After attending UAlbany and NYU, Marc Sheinbaum worked as an executive for more than 35 years – mostly within large corporations, including American Express, GE Capital and JP Morgan Chase. His first novel, Memories Live Here, a tech-thriller about artificial intelligence and family secrets, provocatively asks: “What if you could talk to people from the past? Lincoln. Churchill. Gandhi. Your dead mother.” Sheinbaum answered a few of our artificially intelligent questions.

Q: I think you mentioned writing for the Albany Student Press (ASP). What did that experience do for you, if anything, as a writer?

A: Writing news stories was a great way to exercise my literary muscles. As a journalist, you learn how to grab and hold the reader’s attention while telling a compelling story. The same skill you need when communicating ideas in business; and the same skill you need when writing a novel.

Q: You studied business administration here and had a long career in finance. One of your central characters is an investment banker. Coincidence?

A: Well, I wasn’t an investment banker, but I saw many people like this character throughout my business career. The character (Louie Brodsky) is operating in a high-powered world, where it’s easy to get caught up in “appearances and trappings,” and to lose sight of the things that are truly important in life. I know there were plenty of times I felt that was happening to me.

Q: Taking a cue from your book: What historical figure from the past would you want to, virtually, bring back to life with A.I. and why?

A: This might need a “spoiler alert” for anyone planning to read the novel I’m currently working on, but Teddy Roosevelt is such a compelling character from our nation’s history. He seemed to live multiple lives. From New York City Police Commissioner and NY Governor to U.S. President; Rough Rider and fighter; cowboy and rancher; conservationist; and let’s not forget prolific writer. I think with his broad exposure to all parts of American life, Roosevelt could help heal some of the “urban” vs “rural” divide we’re experiencing today.