Hello, Therians!
Yesterday I reviewed this amazing book (check out my review HERE), and today I have the great pleasure of introducing you to my favorite character, Keitha.
Keitha lives in the present (200 years from now). She is a Perceptive and Archivist in the Colony. She has this amazing ability of spiritual time travel, and I cannot wait for you all to get to know her a little better.
Hello, Keitha,
Thank you for joining us today for a quick chat.
1. Tell
us more about the role of the Archivists.
The Archivists
are responsible for reviewing and cataloguing all of the records that the
people who started our colony, The Founders, brought with them. The Founders
wanted their descendants to know what happened in your time so we would know
the history. How the earth we are living in came to be. I think that, perhaps,
at least one of them knew that we would need to understand the past in order to
help save our own future.
2. With
all you have seen, going back in the archives, have you ever wished to live in
the past.
Would I want to be able to see, touch, smell all of
the things that I have only been able to observe second hand? See an eagle in
flight, feel the rain, smell the ocean . . . so many things that the people in
your time seem to think will always be there? Yes, definitely, I just don’t
know if I would want to live in a time when people think what is amazing is
common place.
3. What
are the main differences you have experienced between the past and the present?
Your time has an
apathy, we have an urgency.
4. What
is it like living in the Colony?
It’s a
community, the same as yours. We have jobs, the children go to school, we try
and make life better for them, a little easier. But the cold reality is that we
live underground, with finite resources, and our real fear is that the children
in our colony may not live to see another generation.
5. Your
relationship with your mother is quite complex, did you feel betrayed when the
truth came out about why she had distanced herself from you?
Betrayed, no.
Irritated, yes. I felt like Clara had deserted me when I was younger, I didn’t
understand what was going on. Why she stopped training me so I could
communicate with Catherine. I was hurt and angry, I lashed out at her. When my
parents finally told me what had happened, well, they really should have told
me sooner, because I spent all those years believing my mother had abandoned me
when I needed her the most, only to find out she did it to protect me.
6. How
is your relationship with Clara now?
We’re continuing
to rebuild our relationship. She’s helping me train again and I’m getting to
know who my mother really is, not who I think she is.
7. Tell
us about the special bond you share with Murphy.
Murphy and I
just know each other. I’m not sure how else to describe it.
8. How
did the addition of Addy, help with your connection with Catherine?
Without Addy,
Catherine would never have opened herself up to communicating with me. She
would never have trusted me, but Addy trusted Murphy, and so that wonderful
greyhound gave me . . . what’s that saying you people have . . . something
about, oh, right. She gave me a foot in the door.
9. Why
was it so important to make a connection with Catherine?
She’s a nexus
between what has happened in your time and what is happening in mine.
10. Was
there ever a point when you thought all hope was lost? That the connection
would never happen.
Almost every
day. You people can be very closed off.
11. Why
did you choose the endangered animal species as a way to keep Catherine’s
interest?
That was
Greer’s, my father’s, idea. He thought that if she saw all these different
species in front of her it would pique her curiosity, she would need to know
more, and she would keep coming back to see what else showed up on the plateau.
And why they were all there.
12. Do
you still feel that the Machiavellians pose a major threat?
Still? What do
you . . . oh I see, you must know the other timeline the same as Terran. Well,
all I can say is that the Machiavellians are still intending to use someone in
your time to change something which will give them more power, and that will
not be good for the rest of us.
13. How
has the changing of the past affected the present?
I wish I could
tell you but Terran won’t tell me.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Grace Wright
615-715-8465
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER-TURNED-AUTHOR CELEBRATES EARTH DAY WITH RELEASE OF FACT-BASED NOVEL
‘The Plateau: Voices of the Earth’is First Installment of Trilogy fromMaureen Dudley
DENVER, COLORADO – Just in time for Earth Day, Maureen Dudley has penned “The Plateau: Voices of the Earth” (Hawk’s Cry Publications, an imprint of Word Keepers, Inc., April 22). The first fictional but fact-based novel in her stimulating three-part series showcases the need to protect and preserve natural environments for this generation and others to come.
In “The Plateau,” Dudley tells the story of an environmental engineer named Catherine and what happens when she meets an enigmatic archivist who has “time traveled” 200 years from the future to discover the pattern of decisions that led to how their world evolved.
Enlightening Radio host Christine Andrew calls the novel “timely and thought-provoking.” And ForeWord Magazine writes, “The book keeps a page-turning pace that will engage those who enjoy fantasy, general fiction, and stories about the environment.”
