Leland Nichols has dedicated most of his life to science, but over the past four years the Fulton man has transformed into a writer, penning his first novel titled, "The Ruby."
His love for science is evident in parts of the book, specifically when the town witch brews a love potion and uses tools that can be found in his own laboratory, where he finds himself conducting experiments from time to time. Nichols was in the fifth grade when he purchased his first chemistry set. He recalled purchasing an X-ray tube from a Westminster College professor's wife when he was 10. It cost him $5 at the time, which he paid for with money he earned carrying newspapers for the Fulton Sun-Gazette.
Nichols went on to be a public health scientist for the Missouri Department of Health and a microbiologist conducting counter bio-terrorism research for the University of Missouri.
Nichols remained humble about his work in science and literature, but his wife, Rebecca Nichols, boasted for him.
"He's always been a scientist at heart and he wanted to include that in his book," she said.
Nichols' book has a science-fiction aspect to it, as the main character, Dorian, is a time traveler who finds himself stuck in Brandsville, Missouri. during the Great Depression. His mother - 91-year-old Fulton resident Oleta Nichols, whom the book is dedicated to - grew up in the small town located 10 miles north of the Arkansas border. Nichols said he has many memories of the place, including the beauty of the Ozark wilderness and the railroad running through the town.
A main component in the main character's time traveling device - a ruby - becomes defective and causes him to be stranded.
Dorian connects with a hillbilly family in the Ozarks, despite 2,000 years of difference, and falls in love with a daughter all while trying to find a replacement ruby - his ticket back home. Nichols said the Great Depression, Dorian's location and specific requirements for a ruby present challenges to re-activating the time traveling device.
While he searches for a new ruby, Dorian must compete against another time traveler who is trying to change history.
Throughout the book, Dorian must weigh his decision to leave his new love against running the risk of ending up in another unfamilar place. Nichols said it was important to him to include the love affair in order to cater to female readers who typically connect with those storylines.
Nichols' book originated as a screenplay. After feeling disappointed when leaving the movie theatre, Nichols decided he could do better than what he just saw. He went on to learn the format for screenplays, but once it was complete he discovered that screenplays are picked up by Hollywood names with connections.
That's when the screenplay turned into a book.
"It was like sitting in a movie theater and watching the show and writing down what you see," he wrote about the process. "This results in the reader experiencing an extremely visual story."
Nichols said he's always enjoyed time-travel stories, being somewhat of a history buff. That aspect was key to his storytelling. He went back to college at 50, studying biology and history at Lincoln University.
He said the ending came to him first and he would go between working backwards and writing from the beginning to complete the novel. Nichols said he kept paper and pen with him at all times. While driving to work in Columbia or even while going to bed at night, sentences, phrases and developments for the story popped into his mind.
When he would write something down, Nichols said he knew exactly where in the story he wanted it to go. He eventually reached a point in which what he had written was better than the newer phrasing. That's when he knew he was ready to publish the novel.
Nichols said his main hope for the novel is that readers will be entertained, and he's excited it's finally published after four years of the writing and editing process.
Now, Nichols is working on promoting "The Ruby." He said he's having fun filming his grandchildren in a promotional video, which he hopes to upload to YouTube. He will be at Beks Restaurant from 1-4 p.m. Nov. 8 for a book signing. "The Ruby" is available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as the Callaway County Historical Society.