About
Meet the scientist-engineer crafting cinematic science fiction about survival, family, and the search for belonging.
Joseph Rhea is a scientist, engineer, and science fiction author whose work blends technical realism with character-driven storytelling. Though encouraged early on to pursue writing, he chose a career in engineering and ocean science, motivated by a desire to understand the physical world and contribute to emerging technologies. That background now informs his fiction, giving his worlds structural authenticity and technological plausibility. Yet despite his science and engineering background, Joseph’s stories focus on people rather than machines. His novels and screenplays explore themes such as the bond between parent and child, the formation of found families, and the search for meaning in uncertain environments.
His debut novel, Cyberdrome, is a near-future techno-thriller in which rogue programmer Alek Grey enters an immersive virtual world to rescue both his father and the woman he loves. At its core, the story examines loyalty, loss, and sacrifice. He later created The Novum Chronicles, a five-book undersea science fiction series set on a hostile ocean planet where humanity has retreated after Earth becomes uninhabitable. The story follows young cargo-sub captain Jacob Stone as he assembles an untested crew to face a growing threat to what remains of human civilization. As tensions rise, the series explores how trust and connection form under pressure.
Joseph also adapted the first Novum installment into a feature screenplay that reached the Second Round (Top 20%) at the Austin Film Festival. He went on to develop an original screenplay that became the basis for his latest series, Novum Origins: Rogue Wave, expanding the Novum universe and its backstory.
Across his work, Joseph is interested in how people respond when technology pushes them to their limits, and how relationships shape the choices they make. His creative thesis remains consistent across mediums: When advanced technology meets human limitation, survival becomes personal. Not because humanity deserves to endure, but because someone we love does.
David Rhea was not only my brother, he was a lifelong creative collaborator and artist whose imagination helped shape many of the worlds you will find on thi site.
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