Jeff Michelson - Tension, Introspection, and Unexpected twists

Jeff Michelson is an accountant by day, a deli owner on the weekend and a father of three young children. He lives in the NYC suburbs with his family and never thought he would write a book like this. As a first-time author, he really enjoyed the writing and editing process and hopes that readers of this book enjoy the concept.  As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book, Anticipation Day.Please give us a short introduction to what Anticipation Day is about.Anticipation Day is a novel that takes place in the near future and is a story about the development of a government-sponsored program that allows every eligible American citizen one day a year to go into a simulation and live whatever life they want to.The prologue of the novel follows the development of this program and how it all started.The novel then delves into the story of several friends that have decided to do their simulations on the same day. The story starts with a group dinner the night before their simulations where the characters all get together to talk about their feelings and what simulations they had planned for the following day.The novel then goes into the simulations for each of the characters. Essentially, these are five different stories for each of the characters that takes them through their own personal journeys.The novel ends with a twist that takes place after each of their own simulations have concluded.Anticipation Day presents a fascinating premise—an annual simulation where people can live out their ideal experiences. What inspired this concept?The idea came from the concept of anticipation and how most humans do not experience the feeling of anticipation enough in their lives. I thought about things that most humans anticipate: a night out, a vacation, a first date, etc, and how good that feeling of anticipation is for pretty much everyone.So I thought about what would give most people the feeling of anticipation all year-round? For me the concept of being able to live another life was something interesting so I just kind of took it from there.The rest of the story came together organically and I also came up with the idea of letting people relive a memory from their own past as an interesting twist.How did you develop the idea of blending government involvement with personal escapism?The thought of having these simulations run by any company was initially something I thought about. But then I realized that the government would never allow this as there would be too many potential negative consequences: people coming out of the simulation and being negatively impacted by the simulation.So, I thought about how the government would get involved and that is how the prologue came out. Initially, people were doing these simulations, but there were negative mental consequence so the government had no choice but to step in.Would the government actually do this? Who knows? But it is a nice thought that the government would want a happy and healthy population to govern.Did any real-world events or technologies influence your depiction of the simulation program?As an accountant, I had to do a lot of research into how these simulations “could” work. There is some research out there right now about concepts that could eventually develop into something like this.Obviously, movies like the Matrix and Ready Player One already existed, which gave me a concept about what the simulations could be.Essentially, I wanted these simulations to be so real and so life-like that people would forget they were in one. If the simulations were so realistic, people would automatically want to be a part of this program and would have to comply with the requirements to participate from a mental health and physical health perspective.If you had your own Anticipation Day, what would your ideal simulation look like?That’s an interesting question. I honestly think it would be either Patrick’s simulation (tornado chaser), Mike’s simulation (NHL player) or Eric’s simulation (Lewis and Clark expedition).I went to college initially to be a meteorologist but after failing miserably out of that, switched to a business focus. I think it would be amazing to feel the rush of being close to a tornado.I played hockey growing up and love following the NHL with my two sons. I think it would be amazing to feel the rush of playing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, one of the most amazing experience any player can experience.I also enjoy being outside in nature and think that going on an expedition like Lewis and Clark before America became overpopulated would be something absolutely peaceful and surreal.The novel explores the boundaries between reality and simulation. How did you approach balancing the futuristic aspects with a believable world?Well, because there was only a small portion of the story that took place in the near future, there weren’t too many futuristic aspects of the world that I had to come up. Things like virtual glasses, self-driving cars and robot nanny’s were things that I envision will be available to most people in the near future.Beyond that, I really didn’t have to come up with too many aspects from the future.I wanted the simulations to take place in the past as it seemed to fit in with most of the character’s histories, which made it much easier to come up with the simulated world they were in!What kind of research did you do to create a realistic yet immersive simulation program?There was some research I had to do around the technical aspects of a simulation. Most