Join IONS and the EarthRise Retreat Center for a book reading and signing of The Shroud with authors Steve and Michael Meloan!

5:30  Wine and Cheese Reception
6:00–7:00  Book Reading and Signing

The Shroud is a science-adventure novel that explores the intersection between science and spirituality—offering a compelling scientific backdrop, while exploring many of today's news-making scientific, spiritual, and ethical questions. The Shroud is also a journey of self-discovery.

The story takes place in the near future, where a genetic researcher from the NIH is asked by the Vatican to use the latest findings of the Human Genome Project to shed new light on the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. The ensuing investigative journey—from Washington D.C., to Israel, to Belize—has global repercussions, and forever transforms the lives of all involved.

About the Authors

Steven Meloan graduated from USC in Biology, and briefly worked in medical/cancer research. He has worked extensively in the software and web development world of the San Francisco Bay Area for companies such as Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems. His written work has appeared in Wired, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Buzz, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. He was also a scriptwriter for a Los Angeles-based "Webisodic" entertainment site (American Cybercast) that was featured in both Time and Newsweek.

Michael Meloan studied at the graduate level in Bio-Medical Engineering at USC, and was a Project Engineer at the Aerospace Corporation. His fiction has appeared in Wired, Buzz, LA Weekly and in a number of anthologies. He was an interview subject in the documentary Bukowski: Born Into This, and has collaborated with NPR monologue artist, Joe Frank, as well as having co-written a tech-thriller screenplay with actor Michael O'Keefe (Academy Award nominee for his work in The Great Santini, and recently seen in Michael Clayton).

Cost: Free

Please RSVP, or for more information call 707-775-3500