The project was part of the larger Behavior Modification program, which included experimentation on humans. After, it should be noted, some grisly trial and error.
Effectively, the CIA succeeded in creating six remote control dogs. The aim was to stimulate the reward centers-the dogs eventually learned to seek out the pleasurable feelings, and so could be asked to change direction and perform simple actions at the prompting of a handheld controller. In the late 1960’s, CIA scientists in Langley, Virginia implanted electrodes in dogs brains. I’m fascinated by the MK Ultra experiments that were performed by the CIA during the 1960’s and 70’s, and while looking for the subject of my next book, I came across one that produced a reflexive revulsion in me. Rob’s parents were scientists who carried out dubious experiments at Sundial during her childhood-and she realizes that this past might have implications for Callie’s future. Rob and Callie’s relationship is badly fractured-they mistrust one another, and each has a suspicion that the other means her harm. A traumatic event forces Rob to take her twelve year old daughter Callie on a bonding trip to her old childhood home in the California desert-Sundial. How much of me is me? How much is predetermined by genetics, how much dictated by environment? The novel asks questions about nature and nurture-those age-old questions that have haunted us throughout our species’ existence. In so many ways, family is the source of who you are. But they’re powerful, atavistic connections and powerful feelings come with them.
I think there can be a temptation to sentimentalize or sanitize these bonds – make them pretty.
In my latest book, ‘Sundial,’ I wanted to explore, in particular, the bonds between women in families-sisters, mothers. I return again and again, in my writing, to the same well-family, love and survival.
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