I have great pleasure of again playing host to author Mark Lynch as he introduces his book American Nemesis.
You can catch up on all my guest featured authors on my website here.
What is this book about?
American Nemesis is a dystopian novel set in the near future, and the story imagines a world where the American States are no longer united.
In 2020 the election of a divisive left-wing President has proved the final straw for an already deeply divided America, and so the conservative and Christian ‘Red’ states of the South and the Rockies opt to secede from the Union to form a new nation, the Confederated Christian States of America. The remnant United States consist only of the ‘Blue’ liberal states of the North East and West Coast, and this reduced nation lacks the will and the power to force the rebels back into the Union.
The story begins in the summer of 2030. America has been divided for a decade now and the border between the CCSA and the USA has become heavily militarised. America is no longer capable of playing the role of global policeman, and so many regional conflicts are escalating to frightening new levels. However, the most significant crisis develops on the North American continent, as a tragic border incident brings the two Americas to the very brink.
The bulk of the novel is set in Fort Scenic, a small border town close to the militarised boundary between Nevada and Arizona. Our protagonist is the 30 year-old Joshua Hamilton. Josh is an outcast in his own country, as his left-wing views put him at odds with the ultra-conservative population of the Arizona strip. However, Josh has a plan. He intends to save up enough money from his illegal enterprises in order to escape from the CCSA, and to start a new life for himself in the remnant USA. This is the plan, but Joshua will have to act fast, because, for every day he waits, the divided nation creeps ever closer to civil war.
American Nemesis is a dark, fast paced, and action packed novel which also asks important questions about the deep divisions and social problems within contemporary American society.
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always been interested in American society, history, and politics, and so I wanted to develop these interests into a novel. Having studied many periods of American history, I feel that the US is as divided now as it has been since the Civil War. We see this manifested in many ways in the news coming out of the States. You have the divisive issue of gun control, the controversy of ‘Obamacare’, the conflict of state regulation versus personal freedom, state rights versus federal control, Christian fundamentalist opposition to gay marriage, abortion, stem cell research etc., the issue of immigration…The list could go on, but you get the picture…
One of my major inspirations for the concept of a divided America was the famous ‘Jesusland’ meme which appeared on the internet just after the 2004 Bush-Kerry Presidential election. This visual gag presented a map of North America, with the Red (i.e. Republican) states set as a part of a separate country named Jesusland (i.e. a reference to the right-wing Christian values of the Bible Belt) and the remainder of the Blue (i.e. Democrat) states having merged with Canada, presumably due to their similar political beliefs and ideology. In Nemesis I have pushed this idea of two Americas to its logical conclusion, i.e. two opposing countries glaring at one another across a militarised frontier.
There were other influences too of course. For example, the main protagonist, Joshua Hamilton, is a former college student who has turned to dealing drugs in order to make a living. This is obviously a nod to the brilliant Breaking Bad TV series.
Who are the primary readers of your book?
I would hope that the novel can find an audience in America. Obviously, I’m an outsider (i.e. an Irish writer) looking in at the problem and writing about it from my own perspective. That said, I’ve done my research and I believe the novel presents an accurate portrayal of American society and politics. It has been commented by some American readers that the concept is chilling similar to the existing political situation in the States.
I wouldn’t necessarily class Nemesis as being a science fiction novel. The story is set only 15 years in the future, and therefore I haven’t included many SciFi aspects within the book. I would describe Nemesis as a speculative fiction novel, bordering on dystopian.
I think the book can appeal to all readers with an interest in American fiction. It’s a character driven novel, but the story itself is pretty dark, and so it may not be to everyone’s tastes.
How long did it take to write it?
I began writing the novel in January of 2014 and had finished the first draft by the end of August in the same year. Based on experience, it takes me roughly 8 – 9 months to complete a novel of around 100,000 words. Nemesis was submitted to and accepted by David J Publishing, and was published through Amazon in February 2015, for both kindle download and paperback order.
How did you come up with the title?
There have been so many variations on the classic American genre over the years, such as American Graffiti, American Beauty, and American Psycho etc. Obviously, I’ve decided to shamelessly piggy-back on this trend!
Nemesis is the interesting word within the title. The word is defined in the dictionary as either ‘an unconquerable enemy or opponent’ or ‘an act or agent of retribution’. The irony is that, in the context of this novel, the nemesis America faces is itself, and the divisions between the states have effectively destroyed the world’s last superpower.
In an interesting footnote to my decision regarding the title, I was advised by a well-known SciFi author that, although he personally liked it, American Nemesis was a title which would ensure no American publisher would look at the novel. Maybe this is true, but I still hope Nemesis will capture the reader’s attention.
Why did you choose this cover?
The cover was designed by my publisher, David J Publishing. I received about five or six different options, all of which were very good. A couple of designs featured scenes of Capitol Hill in Washington, but I felt these didn’t quite capture the concept of the novel, as the story is largely set in the western states of Arizona and Nevada. I particularly liked the chosen cover design as it features a desert skyline with the foreboding presence of an Apache helicopter gunship in the foreground. I feel this image best encapsulates the concept of the story.
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Like all of the novels I’ve written to date, Nemesis does deal with some pretty controversial subject matters. I don’t want to give too much anyway regarding the plot, but there are two chapters that are particularly dark and violent. These scenes were hard to write, particularly because both of the featured scenarios are eerily similar to events which have occurred in the real world in recent years. That said, I personally believe that good work should be controversial and hard-hitting in order to challenge people’s perceptions. Hopefully the readers will agree with my assessment!
Did you do research for your book?
There was quite a lot of research required for this novel. The setting for most of the action is the Arizona strip, up in the extreme north west of this state. This is an area I have never visited, and so I needed to research the locality. That said, the town of Fort Scenic is entirely fictional, and I wanted to give the town a feel of ‘Anywhere USA’, atypical of the 21st century suburban sprawl.
Other than the location, I did research into US Army weaponry and equipment, as several of my characters are either military, police, or civilian ‘gun nuts’. Also, because Josh Hamilton is a small time weed dealer, I had to investigate methods of cannabis cultivation, which is not an area of expertise for me!
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Nemesis is my third novel published and so I would like to think I have honed my skills since I first began writing. That said, I think a writer should always be learning new skills and techniques, and this was certainly the case for me when I was working on this book. I think that, as a writer, you risk going stale if you’re not constantly learning and expanding your base of knowledge.
What do you want to say to your readers?
I hope that my readers will enjoy this novel. The setting is very different from my previous works, but the writing style is similar, and I cover many of the same themes, such as the destructive effects of extremism upon society. The central message of this novel is a warning, as I personally believe that America is better together than divided along ideological lines.
Note from Mark Lynch
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Mark
