Q & A – Green Expectations by Thomas W Devine
I’ve provided earlier blog posts featuring my soon to be released 6th novel, including excerpts. Now, here’s a Q & A about it:
Q1. You’ve written two novels about women being abducted, one set in France (Reversal Point) and one in New Zealand (Relinquished) and one about hostages being held in the West Indies (Tortolona). Did you intend to break new ground with "Green Expectations"?
A. The book certainly has no kidnappings or abductions or hostage-taking but it does develop a theme started in "Island of Regrets" and, to a greater extent, in "Relinquished" which both touched on conservation issues. "Green Expectations", as the title suggests, has a central environmental plot.
Q2. Why did you write this book?
A. I was following the literary maxim that an author should write, as uniquely as possible, about what he or she is familiar with. At the time of writing my first draft of "Green Expectations" I was working in the Department of Conservation and, among other duties, dealt with the Ministry of Forestry over management plans under the Forests Act and followed developments in the forestry industry.
Years earlier, I was a branch committee member of a large non-government conservation organization and, over years of public service, had a lot to do with national conservation and environmental organizations.
All this experience came together in writing "Green Expectations". I wanted to dramatise a footnote in the history of environmental management in New Zealand in an entertaining way. All characters are a total fiction, of course.
Q3. Who did you write this book for?
A. A pre-release reader thinks the book will appeal to 'environmentalists and the mystery-thriller aficionado'. I am, however, rather inclined to agree with my editor that, 'with action, romance and a plot that touches on deeper issues', "Green Expectations" has something for everyone. So, does that answer the question?.
At the start, maybe I just wanted it to be non-genre. My manuscript assessor did, however, have a big influence in shaping the final version.
Q4. The roles of protagonist and antagonist seem at first glance to get a bit blurred in this book. Was that intentional?
A. I want each reader to take a side at the start (conservation or development) and, in the course of the story, discover whether logging or protection becomes the fate of Mathews Bush, a fictionalised tract of indigenous forest. So, which character becomes the protagonist or antagonist depends on the point of view of the reader.
The lead characters, John Baron and Michael Simmiss, have competing objectives and do their best to frustrate each other. John Baron’s developmental objective is abetted by a more villainous character, Ed Somerville, and Mike Simmiss’s conservation aspirations by an environmental radical, Vanessa Denton. The Mathews family, as farmers, are caught in the middle.
Q5. Which side of the fence do you sit as narrator – development or conservation?
A. My passion for nature is revealed in my dedication of the book "to all those who love the New Zealand bush". But I did try to be even-handed to some extent.
There has to be a place for both development and conservation but I believe it’s time to redress the imbalance and favour nature. Human survival may depend on it.
___________
Q1. You’ve written two novels about women being abducted, one set in France (Reversal Point) and one in New Zealand (Relinquished) and one about hostages being held in the West Indies (Tortolona). Did you intend to break new ground with "Green Expectations"?
A. The book certainly has no kidnappings or abductions or hostage-taking but it does develop a theme started in "Island of Regrets" and, to a greater extent, in "Relinquished" which both touched on conservation issues. "Green Expectations", as the title suggests, has a central environmental plot.
Q2. Why did you write this book?
A. I was following the literary maxim that an author should write, as uniquely as possible, about what he or she is familiar with. At the time of writing my first draft of "Green Expectations" I was working in the Department of Conservation and, among other duties, dealt with the Ministry of Forestry over management plans under the Forests Act and followed developments in the forestry industry.
Years earlier, I was a branch committee member of a large non-government conservation organization and, over years of public service, had a lot to do with national conservation and environmental organizations.
All this experience came together in writing "Green Expectations". I wanted to dramatise a footnote in the history of environmental management in New Zealand in an entertaining way. All characters are a total fiction, of course.
Q3. Who did you write this book for?
A. A pre-release reader thinks the book will appeal to 'environmentalists and the mystery-thriller aficionado'. I am, however, rather inclined to agree with my editor that, 'with action, romance and a plot that touches on deeper issues', "Green Expectations" has something for everyone. So, does that answer the question?.
At the start, maybe I just wanted it to be non-genre. My manuscript assessor did, however, have a big influence in shaping the final version.
Q4. The roles of protagonist and antagonist seem at first glance to get a bit blurred in this book. Was that intentional?
A. I want each reader to take a side at the start (conservation or development) and, in the course of the story, discover whether logging or protection becomes the fate of Mathews Bush, a fictionalised tract of indigenous forest. So, which character becomes the protagonist or antagonist depends on the point of view of the reader.
The lead characters, John Baron and Michael Simmiss, have competing objectives and do their best to frustrate each other. John Baron’s developmental objective is abetted by a more villainous character, Ed Somerville, and Mike Simmiss’s conservation aspirations by an environmental radical, Vanessa Denton. The Mathews family, as farmers, are caught in the middle.
Q5. Which side of the fence do you sit as narrator – development or conservation?
A. My passion for nature is revealed in my dedication of the book "to all those who love the New Zealand bush". But I did try to be even-handed to some extent.
There has to be a place for both development and conservation but I believe it’s time to redress the imbalance and favour nature. Human survival may depend on it.
___________
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