Quick Fall Of Light
www.quickfalloflight.com
A woman and an incredible bird survive
a modern-day pandemic and a corporate
hitman in this riveting eco-thriller.
Winner of ForeWord Reviews Book
of the Year 2010 "Silver Award" for
Science Fiction.
Ideas for this book began almost like a
snowstorm—snowflakes, like ideas, some
solitary, others conjoined. First, I wanted
to do a story set in the Olympic Rain Forest
of Washington State. There needed to be a
strong sense of impending doom, but not
full-blown apocalypse. An epidemic,
maybe. Through all the warnings, all the
waiting, it would approach. Not as one
would think of an outbreak of monumental
proportions, but as a trickle, building
steam.
At the same time, I was fascinated with the long-ago effects of the 1918 flu. As a medical transcriptionist, I’ve documented the course of disease through hundreds of lives. But it wasn’t until I realized my grandmother’s lifelong problems with diabetes, digestive problems, and unexplainable lethargy that I found out she suffered and survived the flu of 1918. In fact, her illness brought my grandfather home from World War I. This was the second major element that brought me to the story.
A third element was the love of flight. In my early 20s I learned to fly single engine planes, finally accumulating a few hundred hours of flight time. Though flying never became anything more than recreational, rare encounters with birds did happen. Fortunately, these were always incidental, but lasting. I realized I was in their space and sharing their world. When it finally occurred to me that the passenger pigeon became extinct at almost the same time my grandmother might’ve died from the greatest influenza of all time, I began to work a plot around the idea of retrieving a bird from extinction and pushing it for an anti-virus to stem a new and lethal virus—a modern-day influenza. And with that, the story of Quick Fall of Light was born.
At the same time, I was fascinated with the long-ago effects of the 1918 flu. As a medical transcriptionist, I’ve documented the course of disease through hundreds of lives. But it wasn’t until I realized my grandmother’s lifelong problems with diabetes, digestive problems, and unexplainable lethargy that I found out she suffered and survived the flu of 1918. In fact, her illness brought my grandfather home from World War I. This was the second major element that brought me to the story.
A third element was the love of flight. In my early 20s I learned to fly single engine planes, finally accumulating a few hundred hours of flight time. Though flying never became anything more than recreational, rare encounters with birds did happen. Fortunately, these were always incidental, but lasting. I realized I was in their space and sharing their world. When it finally occurred to me that the passenger pigeon became extinct at almost the same time my grandmother might’ve died from the greatest influenza of all time, I began to work a plot around the idea of retrieving a bird from extinction and pushing it for an anti-virus to stem a new and lethal virus—a modern-day influenza. And with that, the story of Quick Fall of Light was born.
"A profound, and profoundly affecting novel. I
don't think anybody could read it without being
deeply touched. I was. I found it hard to
resist--the ideas, the writing, the passion, the
message. All resonated for me. A wonderful
reading experience. . . I think anyone who picks
up this book will be changed by it."
--Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Ph.D., Author of When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love
*******
"This book has everything! Great characters, vivid language, a shocking resurrection, and birds. I loved it!"
--Sy Montgomery, Author of Birdology
*******
"Sherrida Woodley bravely takes on the big issues between humans and the natural world: evolution, extinction, human hubris, technological arrogance and ecological survival. Quick Fall of Light shares Rachel Carson's fears for our planet and exhibits Woodley's own "sense of wonder," as well as her sure instincts for mystery and suspense. Nature lovers have a new advocate."
--Linda Lear, Historian/Biographer and Author of Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
*******
"This is the riveting story of a possible plague and the haunting loss of the passenger pigeon. Woodley explores a future world of global extinctions and how we might survive a pandemic of bird flu. A prophetic mystery and an environmental thriller, Quick Fall of Light will keep you reading and wondering."
--Brenda Peterson, Author of Animal Heart
*******
"Quick Fall of Light is an extraordinary debut novel -- an eco-thriller with a strong narrative urgency coupled with lyrical prose. Sometimes a great book takes years to bubble to the surface. In Ms. Woodley's case, it was certainly worth the wait."
--Andrew Blechman, Author of Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's most Revered and Reviled Birds
*******
"A suspenseful tale of a near-future virus, Quick Fall of Light is a unique contribution to the literature of extinction: a science fiction novel about passenger pigeons. Readers interested in the genre and those interested in birds should pick this book up."
--Christopher Cokinos, Author of Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds
*******
"You have never read anything like Sherrida Woodley's Quick Fall of Light, a unique bio-thriller that goes far beyond Michael Crichton's territory. Fall connects the extinction of the passenger pigeon, the deadly flu of 1918, and the perhaps inevitable pandemic of the future in a fast-paced story that is unique, informed, terrifying, and finally hopeful, racing along at times like a forest fire or a great flock of birds."
--Stephen J. Bodio, Author of Querencia and Eagle Dreams
*******
"Quick Fall of Light is a powerful archetypal tale that bores deeply into bone and blood. It is an important message for our age, because it connects us with the mysterious essence of the natural world, a connection we require now more than ever."
--Larry Dossey, M.D., Author of The Power of Premonitions
--Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Ph.D., Author of When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love
*******
"This book has everything! Great characters, vivid language, a shocking resurrection, and birds. I loved it!"
--Sy Montgomery, Author of Birdology
*******
"Sherrida Woodley bravely takes on the big issues between humans and the natural world: evolution, extinction, human hubris, technological arrogance and ecological survival. Quick Fall of Light shares Rachel Carson's fears for our planet and exhibits Woodley's own "sense of wonder," as well as her sure instincts for mystery and suspense. Nature lovers have a new advocate."
--Linda Lear, Historian/Biographer and Author of Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
*******
"This is the riveting story of a possible plague and the haunting loss of the passenger pigeon. Woodley explores a future world of global extinctions and how we might survive a pandemic of bird flu. A prophetic mystery and an environmental thriller, Quick Fall of Light will keep you reading and wondering."
--Brenda Peterson, Author of Animal Heart
*******
"Quick Fall of Light is an extraordinary debut novel -- an eco-thriller with a strong narrative urgency coupled with lyrical prose. Sometimes a great book takes years to bubble to the surface. In Ms. Woodley's case, it was certainly worth the wait."
--Andrew Blechman, Author of Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's most Revered and Reviled Birds
*******
"A suspenseful tale of a near-future virus, Quick Fall of Light is a unique contribution to the literature of extinction: a science fiction novel about passenger pigeons. Readers interested in the genre and those interested in birds should pick this book up."
--Christopher Cokinos, Author of Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds
*******
"You have never read anything like Sherrida Woodley's Quick Fall of Light, a unique bio-thriller that goes far beyond Michael Crichton's territory. Fall connects the extinction of the passenger pigeon, the deadly flu of 1918, and the perhaps inevitable pandemic of the future in a fast-paced story that is unique, informed, terrifying, and finally hopeful, racing along at times like a forest fire or a great flock of birds."
--Stephen J. Bodio, Author of Querencia and Eagle Dreams
*******
"Quick Fall of Light is a powerful archetypal tale that bores deeply into bone and blood. It is an important message for our age, because it connects us with the mysterious essence of the natural world, a connection we require now more than ever."
--Larry Dossey, M.D., Author of The Power of Premonitions