Q: What inspired this story?
Mark Donovan: There
are three events that inspired me to write Waterkill.
First, the Ebola outbreak that reached both the United States and Europe in 2014 made me realize how vulnerable and unprepared we are, even in leading economic nations, on dealing with major epidemics. We saw from that one incident the panic, chaos, political finger pointing, and most importantly, the complete lack of any national policy on how to deal with a highly contagious and deadly disease.
Second, the
borderless national policies that are being adopted by the EU and the United
States, is enabling anyone from anywhere to walk into an EU country or the
United States and do whatever they want. Couple the lack of national legal
immigration policies with the third global event, the spreading of radical
Islamic terrorism, and we have the ingredients for a major nightmare scenario
to become a very likely reality.
Q: Tell us about
your journey in becoming an author, how did you get started?
Mark Donovan: I
started writing about 12 years ago. I began a blog, and then shortly thereafter
a website, on documenting my home remodeling experiences that I did on my home.
In a 9 year span, I wrote over 2000 home improvement articles, all of which are
published on my website www.HomeAdditionPlus.com.
Many of the articles are also syndicated around the world, via Creative
Syndicate.
In 2013 I decided
to take a break from writing home improvement articles and try my hand at
creative writing. In the summer of 2013 I came out with my first novel, NANO
SURVEILLANCE, a book about nanotechnology, spying, and national United States
politics.
Q: Who should readers
feel sympathetic to the most?
Mark Donovan: There
are two characters in WATERKILL that I expect readers to feel some sympathy
towards, Dana Cogswell and Spencer Williams. Dana becomes an abused pawn in the
story and has to choose to do something horrific after being attacked. In the
case of Spencer, an antagonist in the story, I think it becomes hard to fully
fault him for his actions based upon what he experienced in his earlier life.
Q: Why do only men
play such a large role in this story?
Mark Donovan: Men
play a large role in this story, because it is mainly male terrorists that are
indiscriminately attacking and killing innocent people. and it is mainly males
who are in the battlefield trying to find and stop them. This said, Dana
Cogswell is a leading character in WATERKILL.
Q: What overall
lesson do you have for the reader?
Mark Donovan: The
overall thing I want readers to walk away from after reading WATERKILL is that
we are not safe from a major attack that could wipe out thousands if not millions
of innocent people. Secondly, that a nuclear weapon is not necessarily the only
weapon of mass destruction that could be used by terrorists. Lastly, many
terrorists are very smart, albeit sick people, that are highly educated and
creative on coming up with new ways to murder people.
Q: What can we
expect from you next?
Mark Donovan: I am
currently working on a new book about the rise of robots in society and the impact
it will bring to mankind, both in the workforce and home.