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One, a
medication for control of Glaucoma, has directly affected me.
It derives from the pilocarpus microphylus plant and it was
introduced into western medicine in the early 1900’s when a
Brazilian physician, noting that it induced sweating and
salivation, brought it to Paris. Further investigation of the
plant’s properties resulted in the commercially marketed
medication, Pilocarpine.
Q.
Your descriptions
of a vast span of emotions in Ground Cover are impressively
thorough, far beyond a cursory treatment. How did you gain
emotional insight of this depth?
A.
I’ve always been a student of
human nature. I studied psychology in school and have worked
with emotionally disturbed children. To flesh out the
emotional sides of the characters in Ground Cover, I
tapped into my professional training, my personal experiences
with emotional upheavals in past years and the results of my
armchair analyses of what makes evil people tick. I put a lot
of thought into figuring out what pushes people like serial
killers, child abusers, and terrorists who fly planes into
buildings to act in such extreme ways and applied my theories
to the characters. When something terrible happens, some of us
do soul-searching…could this be us in another
circumstance?
Q.
Cleo’s attraction
to Adam’s cousin, Gus, even after he in essence raped her, is
somewhat surprising. What draws her to him?
A.
Cleo is a complex mix of
unquenchable ambition and simmering rage. While she initially
rejects Gus’ romantic overtures and his taking advantage of
her when she’s in no position to defend herself, she,
nevertheless, cannot find it in herself to reject his offer to
advance her career.
As the
story progresses and Cleo is driven deeply into debt and
forced to deal with her family’s imminent implosion, she turns
to Gus, who, alone, appears to be able to offer some financial
protection. Subconsciously Cleo’s revengeful thoughts against
Adam underly her tropism to accept Gus. Many of us have found
ourselves confronted with similar choices when faced with
difficult decisions or a life-crisis. We may gravitate towards
those who can help us, even though we are aware on a
subliminal level that the outcome of the relationship may
prove to be disastrous.
Q.
All the
characters in Ground Cover made mistakes that were damaging to
themselves and the Hart family unit. Who do you feel played
the most pivotal role in the family’s implosion?
A.
I don’t believe it’s possible to
lay the blame on one character. I remember a very wise
psychologist who once said to me, “When someone jumps out of a
window, look behind the person to see who pushed.” Adam,
of course, turns on the ignition by whisking Gina away to the
Amazon for a cure. But perhaps it was Cleo’s misreading of
Adam’s lack of involvement in the family that led her to
absent him from the course of treatment for Gina’s Heroin
addiction. Each character in the story reacts to specific
incidents in his or her own inimitable way. In any given
situation we usually find that people respond not as we would
wish, but from their own conscious and subconscious drives.
No two people react the same to any given situation. Take the
attack on the World Trade Centers. Although horrified at what
they were seeing and the ramifications of that terrible event,
some people were able to come to grips with their emotions and
move forward with their lives relatively quickly. Others are
still suffering from depression and despair.
Q.
In addition to
enjoying an action-packed story, is there anything readers
will learn from Ground Cover?
A.
By reading Ground Cover,
readers will have an opportunity to witness the damaging
effects generated by the inability to forgive, and may learn
from this experience and have a greater tendency to purge ill
feelings they may harbor. Readers will also gain insights into
how the domino effect of relentlessly seeking revenge plunges
those involved into a no-win situation.
I also
believe readers will be inspired by the characters’ attempts
to deal with their conflicts and moved by their final
cathartic resolutions. Dramatization of the depth of human
emotion leading at times into disastrous consequences has a
long history beginning with the ancient Greek writers who
recounted some of the most tragic tales in history.
Q.
Why the title
Ground Cover?
A.
I was pondering the title for
the book one day while walking an area thickly planted with a
ground cover plant. I thought about the teeming activity
beneath that cover — all those life forms competing with each
other, of the worms and ants tunneling through the soil bent
on their life’s work and in turn aerating the soil allowing it
to breathe, creating a substructure — and it came to me that I
had written a book that, too, reflects the life experiences of
my characters, that beneath the ground cover of their daily
lives, a substratum exists governing their actions and
ultimately, their lives.
Q.
Is this your
first book?
A.
No, although Ground Cover
is my first published work of fiction. I have published a
number of business-related books in the past and my most
recent book, Coping With Glaucoma, is still available.
My non-fiction books have grown out of personal experience.
My book on Glaucoma emerged from my own battle with the
disease and the desire to learn more than the current
literature offered and to also seek out complementary methods
that might help me and others.
Q.
How did you come
up with the plot for Ground Cover?
A.
I’ve been fascinated with the
Greek legends especially those involving women. The story of
Electra and her need to avenge her father’s death is one that
simmered in my mind for some time. Electra has been the
subject of operas (Strauss,) ballets, rewritings (O’Neill,
Mourning Becomes Electra.) But, I wondered, what of
Clytemnestra, the wronged wife? She’s never taken into
consideration. This premise, along with witnessing the
devastating effects on a marriage when a dedicated husband
devotes himself to a cause and neglects his family, meshed
into the story of Ground Cover.
Q.
The peril of the
natural resources in the rain forest serves as a backdrop for
Ground Cover. Is the rain forest still in peril? Is anything
being done about it?
A.
The rain forest is most
definitely in peril. Just last year more than 8,000 square
miles of South American rain forest was destroyed by loggers.
That’s more than 15% of the world’s total rain forest density
that was lost in1999 according to the Associated Press (May,
15, 2001). The National Resources Council reports that 27,000
species are dying off each year globally and a quarter of the
world’s species is expected to go extinct by 2050. That’s not
a very good legacy to leave to our children.
Q.
Is there any
truth to the murderous nature of the fight between big
business and environmentalists for control of the rain forest
resources you describe in Ground Cover?
A.
Unfortunately, yes. In
Ground Cover I wrote about the murder of Chico Mendes, a
story that made the New York Times. A recent article in The
Times (10/12/01) reported the murder of yet another native
environmentalist. The loss of old growth forest threatens the
livelihood of the rubber tappers and other natives of the land
who harvest the forests. These small scale operators stand in
the way of big business enterprises that in many cases answer
only to profits. While it is not easy to find evidence
linking such killings to big business, there is documentation
citing harassment and questionable practices that lead to the
deaths of natives. What is being done about it? Organizations
such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Green Peace,
Sierra Club, World Wildlife, Rainforest International, etc.
are doing their part, but the fight is endless and big
business keeps humming along. Now with the business in
Afghanistan and the claim that we need to reduce our
dependence on oil from the Middle East, there are again
rumblings to drill in Alaska. |
