LEMON BOOK DEBUTS!
Posted on January 29, 2022
This Lemon Saves the World Interview
Interviewer: Let’s just get right to it. You wrote yourself a little book about a lemon?
Brian: I did.
Interviewer: And you expect everyone to take it seriously?
Brian: No, not really. That’s the point. It’s all a bit absurd, but I just loved the idea of trying to write a story with such an unusual lead.
Interviewer: So what type of story are we talking here? A romance gone sour? A takedown of the labor practices of the citrus industry?
Brian: Nope, a love letter to technothrillers.
Interviewer: Come again?
Brian: I love Michael Crichton’s books, all of them, really. I’m also a fan of James Rollins, especially his early work like Subterranean and Amazonia. And Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child wrote some lovely stuff: Relic and Mount Dragon being among my favorites.
Interviewer: Any other inspiration for This Lemon Saves the World?
Brian: Well, the TV series Lost. The strange island theme is really explored in the book. And our tale has so much more to offer than smoke monsters and mysterious hatches.
Interviewer: Such as?
Brian: Well, blade squids, subterranean societies stuck in the past, a gelatinous blob that live in a hot tub, and wayward volcanoes you just have to read to believe.
Interviewer: So a whole bunch of mad science?
Brian: Lots of insane pseudoscience. I almost convinced myself that the lemon’s scientific origins were plausible.
Interviewer: But not quite?
Brian: No, it’s still pretty out there stuff.
Interviewer: And you took some of your experiences from one of your first jobs and tossed that into the mix?
Brian: I worked in high school thru college at a grocery store, a produce clerk to be exact. I loved the job. Justin is a produce clerk and gets tangled up in the lemon’s fate. He’s our ordinary Joe in the book and grounds the whole thing.
Interviewer: And Agent Rollins?
Brian: He’s an agent who investigates the weird.
Interviewer: And he’s a ginger. That’s a little different.
Brian: I just thought having him be a redheaded secret agent might be a fun trait.
Interviewer: And you have a brilliant scientist also caught up in the adventure?
Brian: Yes, Doctor Honeycomb is a favorite of mine. The story is told from four POVs, and I love how each of them is intellectual in their own special way.
Interviewer: And you have some twisted villains? A whole evil organization?
Brian: Yes, they’re incredibly sinister and wickedly smooth. They’re also quite over the top. Think Hydra or A.I.M. on steroids.
Interviewer: So I would imagine the message gets a little lost with all the crazy you’ve thrown in. Does the story even have a thoughtful message?
Brian: It explores the human condition from a sentient lemon’s view. He’s an outsider to our frailties and complexities and is trying to find his freedom and understand just what drives humanity. And it’s about the family you forge in life. That’s always a big theme in all my stories. You will believe a story about a boy and his lemon.
Interviewer: If you say so. Sounds a little off to me, but hopefully it’ll garner you some new fans. Any truth that you’ve cooked up a sequel?
Brian: Yes, but I don’t want to say too much about that one just yet. Let’s just see how the world reacts to having a lemon be their savior before I bust out the evil lime who commits crime across time.
Interviewer: And on that note, we’re done. Be sure to check out our sponsor: Little Frank’s Produce Stand. Off mile marker 43, let Little Frank take care of all your citrus needs . . . or else he might have to come have a talk with you.
This Lemon Saves the World Print Edition on Amazon
