James Morcan asked Martin Roy Hill:

Martin, is your novella Eden based on anything real or rumored to be real in Iraq? Have you heard the theories that there are ancient and exotic technologies in Iraq?

Martin Roy Hill Hey, James. By exotic technologies, I assume you mean something like the Baghdad battery. Yes, I have certainly heard of those but they don't play a major role in Eden.

Eden was inspired by the Ancient Alien theories. I started thinking, "Well, if ancient astronauts did come here, why?" Eden was finally inspired by a news report about researchers who used satellite imagery to identify the remnants of two dead rivers that once merged with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which they said pinpointed the location of the Biblical Eden. The Bible says Eden was located between the Tigris, Euphrates, and two other rivers. I started thinking, "What if American troops in Iraq stumbled onto the origins of Mankind -- that is, Eden?" That was the genesis (excuse the pun) of the story.

I do bring in a great deal of history, both Biblical and archaeological, and point out unanswered questions about the development of the human race: the sudden development of the Big Brain; the similarities of building construction across continents where there should be no contact of populations; finely honed stone structures that cannot be duplicated with today's technologies; and why so many civilizations chose to live in or worship in vast cities carved into mountainsides.

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