Author Interview with Dave Edlund
Unintended Consequences
Interviewed By: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
November, 2011
Today we have the pleasure of speaking
with Dave Edlund, author of the suspense novel titled Unintended Consequences. Thank you for joining us and allowing for
this interview.
DE: Thank you, it’s a pleasure.
PBR: Your story has a powerful level of
credibility within the concept, actions and reactions of the characters. Please tell us a bit how the concept of
synthetic petroleum undermining the foundation of OPEC and other oil producing
nations became developed to become such a suspenseful story. Do you think events like this are a real
possibility?
DE: As I observe global events—politics,
economics—it seems that the unexpected is more often the norm. I owned my first car during the oil embargos
in the ‘70’s; energy prices soared. We
want to think we are helpless, but I don’t believe that’s true. Forty years ago, OPEC thought it could
dictate US policy by severely limiting the supply of oil. But what if we didn’t need to import oil
because the US was close to learning how to synthesize it? How would the OPEC countries, as well as
large oil companies, respond to the threat of losing billions in revenue? As a country, we strive for energy
independence. But maybe there are
unintended consequences of achieving that goal?
I think that premise is very real, and the technology is within our
grasp.
PBR: Your book carries the reader through Ecuador. Have you actually traveled or simply
researched the locations used in your book?
DE: I have been fortunate to travel a lot,
although I have never been to the jungles of Ecuador. I have been to Caracas; transited the Panama
Canal; French Polynesia, Hawaii, and the Caribbean Island many times; Europe
and Asia—in fact I was in London on September 11, 2001. But my most memorable trip was to the former
Soviet Union, just prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. And yes, I have been that guy at the
professional conference who is severely jet lagged, can hardly keep his eyes
open during the proceedings, and is startled to waken in the middle of the
night, not know where he is or what day it is.
PBR: You have formed a memorable character with Peter Savage. How did you come up with his character and
what attributes of his do you enjoy writing about the most?
DE: I love to read action-adventure novels, or
action thrillers. But I am disappointed
by characters—heroes—who are too perfect to be real. So, I set my mind to create a hero that is
very real. He has weaknesses; flaws that
make him vulnerable. He is not Dirk Pitt
or James Bond. Rather, I wanted Peter
Savage to be what I image a real person to be when faced with incredible
challenges. Peter Savage wants to believe
that life will unfold according to a standard script, but when tragedy strikes
he is forced to make difficult choices.
I like writing about this. I
think that at some level everyone has had to deal with personal loss or
tragedy. How we manage that says a lot
about our character. I also wanted Peter
Savage to carry a strong belief about what is right and what is wrong, and then
allow him to struggle with the shades of gray that are inevitably present in
complex circumstances.
PBR: Your personal knowledge in fuel reforming products is impressive. What changes do you see for the near future?
DE: Fuel reforming is a term used to describe the
process of converting carbon-containing materials—such as garbage, biomass,
manure, coal, and oil—into hydrogen-rich gaseous products. It is old technology, and as I mentioned in
the book, this technology serves as the basis for production of synthetic
petroleum. The South Africans use this
technology to this day, and Germany used it to prolong World War II. For better or worse, the impact that
reforming will have on society is rooted in economics—it is not a question
about technology. As long as petroleum
and gas from the ground are relatively cheap, fuel reforming and synthetic oil
production have limited commercial scope.
But it is finding use in niche applications such as backup power at
telecom sites.
PBR: Who are some of your favorite authors or what
books have influenced you the most in your writing career?
DE: That’s a tough question, because there are so
many. My list of favorite authors
changes with time. But those authors
that have influenced me? I’d have to say
Clive Cussler, Matthew Reilly, James Rollins, and Michael Crichton—maybe with a
dash of Tom Clancy. I truly like the
Dirk Pitt adventures; they are very entertaining—witty characters, intriguing
plots, and exciting locations. Probably
more than any other author, it is those novels that sparked my interest in
writing someday. And then there is
Matthew Reilly. Three of his novels—Ice Station, Scarecrow, and Contest—are,
in my opinion, some of the best examples of “can’t-put-it-down” nonstop action
that you’ll ever find. Rollins also
pulls together some exciting plots and interesting characters—I especially like
his Sigma Force team. But for a
demonstration of the subtle art of melding science fact into science fiction, I
think Crichton is at the top of the list.
And I’d say that Jurassic Park
is as good as it gets.
PBR: What other prior works have you published?
DE: I’ve published an engineering text on
reforming methanol to make hydrogen for fuel cell applications. The book deals with the current state of the
science and technology, and discusses the barriers to commercialization—which
are primarily rooted in economics. In
fact, mostly my writing has been technical—more than 85 patents and a dozen
technical papers. But writing technical
papers and books has become boring in the sense that your material is defined
for you. In contrast, when writing
fiction I define the content—the characters, the action, the plot and locations—I
enjoy that. It’s intellectual creation
at a different level.
PBR: We have learned Peter Savage will continue
his exploits in your next novel, The
Devil of Darfur. Please tell us what
you can about the sequel.
DE: The plot is based on the premise that genetic
material, recovered from Neanderthal remains, can be infused with human DNA to
cause cellular transformations. This
research is being conducted by a secretive character named Colonel Ming. He is a rather brilliant geneticist, actually,
although his goals are less than honorable.
Naturally, Peter helps the SGIT team, led by his good friend Commander
James Nicolaou, on a clandestine raid on Ming’s compound in western Sudan,
where it is believed human experimentation is being
conducted. How Peter happens to be in
that part of Africa is a major part of the novel and I don’t want to give too
much away! I’ve introduced two of
Peter’s friends—Todd Steed and Gary Stout—and they play significant parts
throughout the story. The action is fast
and furious; but, in keeping with my goal of making the characters “real” and
the plot plausible, there is also tragedy, and not everyone will make it home. There is a sample chapter posted on my web
site www.PeterSavageNovels.com.
PBR: We certainly wish you the best of success
with Unintended Consequences and with
your upcoming sequel. Again, thank you
for sharing some of your thoughts with us.
DE: Thank you.
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