of this was available through Google searches. Programs at MIT, Cal Tech, Harvard and Yale have started around the capabilities of AI, so there was actually a lot out there on the potential impact of simulated worlds.Luckily, there wasn’t a huge need to go into a lot of technical aspects of the simulation. It was kind of assumed that a few years from now, this technology will exist and the ability to create these simulated worlds wouldn’t be too difficult.In your version of the future, technology plays a huge role in shaping human experiences. Do you see Anticipation Day as a utopian escape or a potential dystopian risk?I think if you finish the book, you’ll realize it can be both. I think if people have mental issues going into the simulation, the simulation won’t necessarily help them.There is no script in the simulation, so there is nothing guaranteeing people will have a positive experience within the simulation, just like real life.If you read the different stories, you will realize that these experiences can be positive or negative and that is likely what would happen in reality.The question is how would the government react to this through the monitoring of the participants after the simulation is done? That is why I wanted the concept of constant mental health monitoring throughout the year to be a central theme of the program to ensure that if people were showing symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts, that those issues would be dealt with long before they entered another simulation.The novel hints at algorithmic control over human experiences. How much free will do your characters truly have within the simulation?They have free will to do whatever they want to within the parameters of the simulation they have chosen.For example, Mike wants to play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. So the simulation is geared to being in New York City for one day as he plays out what a typical day would be like for an NHL player.He couldn’t fly off to Europe to experience what a hockey player would do in Europe.I did introduce the concept of buying an “add-on” package to the simulation if the participant chooses to do so before they go into the simulation, but no one takes advantage of it.Once they are in the simulation, they can do whatever they want to within those pre-defined parameters.If Mike wanted to miss the game and lay in bed all day, he could do that if he chose to. I wanted the characters to be able to do whatever they wanted to within the simulation in order to mimic real life.The five main characters—Alexandra, Eric, Patrick, Mike, and MaryAnne—each bring unique perspectives to the simulation. Were any of them inspired by real people in your life?I would say Eric and Alexandra were most inspired by my real life. I dealt with work stress and alcohol-related issues several years ago before switching to cannabis as a way to cope with everyday stresses.Alexandra was based somewhat on my wife, but not entirely.Most of the characters were ideas that I had of middle-aged individuals that were each at crossroads in their lives, whether from divorce, work-related stresses or otherwise. Each of them needing an escape for their own reasons.How did you decide what kinds of experiences each character would choose for their Anticipation Day?Most were from my own desires as I previously noted. The ability to go tornado chasing, play in an NHL game or go on the Lewis and Clark expedition were things I thought would be cool to do.Alexandra’s trip to Brazil was influenced by my wife, who loves beaches and I know would choose something like that for her experience.MaryAnne’s trip down memory lane was something I wanted to throw in there to show how a simulated memory would work. The story of her parent’s 40th anniversary cruise was influenced by my own family’s cruise trip a few years earlier.Your book delves into deep themes like happiness, regret, and self-discovery. What message do you hope readers take away from these themes?I hope that readers take away that it is good to anticipate things in your life. You should create experiences that create anticipation in your own life. We don’t have enough of that these days and I think we could all use a little more.Obviously, we don’t have the ability to go into a simulated world to find these experiences (yet), so we have to create them on our own. Whether that’s going out more, taking memorable vacations or just finding your own happy place, we need to find a way to be happy in life. It’s just too short to spead it sad or worried.As a first-time author, what was the biggest lesson you learned while writing this book?It is definitely a process. When I first started writing, I only had the idea of the simulations as my story. I had to figure out how to start and end it.I am happy with the way it came out, but it wasn’t without a ton of editing, rewriting, reediting and rewriting multiple times.A big shout out to the editors who helped me get the grammar as good as possible.As an accountant, writing wasn’t necessarily my strong-suit, but I definitely learned a lot of how to best frame a book.It is definitely a long book, but I hope one that keeps the readers’ attention throughout.Readers are already asking for a sequel. Do you have plans to expand Anticipation Day into a series?Oh man – I guess if it does well and gets good reviews, I would definitely consider doing a sequel. I have some ideas about what a sequel could look like.But that is why I ended the book with “To be continued…maybe.”Time will tell I guess. Either way, I hope everyone enjoys the read!