Three months digging through archives about the 1605 plot and reading papers on memory manipulation. Strange combination, but it worked.
The hardest part wasn’t researching 17th-century conspiracies. It was making the tech feel real without going full sci-fi. Turns out our brains already rewrite memories constantly. The book just asks what happens when someone else controls that process.
My Foundation Year professors helped more than they know. Their lectures on social structures became the foundation for everything. How societies decide which stories survive and which ones disappear.
Guy Fawkes Night was perfect for this. A celebration built around remembering one version of events while forgetting the messy truth. The fireworks aren’t just pretty lights anymore.
Been thinking about this question through every draft: how much truth can people actually handle? We say we want honesty, but watch how fast uncomfortable facts get buried.
That’s why the Archive of Sparks exists in the story. Someone has to preserve what everyone else wants to forget.
Early readers say the ending sticks with them. Good. Some books entertain, others make you question what you thought you knew. This one tries to do both.
The research was intense but worth it. Connecting historical conspiracy with modern neuroscience felt like building a bridge across centuries.
Hope it gets under your skin the right way.
Daria Ryzhikova Writer