An Interview with Vincent Lowry, author of a cli-fi novel titled "Lucy's Letter"
LINK with book cover and details:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/598249
Dan Bloom at Cli-Fi.Net: Why did you decide to call the title of yr novel Lucy's letter?
Vince Lowry: The title of my book comes from the letter Lucy, my main character, writes in an effort to raise the awareness of the consequences of climate change.
2. Who is Lucy and who is the letter addressed to?
Vince Lowry: Lucy lives several generations in the future, and she is writing to the people of the past--the people who exist on our world right now. Lucy's life is drastically impacted by the choices made well before her birth. The letter serves as a warning, but also as an optimistic challenge to do the right thing by making climate change a first priority in our laws and policies.
3. What is the time frame of the novel? Past present or future and why?
Vince Lowry: The novel takes place in the future in order to give a realistic account of what would happen if temperatures on Earth continued to rise. I made tomorrow's world as accurate as I could given the facts available to me today.
4. What inspired or motivated you to personally want to write and publish this novel?
Vince Lowry: Right now [late July 2016] the forest and homes of Santa Clarita, CALIFORNIA, are burning just miles from house. I saw smoke billowing in the air as I approached my house about 15 minutes ago. I showed it to my young son, and he commented on the size of the smoke clouds. This fire is not the first one we've had near my house, and it's only a small example of what's happening in California and around the globe. It's real. It's not natural. And #LucysLetter will become more true every day as long as we ignore the problem and make zero to little effort in changing the way we live on this borrowed planet.
5. Would call this a cli fi novel? Why or why not?
Vince Lowry: I suppose we could call it cli fi, and nothing would make me happier than if my novel truly was a fictional book about climate change. I don't win by being right on this subject. Neither does my son, or future generations. I want Earth to remain how I remember it as a kid: beautiful and hospitable. But unfortunately
6. Have you heard of the cli fi term and if so how did you first hear about it? And what is your opinion of the term? Can it serve as a platform for novelists to tell climate themed stories? When you started yr book did you know the cli fi term already or did that come later?
Vince Lowry: I honestly have never heard of the term cli fi until you mentioned it to me in your first email, but it's a befitting genre name for books like mine. I do think it could serve as a platform for novelists that talk about climate change.
7. Who is yr target audience in terms of age group? Who do you most want to reach?
Vince Lowry: My target audience is both young adult and adult. I wrote it to reach as many people as possible, and that's because of the message of the book.
8. Any statement you want to make about writers and climate change?
Vince Lowry: Please help tell and share Lucy's story. It's not for my bottom line (royalties). I honestly could care less about the money because I've never written a book with the expectation that I'd get rich off of it. Lucy's letter is about our planet, our lives on it, and what we ultimately preserve or destroy for future generations. This subject is important. It has nothing to do with the agenda of any particular political party, or nation, or government body. #LucysLetter
Earth comes first. End of story.
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#LucysLetter - The Children of the Greenhouse Age
A dark family secret haunts a young Lucy Gold as she struggles to survive in a world ravaged by the effects of climate change. Her mother is a suspected murderer, her father has been absent since her birth, and her planet—after generations of careless greenhouse gas emissions—is a nightmare of droughts, fires, and violent storms. Lucy's goal is to unravel her past and discover her unique destiny. Less
Susan Gold is convicted of first degree murder for the killing of an abusive boyfriend, and during the first few months of her thirty-year sentence she gives birth to her only child—Lucy Gold. Susan’s life is cut short shortly after her labor, leaving Lucy completely in the dark about her biological parents as she’s raised by her grandma and uncle, who hide the family’s shameful past.
When Lucy reaches the age of twelve in the drought-ravaged town of Lake Sabrina, California, she devises a strategy to expose the family’s secret. Her plan fails, but Lucy’s grandma surprises her by coming to terms that Lucy is now old enough to know the long-concealed truth. The knowledge of her mother’s crime, and father’s abuses, both shocks Lucy’s conscience and shapes her identity, ultimately setting her on a path of utilizing her life for the good of society.
Filled with droughts, coastal floods, and violent storms, Lucy’s Letter – The Children of the Greenhouse Age follows Lucy, and the adolescents along her path, through a polluted world in disarray and turmoil, leading up the climatic letter that Lucy writes to be the final motivation for people to focus on what matters most—preserving the planet.
When Lucy reaches the age of twelve in the drought-ravaged town of Lake Sabrina, California, she devises a strategy to expose the family’s secret. Her plan fails, but Lucy’s grandma surprises her by coming to terms that Lucy is now old enough to know the long-concealed truth. The knowledge of her mother’s crime, and father’s abuses, both shocks Lucy’s conscience and shapes her identity, ultimately setting her on a path of utilizing her life for the good of society.
Filled with droughts, coastal floods, and violent storms, Lucy’s Letter – The Children of the Greenhouse Age follows Lucy, and the adolescents along her path, through a polluted world in disarray and turmoil, leading up the climatic letter that Lucy writes to be the final motivation for people to focus on what matters most—preserving the planet.
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