Q. Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, which is your most cherished memory?
It is difficult to choose one “most” cherished memory from my formative years. I guess what I cherish most about growing up in Melbourne was being able to enjoy the freedoms of living and playing in the outdoors, the beach, the sea, the bush. It was an age when children and young men were given their freedoms, modern day fears did not exist and I was left to enjoy myself, make mistakes, learn valuable lessons, and set my own boundaries. Perhaps discovery of life and independence best describes it.
Q. What is one lesser-known fact about your childhood?
I’m not sure there are many known facts! I remember the pride I felt, and my parents felt when, as a teenager, I saw a fellow diner in a restaurant choking while her dinner guests looked on helpless. I jumped up, bent her over my knee and thumped her, dislodging the obstruction. She seemed grateful to be able to breathe but affronted by a skinny young man putting her over his knee and thumping her.
Q. Do you remember the first book you ever read? What was it about?
I don’t. I’ve always been an avid reader of fiction. I remember a very large and old copy of Peter Pan that probably belonged to my mother or her mother and which is still in the family. I certainly would have read that as an early reader.
Q. What made you decide to leave Royal Australian Navy after fourteen years with the rank of Lieutenant Commander?
I had a wonderful career with great sea going jobs, international postings, and rapid advancement. The future didn’t look as exciting with fewer sea going jobs and a lot of shore time in the Naval bureaucracy. By the time of leaving, I had two children ages 3 and 1. The prospect of a nomadic service life, possible long separation from them and my wife and working in an environment I did not enjoy were the main contributors to my decision. The other is perhaps my desire and belief to explore the unknown and challenge myself, something that continues today. I wouldn’t have written Volcanic Winter without this desire to explore new things and test myself.
Q. How much did you research while building a successful international business based on innovative, energy efficient lighting?
Not sure I would call it research. More like a constant learning curve. Learning new technology, manufacturing methodology, opening and educating new markets at a time when energy efficiency was not foremost in business minds. As an Australian, living in a large land with small population separated by thousands of miles from most international markets, the research needed to enter these markets was significant. I learned that commerce, even in nations I considered similar to mine, is very different. I had to learn to adapt to these different markets and methods. I must have got something right with our products becoming the world leading technology of its kind, sold on all seven continents. That’s right, seven! We sold in Antarctica. Our biggest success market was China. I am proud that my company successfully sold “Australian Made” technology to the manufacturing powerhouse of China – and saved them some energy and Greenhouse Gas.
Q. What inspired the plot of your book, Volcanic Winter?
Being active in the world of energy efficiency exposed me to the growing danger of global warming even when the world seemed little concerned by it. I had a strong marketing message for our products. Save energy, save money, save the planet. Businesses heard the first two, didn’t much care about the planet. I despaired that the pace of change and lack of interest was such that climate change was inevitable.
The world needed a silver bullet.
Touring New Zealand in 2008 with the family we went to Lake Taupo a beautiful lake occupying the caldera of a volcano that erupted nearly 2000 years ago. I learned touring this site how the world had experienced a major cooling event after the volcano erupted. I had my silver bullet!
I allowed my mind to wander. In the twenty first century how could man make volcanoes erupt to produce one or many cooling events? So, the idea came for Volcanic Winter. I wrote the Prologue in 2008 which is unchanged in the novel, but I stopped. The plot was just too implausible, and I had a business to run.
Come 2016 things changed. I sold the business and could contemplate time to pursue my writing ambitions. The political landscape of the USA not only made the plot seem plausible, it was perhaps even likely!
Q. Writing and finishing a book can take an immense amount of discipline. How do you keep yourself motivated and keep the dreaded writer's block from attacking?
Writing Volcanic Winter was, in hindsight, not too hard. I had no idea how to write a novel so enrolled in an online first draft course with Writer’s Studio. Writing the first draft was then a matter of focussing on the course and doing the work. More like studying than writing and the idea of writer’s block didn’t exist. Writer’s Studio taught me that the best way to write is to write. Don’t think, just write. It works. I learned my own ability to do this. The physical activity of just writing dispels in seconds, any reluctance to do so and more importantly, the ideas that flow as I write are much more fluid than those that roll around inside my head, unwritten.
Having written a first draft, I had no idea how to write a second draft or more complete manuscript, so I enrolled in the Writer’s Studio second draft course, followed the course and the manuscript grew. I also had a self-imposed goal to complete the manuscript by January 31, 2020 in order to publish during the USA election cycle. I achieved this and published in September 2020.
The answer to your question is threefold. Seek expert help. Set long- and short-term goals. Most importantly, write.
Q. What is your writing dream? How close do you think you are to achieving it?
My writing dream was to write Volcanic Winter. Having done that and enjoyed it, my dream is to write more novels to capitalise on what I learned and produce better and better work.
I dream of my book(s) being widely read and enjoyed, not because of fame and fortune, just to know that people enjoy my work.
Q. In fiction writing, how do you keep your readers in suspense without frustrating them into giving up on your story?
I don’t think it is rocket science. Develop a protagonist who the reader wants to know more about and follow. Develop antagonists that they can dislike. Build suspense in scenes and leave the scene with a hook that make the reader turn the page. I have never enjoyed flowery prose and lengthy exposition, so I avoid that in my writing.
Q. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
Absolutely! You describe me.
Q. How do you keep in touch with your readers and fans?
My legion of fans is small, so it is not too hard! I am active on my website, markrutherfordwrites.com, maintain a social media profile and I like to write small pieces to share and keep readers engaged in what I am doing.
Q. Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Is that a time invariant statement?
I chose it as an epigraph for that reason. It accurately portrays the setting and times for Volcanic Winter.
Q. How can we reasonably stop climate change as of today?
In Volcanic Winter I cover in a fictional sense what can be done, other than reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I think climate change is inevitable and we are too late to stop it this century – that too is in the book. Carbon neutral as soon as humanly possible is imperative, not just because reducing greenhouse gas will stop climate change but because the human race cannot survive by exhausting the supply of natural resources.
Volcanic Winter explores some other silver bullets, not just man-made volcanic eruptions. Go to page 112 for the rest of your answer.
Q. Is there anything you are currently working on that may intrigue the interest of your readers?
I have a few outlines completed and am toying with some other ideas. My most advanced project is an historical fiction story based in England and Australia. I am also looking at another political thriller perhaps more outrageous in scope than Volcanic Winter. It would be another implausible but believable story. I plan to choose which one to write by the beginning of 2021 and have it finished by the end of the year. There it is. The Goal!
Q. When did you first join AllAuthor and did you join as a free or pro-member first? What are your thoughts on this website?
I joined AllAuthor as soon as I published Volcanic Winter in September 2020. I went straight to Pro. Writers will know that when you publish a book you are swamped by promotional offers. I had already chosen AllAuthor based on its ease of use, reach, audience, and the quality of the promotional material. I have avoided most of the other offers preferring to concentrate on one. I have not been disappointed and wish I spent more time adding content to make it even better. Maybe there is another goal in there somewhere.