“Boy playing with frog”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, via Wikimedia Commons
“I have a little friend. (I’m blessed with lots of little friends. ❤ This guy’s name is Ayden, and he is 7 years old. He was telling me about this mouse that his dad-type-guy killed. And he told me about the eyes popping out and so forth. OMG I hate mice. I said, ‘I’m a girl, Ayden. A plain ole girl. And I don’t like blood and guts and weapons and mice. None of it. I’m a girl.’ A few seconds passed….. ‘We could talk about butterflies,’ he said. So we did. OMG I love that kid. ❤ “
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I saw this perfect little story on my friend Cheri Colburn’s Facebook page this morning. I loved it and I thought you might too. Cheri’s probably one of the most fun people on the planet. She wrote an amazing mini-biography of George Washington Carver in Greenwoman #2 that was not only perfectly crafted and incredibly informative, but fun. That’s Cheri for you. Oh, and she also edited the book Fifty Shades of Green, a collection of garden stories that I like to call “the gardener/feminist’s answer to Fifty Shades of Grey”. . . Come to think of it, that book might be THE perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your favorite gardener! Take a peek at it here.
This week I decided to make a new press kit for Zera and the Green Man. GMO labeling is on the Colorado ballot this November, and, as some of you know, this book’s all about GMOs. It’s a hot topic and I’m hoping there are journalists and bloggers (and readers!) who will be interested in learning more about the book.
Let me know what you think of the interview. I’d love to hear from you!
—Sandra
GMOs Gone Wrong: An Interview with Sandra Knauf, Author of Zera and the Green Man
By Cheri Colburn on September 21, 2014
Sandra Knauf’s Zera and the Green Man is a sci-fi fantasy for the YA market, but I and many other adults have reveled in it. It is “right on time” with current events—plenty of GMO Franken-creatures—and it features the timeless themes of love for nature and family. I recently spent an afternoon interviewing the author, and this is what I learned.
In your young adult novel, Zera and the Green Man, biotechnology has gone awry, and nature is in jeopardy. Fifteen-year-old Zera Green is called to save the world from genetically-modified creations designed by her own uncle. How did you come up with that plot line?
The spark for the story came over a decade ago when I started reading about GMOs. At the same time, I became interested in the mythology surrounding the green man. To me, GMOs seemed like a bad idea from the start, and the more I read about them the more I was convinced that we were playing with something that had repercussions beyond our understanding. At the same time I was reading about how the green man was an ancient symbol of humankind’s oneness with nature. It seemed like two sides of the same coin, and those ideas merged into a story.
How does the green man mythology figure into the story?
The protagonist, Zera Green, discovers her family’s centuries’ old ties to this ancient god. He returns to modern times because the plant world’s in trouble. And when plants are in trouble, so are we.
A Zera and the Green Man Pinterest pin by Lisa Repka. Green man drawing by Mike Beenenga.
Can you tell me a little about the green man?
The idea of the green man, a man who is one with the plant world, is thousands of years old and takes many forms. His image is all over Europe, in centuries’ old churches, but he goes back further than that. For example, the Egyptian god Osiris is a green man. He has green skin; he’s known as the god of the underworld, yet he is also the granter of all life, including vegetation. The green man is also a symbol of resurrection. Robin Hood, fighting for the underdog and living in the forest, is said to be another incarnation, and so is the modern day Jolly Green Giant. In the story, Zera discovers this history and begins to see how her family is connected with it.
This story is a rollicking ride. It takes place in various places in Colorado, in L.A., in a secret laboratory in the desert, and even on Colorado’s famous Pikes Peak. How did you choose the settings?
I’ve spent most of my life in Colorado, and my children were born here. So I wrote about what I know. Both of my daughters went to elementary school in Manitou Springs, which appears in the book as Ute Springs. The chapter with Zera’s vision quest takes place on Pikes Peak, which is called by its Ute name in the book, Tava. The biotech firm that creates the genetic monstrosities is in L.A. because L.A.’s a big money/commercial center where people can afford to make their own realities, realities that are often contrary to nature.
Even though the book’s about GMOs and our connection with nature, the heart of the story is really Zera’s relationship with her scientist uncle and her grandmother.
That’s true. This family’s relationships, with all its problems and secrets, are at the heart of the story. As in life, regardless of what else is going on, it’s the connections with those we love that matter most and give us the most trouble.
Zera rings true as an angst-filled teen. She’s struggling with the issues of losing her parents and having to live with her uncle, but also typical teen problems about boys, fitting in, etc. How did you model Zera?
