326. How to Use Fiction to Explore Real Life with Paul Vecchiet

Veteran and author Paul Vecchiet discusses basing stories on real events, people and places, and how his book, The Disclosure Paradox, is a demonstration of fiction exploring real-life truths.

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Check out Paul's website and find his books:
https://thedisclosureparadox.com/

Find Paul on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/pvecchiet/
https://www.facebook.com/PaulVecchiet/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-vecchiet-aia-ncarb-a1135919

Transcript

Jennia: Hello, I'm Jennia D'Lima. Welcome to Writing and Editing, the author-focused podcast that takes a whole-perspon person approach to everything related to both writing and editing. Today's guest, Paul Vecchiet, has said he believes that fiction allows us to explore truths, but nonfiction cannot. He'll be sharing why that's true as well as how our stories can encourage readers to think differently about what they think they know.

Jennia: First, I'm so thrilled to have you here, Paul!

Paul Vecchiet: Thank you for having me. This is actually, like, the first interview that is more related to writing than the topics.

Jennia: Oh, really? Well, I feel even more privileged to have you here then! Well, before we get into the writing part, you do have a really unique background that is giving you some interesting insights into some of these topics that most of us will never have. And I would love for you to start off by telling us a little bit about that and then also how you pivoted into writing fiction.

Paul Vecchiet: Well, the book, it could be an autobiography because it's based on experiences that I've had. And there are multiple experiences which, you know, people would say are not normal that I combine to put together the character,. All the characters in the book are based on real people. All the events are based on real experiences.

Jennia: Oh okay!

Paul Vecchiet: So it was very easy to put together the outline because I started writing a blog and the blog was about the same topic where it was about, you know, suppressed truths and information related to extraterrestrials and contact individuals that have had contact, testimony, things like that. And I collected all that information and it allowed me to put together a outline. In fact, I wrote the outline in 31 pages in a weekend. Yeah.

Jennia: Oh my goodness! That's amazing.

Paul Vecchiet: That was intense.

Jennia: Yeah. How did you then fictionalize some of that?

Paul Vecchiet: Well, the fiction part is—first of all, making certain that the characters are not the real names, that's one thing. But the fiction part was adding action to the plot to keep the plot interesting for the reader—

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: —and to ensure that there were some key points that were able to be stressed that I wanted to have in. The book is more than just for entertainment. It's to promote a type of a philosophy.

Jennia: Yeah, if you want to explain what that philosophy is!

Paul Vecchiet: (laughs) Sure. The book is called The Disclosure Paradox. And disclosure is the effort of the public to apply pressure to the government—

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: —to reveal information that they know about extraterrestrial contact and their technology. So the paradox is that if disclosure there'll be unintended consequences. And, in addition, the book links the extraterrestrial phenomenon to our spirituality. So it's more than just talking about ETs and UFOs—it's about our own spirituality.

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: So the premise is that we are under what's called a "technological and a social quarantine," which is why people see things in the sky and we know that they're there, but there has never been official contact. And the reason is that if we were to have official contact, then there would be an exchange of technology.

Jennia: Oh right!

Paul Vecchiet: And with that exchange of technology, our less ethical organizations and our greedy systems would take over, weaponize that technology, and then use it against those that gave it to us.

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: Kind of like what we did to the Native Americans in the Monroe Doctrine, or Manifest Destiny, or whatever, even spreading Christianity or getting their resources. We would use their technology against them. So they know that. And that is why the governments are keeping secret about—because we're not ready to be part of the universal community because of our DNA, which is actually our original sin, okay? It is what makes us barbaric, violent, having an irrational obsession with possessions, and being racist to the point of being genocidal. And so these advanced races know about that. That's the main point in the book about disclosure.

Jennia: How did you decide what background information to include so that you had the appropriate setup for the readers so they would understand maybe the significance of some of these events, where they might have been going in completely unaware of them, and they're just picking it up because they like the sound on the back of the summary?

Paul Vecchiet: I've guided the reader by giving the background of the main character, which is based on me, the journey that I went through, what caused me, what influenced me to the point where I had the curiosity about UFOs and about our spirituality. And then later on with that curiosity, what were the main events, who are the characters that I found to influence me and that actually affected the growth towards where I became a writer. So one of the reviewers, who is a former executive at Northrop, who liked the book, his words were, "It was like putting your body into a warm bath and getting acclimated that way"—

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: —and that's what I do is I guide the reader slowly. It's not in your face for quite a while. And the other part is that a lot of people that have this interest, they go into what people call "the rabbit hole."

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: And I explain how I avoided going too deep in that rabbit hole. Because if you go too deep, you start to become critical of everything—

Jennia: Ahh, right.

Paul Vecchiet: —and having this huge conspiracy theories, and even to the point of being depressed, and sometimes even approaching insanity. So I do that. The first four chapters of the book is just setting the reader up for all the big events that explain the plot.

Jennia: Yeah! And how did you balance character and plot in order to do this? So did you ground the reader first in some of the events in the plot or did you use a character as a vehicle to bring these about?

