HOW THE X-FACTOR SPAWNED A DYSTOPIAN NOVEL

Have you ever dreamed or thought about what it would be like to live in a world where the number one priority is to be happy,  joyful and peaceful? Welcome to Tranquility. A place where you let all of your fears go. However, how would you feel if you were forced to be happy? What if your every emotion was being monitored? This is also Tranquility.

“How did you come up with that idea for your series?” This is the most asked question when I present my author talk to groups of middle and high school kids. It is indeed a story in itself.

Thirty-two years ago I was like everyone else in the general population. I had no idea what Fragile X was. That all changed when my son, Jordan, was diagnosed with it at age two.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a genetic disorder caused by changes in a gene that scientists label the FMR1 gene, which makes a protein called FMRP, necessary for brain development. People who have FXS do not make this protein. 

It’s a devastating diagnosis. And believe it or not, it’s not that rare. The precise number of people born with FXS is not known, but studies estimate that about 1 in 7,000 males and about 1 in 11,000 females have been diagnosed with FXS. Although it is not an illness and not life-threatening, it is life changing for the entire family who has a child with this irregularity. Males who have FXS usually have some degree of cognitive disability that can range from mild to severe. In other words, I found out my child would never be normal. He would not grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer, or even hold down a low level job. At the age of three, he spoke almost no words and had failed many of his milestones. Early assessments were grim. 

But that’s not the only problem with Fragile X individuals. One of the main characteristics is that they have almost no regulation of their emotions. Because of the absence of the FMR protein, the brain’s amygdala doesn't function properly. If you’re not familiar with that part of the brain, it can be summed up this way: “The amygdala is commonly thought to form the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli, including detection of threat and activation of appropriate fear-related behaviors in response to threatening or dangerous stimuli.” The key word there is “appropriate.” In FXS, the fear response is heightened, and this results in huge changes in mood and the inability to control stress effectively. Very small things can trigger aggression, sadness, frustration, anxiety, and a desire to self-isolate if the FXS person perceives a cause for alarm. Common, everyday experiences can be menacing to a Fragile X child and  could set off a response where he becomes angry or agitated. Much like a toddler, if things don’t go exactly as he expects, he will react in a negative way.

As a family we have worked very hard to teach and encourage proper emotional responses from our son. Now Jordan is thirty-four. With years of behavior modification and pharmaceuticals, Jordan can navigate many more stressful situations adequately. And just like the negative responses, we see as much exaggeration in the positive as well. He is beyond loving, loyal, hard-working, and funny. Today he spends his time doing volunteer work and has a vocabulary that rivals mine. He has come such a long way and makes me very proud. 

So, what does this have to do with my books and  the futuristic city of Tranquility, featuring  a sixteen-year-old girl named Ember,  the center of the plot?

One hundred years from now,  a domed city exists, a perfect town of safety, beauty, and cheer—no crime, no disasters, no disunity. The people are positive, kind, and loyal.  The only requirement is agreeing to wear the Alt, an electronic wrist device, to measure emotional highs and lows. Based on Alt points, those who maintain cheerfulness will rise up in society to achieve one level after another.  Extraordinary pleasures and privileges await for those who achieve, while Banishment to The Outside is a threat for those who resist Emotional Management.

Ember Vintana, a shy but warm and compassionate sixteen-year-old, is unlike anyone else in the Utopian city. She is an Empath, a person who can see auras and feel the emotions of other people, even at a distance due to a genetic mutation. Emotions of her own tangle with those of others, and the untimely, mysterious death of her mother complicates her happiness and the maintaining of her Status on Level Eight of Tranquility’s society. Her goal is to conquer her darkest feelings, keep her empathic ability a secret, and stay true to the expectations of the perfect society in which she lives.

 Rising Up, Book One of the Tranquility Series, is indeed a story greatly based on emotional control, and it was certainly inspired by my struggles with Jordan. But there are more threats than those that Jordan faces for each one of us. We don’t have to have Fragile X Syndrome to worry about emotion. Feelings govern everything. And in the world in which we live today, where technology also already controls much of what we do or say, parallels run deep to those more intense issues that Rising Up and Facing Off explore.  The highs and lows of our emotions, which make us human, can often be the very bane of our existence. And at what point who determines what is acceptable and what is not? 

Tanya Ross draws on her career background of thirty-two years of teaching middle school students, where high emotion, peer pressure, and the latest social media platforms influence vulnerable lives.