Author J.R. Marzolf sets debut book in Columbia.
James Marzolf has lived in almost every region of the world and has a storied history in the healthcare industry. But the place he returned — physically and fictionally — after his global adventures? Columbia.
“I was born in Columbia and went to Hickman,” Marzolf says. “My ex-wife was born in Osaka, Japan, and we raised our children in Indonesia, but eventually, all three of my daughters ended up as Kewpies.”
Living here isn’t Marzolf’s only tie to COMO. Under the nom de plume J.R. Marzolf, he recently released his first novel, Omega Rose, which is partially set here.
“As you’re moving people through space and time in the plot, if you’ve been to the place you’re describing, it makes it more tangible for the reader,” Marzolf says. The main character, Inga, walks through Jesse Hall, grabs a snack at The Heidelberg. and ventures out to a rooftop bar downtown. The off-campus house she lives in really exists, Marzolf says, and he would know — because he lived in it. “You write what you know,” he says. “I’ve gone to quite a few universities, but I went to MU the longest.”
Omega Rose is Marzolf’s first foray into fiction, but he’s wanted to write a novel since he was an undergraduate student at Mizzou.
“I wrote a book on an electric typewriter and had no clue how to get a book published, so I put it in a box somewhere,” he says. “Then I kind of forgot about it, but I’ve always wanted to write. I had a long — and most people think quite interesting — career, and when I wrapped that up, I decided to take a year to decompress before beginning. One year later, I trimmed back my considerable beard and started writing. I found it was so much fun because it allowed me to use all of my experience in travel and education into spinning yarns people would like to read.”
As far as the idea of the book, Marzolf says he was thinking of the genetic test everyone gets for fun. “What if it’s something else instead?” he asks. “So I picked a young adopted college student as the protagonist, which makes it seem pretty normal to start off. Then things get progressively weirder.”
One thing that stands out about Omega Rose is its factual accuracy. Several years ago, Marzolf found himself disappointed in a bestselling action thriller with what he calls egregious mistakes.
“You want to make things as accurate as possible because there are neurotic readers like me that pick things apart like that,” he says. “When I was reading and someone gave [the victim] 40 times the lethal dose of a medication, I just couldn’t finish it.” He wanted to make sure that wasn’t the case for Omega Rose.
“If you don’t know genetics or cyber stuff, you see that in the book and go, ‘Oh, that looks real.’ But if you’re a geneticist, you will find everything in the book is absolutely correct. Same thing with the space satellites and certain locations. A geneticist in the book walks down to a pub in Bristol, which exists in real life. There’s a lot of Easter eggs in the book if you know the locations and subjects.”
The book opens with a quote by Marzolf: “Genetics determines the instrument that you are. The Environment determines the music that you play.”
The aphorism goes back much further than the book’s release date. He first coined it while teaching an undergraduate course on developmental biology as he was working toward his master’s at MU in genetics.
“I was trying to teach them the best I could using analogies, and that sort of popped out of my mouth while trying to explain nature vs nurture. And I was like, ‘Wow, that really sums it up.’ I’ve used it various places since then, and it still holds true.”
Omega Rose is Part 1 of a trilogy, and the second book is scheduled to be released this fall.
“The second book will blend historical fiction and sci-fi,” Marzolf says. “The company that owns everything in the book started the technological advancement of humans 1,000 years ago,” he says. It will follow that series of events while also addressing Inga’s next move.
About the Author
James Marzolf describes himself as an eclectic scholar of medicine, genetics, archaeology, and emerging technologies. Some of his past job titles include medical director of HMSA Blue Cross Blue Shield, resident national advisor of healthcare finance for USAID in Indonesia, and director of services for Hospital Developments International in Australia. Marzolf has worked in almost every region of the globe except for western Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. His debut novel, Omega Rose, is the first book in the Omega Rose Trilogy.
An Excerpt
On a bank of screens elsewhere in the building, Ivan sat with Dr. Swensen and two others, watching Inga as she prowled around her new cage.
“Looks like she’ll settle in fine,” commented Ivan.
Dr. Swensen shook her head, the right side of which was swollen and discolored along the right jaw, extending up into her eye socket. “Don’t be too sure. You didn’t experience her explosive nature. She’s dangerous.”
“What’s she weigh, 100 pounds? Can’t be that dangerous,” Ivan scoffed.
“Erik is still in the hospital with a skull fracture and a concussion, and she fractured my zygomatic arch with one kick. Don’t be fooled; she is about as innocuous as a cobra, and it takes enough tranquilizer to drop a rhino to put her down. She almost came to twice during transport.”