Paul Vecchiet: Well, I knew what I wanted at the end and I knew all the points that I wanted to make. It wasn't difficult to develop the characters because the characters were based on real people. And they're very rich in character.

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: So I guess the first part is just developing the main character, understanding the main character's values, understanding their interest. The main character learns to be a critical thinker at a very early age in Catholic school. So there's one building block. And then they have an interest in science from the space programs—Mercury, Gemini, Apollo—seeing it on TV. So what I did is make sure that the main character was strong and then I knew the plot, and the other characters, they complemented the plot.

Jennia: Okay.

Paul Vecchiet: It's plot driven.

Jennia: How do you think the story would have been different, or maybe even, what might you have left out if you had written this as a purely nonfiction piece versus fiction?

Paul Vecchiet: Boring (Jennia laughs). It would boring. And that's the point. There are many, many people out there that have had—have testimony, they have podcasts, they have a following, they've been on shows, they've been doing it for a long time. They've been writing the same story in different books, as nonfiction, as testimony. And I can't compete with that because first of all, it's not my primary job.

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: That's not me. So I decided to make it fiction. Because if it were nonfiction, there would be a lot of stuff in there that just would not show up. There are elements in the book that are based on testimony from various people, various sources that I put in there. But the way that the events happen, the action sequences themselves did not happen.

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: So I blend. In reality, it is fiction. But there is a lot in there where people that know will read and say, "Oh, yeah, you put that in there."

Jennia: Do you think that most readers will be able to pick out which parts are fiction versus nonfiction? Or is it the hope that you've left it to be ambiguous?

Paul Vecchiet: This is why I'm not concerned about the book being out there and then people being concerned if there's sensitive information. It's like The X-Files.

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: The average person cannot tell the difference between what is fact and fiction in The X-Files, but The X-Files, they do put fact out there. People that know about it, they can tell. The same with my book.

Jennia: Ah, yeah.

Paul Vecchiet: So you're right, the average person may not be able to tell what is fact and what is fiction. There are people, though, that will be able to tell. And the part where the main character, as a ufologist, he is setting up a lecture at a enthusiast-group lecture, he's presenting. I detail four specific events that he talks about where there are extraterrestrials on Earth. And that's all factual because I do use real names. In fact, one of the individuals that one of those events are based on, he allowed me to write about his event. And I, of course, acknowledge him in the book.

Jennia: Well, that helps, too, I would think, just because, you know people get into these books and then they start wondering, "Okay, well, what here is based on reality?" Or, "What could have been a real event?" I've encountered that even with editing, where maybe an author has brought up, "By the way, that really did happen," or, "This place really did exist. And it's just something we don't talk about." And so, of course, then you have to go Google it and find out, okay, are they really telling the truth? And then it's amazing what you find out. So have you ever had a reader come back to you with additional questions after they've read the book?

Paul Vecchiet: Well, see, this is a rerelease.

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: So I released this first, originally, in 2019, self-published. And so, yes, there were people that were coming to me and said, "Did this really happen?" And you're right. I do get the question a lot. What in this book, or how much of this book, is fact and how much is it fiction? I get that question a lot, yes.

Jennia: Do you always answer them completely honestly or do you ever—

Paul Vecchiet: Sure!

Jennia: —(laughs) you know, you just never know. Because some authors are like, "Well, what do you think?" and (laughs).

Paul Vecchiet: (laughs) No, I answer it. The only thing I don't do is I don't say who the other characters are.

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: I won't reveal those names.

Jennia: I'd love to hear about what type of worldbuilding you did to support some of these larger revelations so that the reader didn't feel almost gobsmacked by them later. So they were willing to take it in and say, "Oh, yes, I can see that happening in real life, not just in Sci-Fi."

Paul Vecchiet: Okay. Well, first of all, I'm very detailed on the actual locations in the country. You know, and that's a good point. I keep the reader grounded by having a lot of detail about the environment—

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: —and making sure that the characters—there's a human, real element to those characters. They're not like robots, or zombies, or superheroes. They're not like that. [They're] people that other people can relate to. So if you really inspect the book, you'll find that there really is a fraction of what you would call paranormal or science fiction activity—or writing in there. For example, I describe Edwards Air Force Base.

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: When the characters go there and they try and escape, that's a real place. I described them accidentally finding the rocket sled that was used in the 50s for testing. The remnants of the rocket sled are still there. You can go on Google and search and you'll be able to find it. So I bring in a lot of historic context. These are real locations. I use real names for cities and towns, even their streets. And I think that's what really reinforces, I guess, the nature that all of this could actually happen.

Jennia: Mhm. Yeah, I can see that, too, especially because it makes it easier for the reader to envision this taking place. Because even if they've never been to this location on their own, they probably at least have a rough idea of what this base must look like based on their other ideas of what a normal base would look like and so on.

Paul Vecchiet: Yeah, there's one chapter in there where the characters are—they're on the road trip. And one of the characters, Mary Ellen Velarde, she's a Jicarilla Apache woman. So she has her philosophy, her social mores, and she wants to go visit—because it's on the way—a Japanese internment camp. And it's called Amache. And everything in there is factual. People could actually go there. Because I kind of learned from Dan Brown.

