| G.K. Lamb | G.K. Lamb | <div class="ExternalClass22D73B5899E447B58B6B724AA7569B43"><h2><a href="https://phoenix.overdrive.com/phoenix-phoenixpl/content/media/4667483"><em>Filtered: Great Society Trilogy Book One</em></a> by G.K. Lamb</h2><p>
G.K. Lamb writes speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. Trained as a historian and documentary filmmaker, he explores themes of memory, history, and truth through a cinematic lens. He holds a BA and MA in history from Northern Arizona University. When he isn't writing, teaching, or making films, G.K. host the Fiction Writer podcast. He lives in the Sonoran Desert with his wife, two cats, and dog.</p><h3>
Q + A</h3><h4>
What inspired you to write this book?</h4><p><em>Filtered </em>is my attempt to grapple with the conflicting narratives of our all-too-often confusing, isolating, and paranoid world. I was eleven in 2001 so I spent my adolescence being bombarded by the "War on Terror" that reshaped everyday life. There was a constant fear that at any moment, the world was going to come crashing down and all this violence was going to be poured onto us by evil others from somewhere else. But that narrative didn't line up with the realities I saw around me. I was beginning to see how the outside threat masked the cancerous internal divisions and domestic threats within the United States.</p><p>I went to college to study history, and with the help of great mentors, I focused on the rise of totalitarianism in the 20th century and the Holocaust. I was shaken up by the power cultural narratives have to shape our lives and to fuel atrocities. <em>Filtered</em> emerged out of my search to make sense of the horrors of the 20th century, the dizzying acceleration of modernity, and my own experiences.</p><p>I am not alone in responding to the "War on Terror" zeitgeist by writing dystopian fiction. However, most dystopian fiction is from the perspective of the outsider who can reveal the hypocrisy of the world and bring it shattering down. Those stories are fun, and they can be really engaging, but they don't speak to the insidiousness of dystopia and rarely grapple with the individual's responsibility in creating and maintaining oppressive power structures. I was struck one day with the idea for a character who was so deep in the thick of it, she didn't even realize there was a problem. Following her to see how she handled learning the cost of her comfort was the genesis of <em>Filtered</em>.</p><h4>What attracted you to this genre? </h4><p>I am drawn to speculative and dystopian fiction because it reflects the angst, outrage, and yearning for apocalypse of American life in the internet age. </p><h4>What book are you currently reading? </h4><p>Currently, I'm reading
<em>The House in the Cerulean Sea</em> by TJ Klune. Although not my typical genre, it is a delightful book with engaging characters and a vivid, quirky setting. </p><h4>Are you writing anything now? If so, when will it come out? </h4><p>I'm currently working on the third and final novel in the
<em>Great Society Trilogy: Broken</em>. I hope to be finished writing it this year with an optimistic late 2022 or early 2023 release. </p><h4>If you weren't a writer, what would you do? </h4><p>If I weren't a writer, I would want to pursue my other big passion: filmmaking. I love making films and I think the cinematic lens and the language of film heavily influences my writing. </p><h4>Do you use your local library? If so, which library is it and what do you do there? </h4><p>I love libraries. They have been a consistent refuge and source of stillness in my life. For example, the last time I was at
<a href="/locations/century">Century Library</a> in Phoenix, I was having a hectic day and having an oasis of calm was exactly what I needed to help me get back on track. I rarely check out physical books anymore, but I listen to as many audiobooks as I can. </p></div> |