Some of Zera’s personal struggles were based on struggles I experienced as a teen, such as having other adults besides my mother and father involved in my upbringing. Writing about those feelings through a character was cathartic. As my own girls were teens during the writing process it was easy to create a strong and smart teenage protagonist—I had excellent real-life examples at home.
Why this book now?
It has taken many years for GMOs to get into the spotlight of public concern in this country. Because of GMO labeling initiatives on ballots in several states, many previously oblivious consumers are finally learning what GMOs are. Once they learn the science they have questions. While my story is a sci-fi fantasy, it accurately shows the science and some of the real concerns behind GMOs. It’s kind of like how Jurassic Park dealt with cloning. I hope my book will help readers understand the science and the dangers of GMOs and the bigger picture of nature.
What are you working on now?
I have my own publishing company, so there are several projects in the works, but I am making notes for the next Zera Green novel. It’s going to be set in the British Isles, where Zera learns about her family history and, of course, runs into more trouble. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that Zera’s powers increase dramatically. She is, in fact, well on her way to becoming an American superhero.
Author Information: Cheri Colburn is editor of Six Years in Mozambique and Fifty Shades of Green.
Cheri’s previous projects are many and varied. You can see a business- and education-skewed sample of her work at her website, TheFinishedBook.com.
P. S. For those of you who don’t know what a GMO is, I highly recommend this video by Jeffrey Smith, founder of the Institute for Responsible Technology.
Some of you know about the adults-only publishing adventure I’ve been on this spring and summer, Fifty Shades of Green. It’s a book project that started out as a feminist answer to the famous/notorious novel Fifty Shades of Grey, but then turned into a one-of-a-kind collection of erotic and literary gardening stories. (With a feminist bent, of course.)
I wanted to announce today that while we’re still a week or so from having the paperback book available, Zora and I have managed to get five individual stories available on Kindle as of today. I am also offering a FREE sample story, “Phallus Impudicus,” for those who sign up for the Fifty Shades of Green newsletter. (Look to the top right of this blog to sign up or go to the Garden Shorts website.)
For those of you with full in-boxes, I’m offering, temporarily, this link to read the story on the Garden Shorts webpage. It’s a hidden page so it doesn’t show up on the site. You’ll only be able to access it through this special link, here.
But, I’d encourage you to sign up for the newsletter. There won’t be a lot of “mail” and through the newsletter you’ll learn more about the project, its authors, have access to discounts and special offers, etc.
We may have the entire book available on Kindle as a digital download as early as today. For those of you who don’t have a Kindle device, you don’t need one; you can download a reader-app from Amazon and read it right off of your computer. It’s easy-peasy!
If you choose to indulge in any of these stories, please let me know what you’ve sampled and what you think! (And it would be great if you told your friends about it, too.)
The second part of this post is about our story covers. While I hope to connect with gardeners and aspiring gardeners through this project we realize there’s a huge erotica market out there and those readers might be interested in this book.
With that in mind, Zora thought we should create some “sexy lady” covers. My idea was having covers that feature some kind of provocative-looking fruit, veggie, or flower, like the poppy bud on the book’s cover. We talked it over and I sided with the fresh vision of youth; we’d try the sexy ladies. And I realized that this produce/floral idea might only catch on with gardeners.
So, among other things, we spent all week making covers and formatting individual stories and the book.
You’ll can see three of the covers—and stories—on Amazon if you type in “Fifty Shades of Green.”
For the additional two stories: “The Education of a French Gardener” is here. “First, Take Off the Hoodie” is here.
I have no idea why these two don’t come up through the author or editor’s name. Yet another glitch to fix! There are many in self-publishing. It is anything but easy-peasy.
Now for my cover story. This week I made the cover for “The Judgment of Eric.” It’s a story about a gardener who gets the attention of two Greek Gods, Apollo and Dionysus. They appear in his garden and compel him to participate in a contest—a contest in which Eric will decide which god is the better lover! It’s sexy, wildly imaginative, and homoerotic. (We have three homoerotic stories in the twelve story collection.)
I tried to think of a good image and finally came up with this one. It’s from an ancient Greek amphora (jar).
I thought it was art. Amazon thinks it’s pornographic.
Last night I was notified this cover was rejected as pornographic. I disagree, but I adapted it. (And then we all had a good laugh.) Now I don’t know if this one will be rejected, too, but to me it’s more suggestive. Such is the nature of censorship.
". . . Knauf 's powers of description are marvelous, as is her ability to create original, funny characters and terrific, punchy dialogue. . . . will leave readers hoping for a sequel." --BlueInk Review
Check it out! Home of "We Dig Plants" and MANY other wonderful "green" programs on heritage foods, cooking . . . the list goes on! Shows are archived/streamable/ downloadable, too!
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