AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Interview with Author,

Frederick Hornberger

“Artificial Love – The Perfect Relationship”

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

A Conversation with Frederick Hornberger

Selah:
Welcome to Author Spotlight, where we talk with writers whose stories grow out of real lives and real questions. Today I’m joined by Frederick Hornberger, author of Artificial Love – The Perfect Relationship™. Frederick, thank you for being here.

Frederick:
Thank you, Selah. I appreciate the invitation.

EARLY FORMATION

Selah:
Before we talk about the book, I want to understand you. Were you always drawn to storytelling?

Frederick:
I loved writing when I was younger, but I didn’t imagine it as my future. I was drawn to something else very early on — electricity.
My grandfather was an electrical engineer, and he had what I can only describe as a Willy Wonka–style workshop. It was filled with wires, coils, glowing tubes, motors — things humming, sparking, coming alive. To a kid, it felt like magic.

That workshop shaped me. It gave me a fascination with power — not just electricity itself, but what it enables. Creation. Transformation. Motion.

That fascination stayed with me my whole life.

TECHNOLOGY AND FAITH

Selah:
So technology came first?

Frederick:
In many ways, yes. I studied electrical engineering in college because it felt like the natural extension of that early wonder.

But right out of college, during a job interview of all places, I had a faith encounter that completely altered my trajectory. I didn’t stop loving technology — I just stopped believing it was ultimate.
For decades, I worked in consulting and executive recruiting. Writing stayed dormant. I assumed it was something I might do one day, much later.

I was wrong.

THE MOMENT OF AWAKENING

Selah:
What changed?

Frederick:
One morning, my wife and I were praying together. There was no agenda. Just quiet.

And in that stillness, a phrase arrived with incredible clarity:
Only one wish.

Not a plot. Not characters. Just that idea. What if someone were given a single wish — and had to live with it?

That question wouldn’t leave me. I started writing immediately.

DISCOVERING WHAT PEOPLE REALLY WANT

Selah:

At that point, did you know the story would become what it is now?

Frederick:
Not at all.

At first, I thought I was writing a simple faith-based story. But as I explored the idea of a wish, I began asking a deeper question: What do people actually wish for most?

I researched it. I listened. I reflected on my own life.

And across cultures, generations, and circumstances, the answer was remarkably consistent.

Love.

Not money. Not fame. Not power.

Love — and the fear of losing it.

That realization changed everything.

HOW AI ENTERED THE STORY

Selah:
So how did artificial intelligence become part of that exploration?

Frederick:
It felt inevitable.

My lifelong fascination with technology was already there — from my grandfather’s workshop to my own engineering background. But what really sharpened it was watching the acceleration of AI in real time.

At the same time, my son was studying artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon. We had long conversations — not theoretical ones, but personal ones — about identity, purpose, and relationships in an age of machines.

AI wasn’t just advancing. It was beginning to relate.

Virtual chatbots. Avatars. Companion apps. Early robotics. Emotional simulation.

I realized something unsettling: the same technology I had always loved was now beginning to offer what people wanted most — emotional connection.

That’s when the story truly became Artificial Love.

The story follows characters we all recognize, each searching for what they believe is the perfect relationship—and revealing, through their choices, whether love is something we discover or something that forms us over time.

NOT SCIENCE FICTION — SOCIAL REALITY

Selah:
Some might say this sounds like science fiction. Is that fair?

Frederick:
I don’t think so anymore.

We’re already seeing AI relationships normalize — people forming bonds with chatbots, virtual partners, digital companions designed to affirm, respond, and adapt.

This isn’t about robots replacing humans. It’s about relationships that feel safe because they don’t require vulnerability.

That’s the real tension.

THE OVERARCHING QUESTION

Selah:
So what is the core question the story is really asking?

Frederick:
At its heart, the series asks:

What kind of relationship is forming you?

That’s the organizing truth of the entire Edenverse.

Love answers what moves us.

Relationship determines what shapes us.

Life and love are essentially relational. But humanity is facing something new — a growing love of creation over Creator, of control over surrender.

Artificial Love represents our love of what we make.

Divine Love represents our response to who made us.

That tension has always existed — but technology makes it visible in a new way.

INFLUENCE OF C.S. LEWIS

Selah:
That sounds almost allegorical.

Frederick:
Very much so.

C.S. Lewis was a major influence — not because he told people what to believe, but because he showed what belief does.

I wanted this story to function the same way. Not argument. Not sermon. Experience.

Different loves. Different relationships. Different outcomes.

The audience is left to judge.

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

Selah:
One thing that stands out is that not all relationships survive in your story.

Frederick:
That was intentional.

We examine over two dozen relationships across the series. Some endure. Some evolve. Some fail.

Not because they were meaningless — but because they couldn’t carry what was eventually asked of them.

That’s real life.

WHY CHRISTMAS?

Selah:
Why does Christmas keep returning as a backdrop?

Frederick:
Because Christmas is already about relationship.

It’s God entering humanity — but culturally, it’s embraced even by those who don’t share the faith.

It allowed the story to speak emotionally without explanation.
The Christmas Tree scene near the end of the series isn’t about doctrine. It’s about convergence. Different relationships standing together without needing to agree.

That felt honest.

WHY THIS STORY MATTERS

Selah:
Why do you believe this story matters now?

Frederick:

We live in a time where being connected is easy — but truly belonging is rare.

We can get constant attention. Instant affirmation. Even something that feels like empathy.
But when life gets hard — when it asks for patience, honesty, or sacrifice — simulated connection often can’t carry that weight.

Artificial Love doesn’t invent new human desires.

It reflects the ones we already have — especially our desire for relationships that feel safe instead of relationships that shape us.

This story isn’t anti-technology.

FINAL THOUGHT

Selah:

If readers take one thing with them, what do you hope it is?

Frederick:

That the perfect relationship isn’t something you find.

It’s something you build.

Choice by choice.
Cost by cost.
Over time.

And before we give our hearts to any kind of love — human, artificial, or spiritual — we should ask not just what it gives us, but who it’s shaping us to become.

Selah:
Frederick, thank you for your honesty and your heart.

Frederick:
Thank you, Selah. That means more than you know.

Selah:
And thank you to our audience. I’m Selah Stahrsen, and this has been Author Spotlight — where every story begins with a deeper question.