I have always loved nature and wildlife and appreciate its role in providing people with everything they need, including food, water, air, clothes, housing, jobs, and physical and mental health. Throughout my career, I have worked for national nonprofit environmental organizations, the government, and in politics to protect nature.
My favorite law is the Endangered Species Act. I have worked to stop the five reasons we are in the entirely manmade 6th mass extinction: invasive species; climate change; pollution (including plastics); habitat loss; and wildlife trade. I have worked as a lobbyist, grassroots organizer, policy expert, and activist. I have even been arrested at peaceful non-violent protests. I have also been active in the anti-gun violence movement, as well as equal rights, especially for women.
As I walked the halls of Congress and organized across the country, I would often hear that we will never stop climate change, wildlife extinctions, or get rid of guns. But I remained optimistic and believed if people understood what was happening, they would change their behavior and the world would become a better place for everyone and everything.
In 2020, the climate and extinction crises were growing worse, violence and mass shootings were too common, and the courts were being filled with anti-women and anti-equality judges. Then, due to chronic abuse of animals and wildlife, a virus jumped from an animal to a human, and the world was sent home to stay safe from COVID.
Like many people, I was at home watching the news, seeing the virus spread around the world killing millions, hospitals overflowing with patients, and people turning on each other over vaccines and other issues. During that dark, scary, and hopeless period, I had time to let my imagination run wild.
The Impact Series was born and I became an author.
In the series, the characters address gun violence, pollution on Earth and in space, sexism, patriarchy, trust, racism, and environmental protection.
The series starts with The Shooting when almost every gun owner in the world turns their weapon on themselves at the same time in a global mass shooting. How on Earth could that happen? Why? A hero rises and must figure out what is happening and try to stop more catastrophic violence. In book two, The Collision, the issues of space debris, Kessler Syndrome, and unregulated and reckless exploration in the modern space race are involved. In The Judgment, book three in the series, someone is getting judged for causing so much destruction, violence, and death, but who is getting judged, and who is doing the judging?
My fourth book called The Aftermath, will be published on September 13. The story takes place five years after the mass shooting. What is the world like? Will the survivors view guns, environmental protection, and sustainability differently? Who’s in charge? Has the world fallen into dystopia or utopia? Or something in between?
I love science fiction. It often has a catastrophic event that changes everything, new and creative technology and addresses important issues involving the environment and natural resources. A recurring theme is that some people, such as scientists, are not listened to, just like in the real world. As sci-fi writer Sir Arthur Clarke said, “Science fiction is not about predicting the future. It’s about preventing and inventing the future.” These elements are in The Impact Series and foretelling events and prescient social commentary. My stories also include romance because I believe there is the possibility of love wherever people are.
I hope these books encourage people to think deeply about the problems and issues addressed in the stories and contemplate the solutions. The Earth and nature do not need humans to survive, but humans need them for survival.
I’m currently working on a novel that will be published in 2025. It’s a prequel and involves the decisions and politics that got the world into a situation where The Shooting could happen. Politics impacts everything in our lives, every day, from the control and health of our bodies to the water and food we consume, to the air we breathe. These elements, as well as extraterrestrials, are intertwined in the story. I’m eager to complete this book and get it into the world.
I see this new endeavor as an author as a continuation of what I have done as an environmentalist. Now I use entertaining and suspenseful stories rather than fact sheets and reports. So far, writing and all it encompasses has been an amazing experience and I hope readers enjoy these books.
