My doctorate involved creating a radioimmunoassay to detect extremely low levels of the hormone PTHrP. I had to use radioactive iodine. If my thyroid is healthy, I’ll be amazed.

Now my work is all about strategy. How can we best ensure the correct patients around the world receive the cancer medications that we develop. It’s extremely challenging and my role often involves having to be able to interpret high scientific theories and clinical data into formats that non-scientists would understand.

TB:  Please tell us about your experiences hand tagging sharks. What was the most enjoyable moment? The most dangerous?

GW:  Well, I was working with the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, California. I went out there to help track the migratory patterns of blue sharks in the Pacific, and also to take biopsies from different species so we could match against fishermens’ bycatch to see if they had been fishing in protected waters. 

The head of the PSRF, Sean van Sommeran, was a cool guy. He didn’t believe in hurting the sharks when tagging them. Normally you would use a hook on a line to catch the shark, tag it, and then put it back. 

Not Sean.

We chummed the waters with fish guts, and laid a large speaker on the bottom of 20 foot seahawk boat playing Papa Roach’s, Last Resort. Sharks like bass frequencies. When we had a group of sharks circling us, he’d throw a line overboard with just a piece of fish attached to it – not hook. He’d drag it close to the boat and when a shark came near, he’d lean over, grab the animal with his hands and pull it in the boat. We wrap it in towels to shield its eyes and calm it. Then tag it and put it back. We all had to do it. I was 21. I was shit scared. But it was awesome.

TB:  Of all the martial arts disciplines you know, which one do you absolutely love the most and why?

GW:  I fell in love with Muay Thai while living in Singapore. I trained four days a week with the absolute best fighters from Thailand. All of them had been multiple world champions. The sport was originally not a sport but a military fighting technique. The art of the eight limbs. It using kicks, knees, punches and elbows in the most brutal attacks. But, the fighters have so much respect for each other. Unlike western martial arts where pre-fight there is some kind of peacocking and bravado, in Muay Thai you respect your opponent. You step in. You perform your Wai Kru (personal dance essentially), then like in a game of chess exchange vicious attacks until one person is left standing. The winner then bows and often hugs the loser. At my gym, it was like a brotherhood. I miss them still, now that I’m in Switzerland.

TB:  Describe the perfect day. 

GW:  That’s difficult, I don’t know that I’ve ever had one of those. But, I guess it will be a trek through the jungle followed by climbing that hilltop to view Machu Pichu with my son and daughter by my side. But they’re only one and two years old, so that’s a while off yet.

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A huge thank you to Dr. Gareth Worthington for taking the time out of his schedule to be interviewed, to Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for providing the beautiful photos and links, and to Dr. Worthington's agents, Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management for their assistance.

So, Children of the Fifth Sun. What's it all about?  Thousands of years ago, an ancient species from the sea saved humanity; now a cocky, free-diving photographer tortured by his past is the unlikely hero who must save the last of their kind from a global race between nations to control the creature’s power.

IN ALMOST EVERY BELIEF SYSTEM ON EARTH, there exists a single unifying mythos: thousands of years ago a great flood devastated the Earth’s inhabitants. From the ruins of this cataclysm, a race of beings emerged from the sea bestowing knowledge and culture upon humanity, saving us from our selfish drive toward extinction. Some say this race were “ancient aliens” who came to assist our evolution. But what if they weren’t alien at all? What if they evolved right here on Earth, alongside humans . . . and they are still here? And, what if the World’s governments already know?

Kelly Graham is a narcissistic, self-assured, freelance photographer specializing in underwater assignments. While on a project in the Amazon with his best friend, Chris D'Souza, a mysterious and beautiful government official, Freya Nilsson, enters Kelly’s life and turns it upside down. Her simple request to retrieve a strange object from deep underwater puts him in the middle of an international conspiracy. A conspiracy that threatens to change the course of human history. See a preview here.

Book Details
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller | “Science Faction” science fiction, action, adventure with fact-based science, theories and mythology
Published by: Vesuvian Books
Publication Date: July 25th 2017
Number of Pages: 407
ISBN: 9781944109400
Purchase Links:  Amazon 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗
Don't Miss Your Chance to Read this Free Preview: Amazon 🔗 & Barnes & Noble 🔗

More about Gareth Worthington:

Gareth Worthington holds a degree in marine biology, a PhD in endocrinology, and currently educates the World's doctors on new cancer therapies. Gareth has hand tagged sharks in California; won honorable mention at the New York Book Festival 2012 and 2013 for his writing; and trained in various martial arts, including Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, and MMA at the EVOLVE MMA gym in Singapore and Phoenix KampfSport Switzerland. Born in Plymouth UK, Worthington currently resides outside of Zurich, Switzerland.

Visit Gareth Online: Website Twitter Facebook Goodreads 

Before I close, I'm excited to announce a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Providence Book Promotions for Gareth Worthington and GH Literary. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card AND 3 winners of one (1) eBook copy of CHILDREN OF THE FIFTH SUN by Gareth Worthington. The giveaway begins on July 24th and runs through September 27th, 2017. To enter click here.