Jennia: Ahh.

Paul Vecchiet: When Dan Brown writes his books, you can imagine what he's writing about. He describes the environment so well. The interiors and the buildings. And I tried to capture that. In addition, I also captured the military style that Tom Clancy used. When I talk about, for example, escaping Edwards Air Force Base, or having a flight of Air Patrol F15s chase away UFOs. There's a lot of detailed military discussion in there. So those two, I think I learned a lot about to strengthen my style.

Jennia: Yeah, and I do think that's a great point, too, because we can usually pinpoint what we like about someone else's writing style and then we can go back and analyze it and think, why did this work for me? So that we can take the basics of that, or at least the very basics of it, and then apply it to our own story so that we can sort of copy that method a little bit but still make it our own.

Paul Vecchiet: I think the fact that I'm an architect helps a lot—

Jennia: (laughs) Yes, probably.

Paul Vecchiet: —because I'm detail oriented. I describe—and with the help of engineers that I work with, I was able to describe how this underground facility was destroyed.

Jennia: Mmm.

Paul Vecchiet: Looking at all the systems—logical system, the mechanical system, the structure. Believe it or not, I actually designed that facility before I wrote about it to make sure that it worked.

Jennia: I think that in addition to details, you're looking for accuracy also because it's so easy—We see this happen all the time with people that watch, like, Sci-Fi movies or something, you know, "That wouldn't really happen in space!" And even though they've been suspending their disbelief up until now, as soon as you use some sort of material combusting that wouldn't combust, it's over. So, yeah, I think that is also an excellent idea.

Paul Vecchiet: Yeah.

Jennia: Did you ever use character reactions as a stand in for how you thought readers might react to some of this information or the events as they were occurring, or how they might respond if they had been put in a similar position?

Paul Vecchiet: Yeah, there are a number of instances where there are things that happen. For instance, when the characters get to the site and there's a rumble and it's like an earthquake, but it's actually the destruction of the facility and they see that the stair towers cave in. So, yeah, there is an expression there. You bring [up] a good point. I enforce or strengthen their characters to convey their characters through their reactions on specific things. For example, a couple of characters, how do they react when someone hands them a gun?

Jennia: Mmm, yeah, I can see that having very different reactions depending on the person.

Paul Vecchiet: Everyone has a different reaction for that. When a person sees a veteran who is asking for financial help, is that person going to pass him up? Is that person going to look and pass him up? Is that person going to look at him and give him money? Is that person going to look at him, give him money, and talk to him? Whatever that person does describes his character.

Jennia: Mhm.

Paul Vecchiet: And so little things like that is how I convey the character to the reader. I don't have to tell them what they look like or what they like. It's what they do and how they approach people. And it doesn't have to be based on a seismic event. It could just be something very simple that can convey how they feel about people.

Jennia: Yes, I love that. And I love seeing that in books, too, because it's sort of like I have this conversation sometimes with authors where we want to tell the reader whatever this character is like, but it's the same way as telling someone what a person is like in real life. If someone has to go out of their way to convince you that they're a nice, generous person, how likely are you to believe that? You start to wonder and question first, what's your motivation for trying to convince me that this is true? Rather than just allowing your actions to demonstrate that for me? And I love that you've brought that out in characters, because it's the same thing with them. Anytime we introduce that telling element, it starts to make us question how true that actually is. Because, again, if that really is your nature, you won't need to tell me that that's your nature. I will see that that is your nature.

Paul Vecchiet: Yeah, right. There's a chapter where the two women are talking in [the] bedroom. And one of the women, she saw a picture of the other woman when she was younger with her father, and it was the only picture that she saw in that room where she wasn't smiling. And so she focused on it and she starts to get a vision, and things happen to the woman. And she picks up the picture, and during their conversation, they're exchanging possession of the picture based on how emotional they are about what they're saying. So I use little things like that, again, to kind of convey the feelings. And I think the reader will get a lot from just that chapter.

Jennia: Oh, yeah, I completely agree. Well, before we end, do you have any upcoming events or projects that you're able to share with us?

Paul Vecchiet: This is the first book of a series. A sequel, which was actually the third book that I wrote, is the one that got the attention of my editor and publisher. That's how I got them wanting all three books that we'll be starting to rework soon so that it comes out in September, October. It's about the Shroud of Turin. It is a conspiracy and starts out with a murder in the Vatican. And the protagonist is motivated for revenge against the church for being abused as a child by the priests.

Jennia: Wow.

Paul Vecchiet: So it's a sequel because all the characters that are in the first book are in it—

Jennia: Oh okay!

Paul Vecchiet: —and it involves the murder of a friend of one of the characters. And it does tie in extraterrestrials again.

Jennia: Ohh, interesting! Well, that's exciting news for you and thank you for sharing that, and thank you for being here!

Paul Vecchiet: Thank you!

Jennia: And thank you for listening, and be sure to check out this show notes for additional information, including all of Paul's links. And then please join me next week when Nancy Reddy will be here to talk about The Good Mother Myth. Thanks again!