Ebola is real

Life imitates art. Readers of ENDEMIC may have heard the news of a real Ebola disease outbreak in the same area of the Congo I chose as the setting of the book. The Ebola outbreak was made official August 1, 2018, and ENDEMIC was released October 1.

This wasn’t fast work on my part. I wrote the book in 2008. The book is set during the First Congo War in 1995, although security in the area has improved very little since then. It is also not a surprise Ebola would appear in the area, as it is endemic (ahem) among the local bat population. My book was submitted for publication four months before the outbreak, and I had no idea the timing would be so close.

I haven’t publically made a link between the news and my book because it is unseemly to profit by the suffering of real human beings. However, I can use my (small) influence to encourage concerned readers to donate to MSF or a similar charity specializing in the care of Ebola victims. These people are real heroes.

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/media-coverage/axios-there-are-tools-fight-ebola-first-people-need-trust