Having spent more than 20 years working as environmental engineer herself, Dudley draws on her vast knowledge of relatively obscure and underreported issues and events to bring attention to the breadth of the world’s environmental problems. Her dramatic storytelling blends elements of science fiction and environmental advocacy, inspiring readers to reflect on the planet’s vulnerability and how every step we take – for better or worse – impacts the earth.
And while Dudley attempts to create awareness about certain issues facing the planet today, she encourages people to investigate and reach their own conclusions.
“You may agree with me, or your conclusion may differ significantly from mine,” said the Denver based author. “I can only tell you that I strongly believe, and hope you agree, that we need to strive to take care of our environment so that future generations are left with air they can breathe; water they can drink; land, streams and seas they can cherish.”
Visit www.MaureenDudleyBooks.com for more information on the book and author.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An environmental engineer by education and profession, Maureen Dudley writes with passion and poise in her conservation-focused trilogy from Hawk’s Cry Publications, an imprint of Word Keepers, Inc.
She spent eight years researching and writing the first installment, “The Plateau: Voices of the Earth” (April 22, 2013) and hopes her debut novel motivates readers to learn more about what is happening to our environment, become cognizant of our own impacts and strive to make a positive difference.
Dudley lived in Butte, Montana until she was 22 years old. There, sheearned a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering from Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology. She then moved to Colorado where she began a career as an environmental engineer with the state. After more than two decades of working for state and local governments, Dudley decided it was time for a change. With the support of her spouse Dave and her four-legged friends, first Kilty and now Charley (pictured), by her side, Dudley transitioned into her next career as a writer.
Dudley lives in Denver, Colorado, where she enjoys hiking and biking in the great outdoors.
COVER ARTIST ERIN E. HUNTER
As both a children’s book and scientific illustrator, Erin E. Hunter specializes in entomological and botanical illustrations. She has taught botanical illustration and field sketching at UC Santa Cruz and teaches workshops at local venues. Her portfolio includes print and online design projects for clients ranging from marketing firms to culinary groups to educational organizations—and she’s drawn insects under a microscope for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History.
Erin lives with her husband on California’s Monterey Peninsula. When she’s not sketching and painting, she tends to flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables in her backyard garden.
“The Plateau: Voices of the Earth”
Paperback $19.95, eBook $9.99
ISBN: 978-097853939-9
Fiction, 350 pages
Hawk’s Cry Publications,
an imprint of Word Keepers Inc.
April 22, 2013
The first of a thought provoking trilogy that dares readers to explore consciousness of the mind and observe how their everyday actions are having an impact on the world around them.
What if you have half a second to stop the extinction of part of the human race? What if that pivotal day to save humanity depends on you saving your own life? Catherine’s life and humanity’s continued existence depend on her ability and willingness to believe in an altered, future timeline with a colony of Earth inhabitants.
It couldn't come at a worse time. Catherine’s father dies unexpectedly. The pressure of her research and advocacy work adds dead weight to her life’s precarious tipping points. Catherine’s losing battles includes sleep deprivation. Sleep eludes her, and when it does come, she finds herself repeatedly dreaming about standing on the same high plateau with her greyhound dog, Addy, and a stranger (Keitha) and her dog (Murphey) surrounded by plants and animals and insects, and then poof! The living landscape transforms into ash.
Catherine does not suspect that she is the lynch pin, but she is the one who must stop the Machiavellians from shifting Earth’s future timeline, that will ultimately result in the colony’s extinction. But, because of her own beliefs in the Hau de no sau nee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) principal that we have to consider the effect decisions have on descendants seven generations into the future. Catherine puts this belief to the ultimate test when she learns that ‘the event’ is her own death. In order to stop it, she must walk directly into its path.
Praise for the Book
“The author uses Keitha and Catherine’s stories to illustrate how important it is to take care of the environment, not just for their sakes but also for that of future generations who must live with the outcome of their ancestor’s actions. The story keeps the reader engaged by revealing just enough of the past’s influence on the future. Despite the revelation of future outcomes to the reader, the author was able to maintain the suspense in the narrative, and this is definitely one reason the novel works well.
‘The Plateau: Voices of the Earth’ is a very interesting and well-written story. The plot is engaging, the characters are likeable, and once the action gets going, the book keeps a page-turning pace that will engage those who enjoy fantasy, general fiction, and stories about the environment.”
- Laura Munion, ForeWordReview Magazine
“Given this particular time in the state of our collective consciousness in our world, I think ‘The Plateau: Voices of the Earth’ is a timely and thought-provoking book.”
-Christine Andrew, Enlightening Radio/CoSozo Radio
Visit www.MaureenDudleyBooks.com for more information on The Plateau: Voices of the Earth and information on some of the issues facing the environment today.
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