Christian McKay Heidicker

Christian Heidicker is an awfully charming young author from Utah.

Cure for the Common Universe is his debut novel.

From his Q&A with Ann Cannon for The Salt Lake Tribune:

One of this novel's charms is its unique premise. Tell us how "Cure for the Common Universe" came to be.

This all began when I wrote a piece for a scientific journal about flower pollen dissemination. My editor at Simon & Schuster, Christian Trimmer, just happened to pick up the June 2014 issue of "Yon Flowery Bits" and read my article. He was captured by the way in which I was able to breathe life into the flower's plight, specifically its helpless desire to pollinate — waiting on a breeze or a buzz that may never manifest.

Mr. Trimmer didn't think the flower angle would quite hook a teenage audience, so he Googled the phrase "Pressing Issues of Our Time." Of course the first thing that came up was video-game addiction. He had me run a search/replace on the document and thus pollen became pixels, roots AV lines, honeybees Serena, and weed whackers GamerGate. The rest is history. [Editor's helpful hint: Read the book and these comparisons will make more sense.]

Did you write this novel with a particular reader in mind? Who do you think the ideal audience is for your book?

Like everything I write, I was thinking of a homeless man named Jesús Gómez, who...[read on]

Visit C. M. Heidicker's website.

Cure for the Common Universe is among Shaun Byron Fitzpatrick's top seven geeky love stories that prove nerd love is the best love.

The Page 69 Test: Cure for the Common Universe.

Writers Read: Christian McKay Heidicker.

--Marshal Zeringue