Author Brings Science, Military Background To Romance Novel
HAYMARKET, VA (WUSA) ---So what do you do after spending 25 years in the Air Force working on engineering challenges like the space program and then working for a defense contractor on serious physics challenges like making unmanned aerial vehicles perform under abusive conditions?
The answer for Ivette Falto-Heck was to write a romance novel, " Tomorrow Never Comes " that was published on her birthday last December.
"We should always be expanding our knowledge and our brain and our hobbies and our interests. We can not just stay and do one thing in life. There is so much that you can do, so many different things, and I think you should always be learning and expanding moving into other areas," she told 9News Now in a Valentine's Day interview.
Falto-Heck was born in Puerto Rico and developed a childhood goal and dream.
"My goal in life was to become an astronaut," she said.
The goal led her to Air Force ROTC, and advanced degrees in physics, engineering, and national strategy, entering college at 16, and completing her undergraduate work in three years.
A failed physical knocked her out of the astronaut competition and she rose to the rank of colonel, working on the space program and other engineering challenges before retiring after 25 years and entering the private sector, working for a defense contractor to this day, not the resume of someone you would expect to become a romance novelist.
"I have been asked that question and the way I see it is (like this). I, for all my life being a female in physics, which is kind of male-dominated, many girls ... were not attracted to science and math. They were told many times that those fields were too hard and they should not pursue those fields, and I love those fields.
"So, throughout my whole life I have been involved in activities and trying to motivate- especially young ladies--to pursue science and engineering so when I was writing the book I thought, well I would like to show the young ladies, especially the young ladies, but (also) Hispanics and minorities and others that physics and science can be fun. You can use the knowledge that you have in those fields and still write something that appeals to a much broader audience," she said.
"Tomorrow Never Comes " incorporates her science background into a story of romance and mystery set in a time of terrorism.
"If you read the book there is a lot of action and there is a lot of physics about tsunamis and other activities,
nuclear weapons and so forth, so I actually applied my physics and astronomy and science knowledge to write this novel, so I see it more like an action thriller that has a lot of romance," she said.