Contents
Q: What does the title, Spring Meets Winter, mean?
I gave out six drafts of SMW to my friends and family so that they could help me
work out the rough spots. These readers are some of the brightest people I know
and not one of them could figure out the title so there is the possibility that
I made the title too abstract. The title is based on a book and a theory and a specific
event in my story.
The book is Silent Spring (1962, Rachel Carson) which was instrumental in changing
attitudes and national policy involving DDT. The theory is Nuclear Winter (‘TTAPS
Study’, 1982, Carl Sagan and colleagues) which inspired several movies and books
and helped shape U.S. and international policies regarding nuclear weapons proliferation
and testing. The event in my story, found in the middle of the first chapter, is where
Angelina and several other orphans are watching an atomic blast from a sunflower
field that is being dusted with DDT.
The timing of this event was what set the time period of my story. DDT was banned
in 1972 from most uses in the U.S. so I knew that my book was going to be set in
71 or earlier. I researched some of the blasts that happened at the Nevada Test
Site and found that July 17, 1962 was the last time an above ground nuclear test
was performed on U.S. soil. So, although it wasn’t the first time they met, July
17, 1962 was the last time Spring could meet Winter.
So, in short, “Spring” is from Silent Spring which represents the effects of DDT,
“Winter” is from Nuclear Winter which represents the effect of Nuclear weapons,
and “Meets” is purely to show that the two came together for a specific formative
event in my main character’s life.
Q: Who is coming back in book two of the SMW series? *Spoiler
Alert*
A: I don’t know specifically who will be in book two, but I am planning for most
characters to come back in one of the later books including:
*Click here to read* (Caution Spoiler) Angelina, James,
Joshua, Mary, Kazuo, Christine, Timothy, General Conrad, Dr. Lewis, Sergeant Cooper,
J.P., Kenny (Clap), Marston, Mr. Bradford, Linda, Jeffery, Jasmine, and Connor.
Q: How many books are you planning in the SMW series?
A: At least three. I am working on plans for at least three but I don’t know for
sure where it will end. I am just hoping to be published at this point.
Information on the Passages of Consequence series coming soon.