{"id":774,"date":"2013-05-10T22:17:38","date_gmt":"2013-05-10T22:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michaeltuckerauthor.com\/aquarius_falling\/?p=774"},"modified":"2013-05-10T22:17:38","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T22:17:38","slug":"774","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/michaeltuckerauthor.com\/2013\/05\/10\/774\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with David J. Mather"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ <\/strong><\/p>\n

Interview with David J. Mather,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Author of One for the Road<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

David served in the Peace Corps in Chile from 1968 to 1970, and his experiences there provided the background for this novel. After the Peace Corps he started a successful specialty lumber business that sold rare domestic woods nationwide. He has traveled extensively, especially throughout Latin America. He and his wife split their time between New Hampshire and Florida\u2019s gulf coast. One for the Road<\/em> is his first novel.<\/p>\n

MJT:<\/strong> David, congratulations on the publication of your first novel. What kind of research did you do, or did you rely on your memories for writing the novel?<\/p>\n

DJM: <\/strong>I had known for years that someday I would try to write a book based on my experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in southern Chile, and that there was no way I could do it well from memory alone.\u00a0 Consequently, I returned to my site in the foothills of the Andes with my wife in 1992.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t changed much, other than there were now a lot of tall pine trees, and I took a lot of pictures.\u00a0 We stayed with \u2018my family\u2019 in my old room, although this time I slept on a bed, not sheepskins.\u00a0 We rode many familiar trails on horseback, visiting several families where I talked over old times and old stories.\u00a0 In the evenings, I would make careful notes of the various conversations.\u00a0 I started writing One For The Road<\/span> in 2007, and soon realized I needed even more info.\u00a0 We returned again in 2008\u2026\u00a0 For historic information, I referred to John L. Rector\u2019s The History of Chile<\/span>.\u00a0 For various info about Peru, Bolivia, and other parts of Chile, I referred to my well-thumbed 1969 edition of The South American Handbook<\/span>, and also the Lonely Planet\u2019s 2006 Chile y la isla de Pascua<\/span>.\u00a0 Finally, I used the web for some of the anecdotal information.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

MJT: <\/strong>What was your goal in writing the book?<\/p>\n

DJM: <\/strong>I had three goals.\u00a0 The first was to create a love story of impact.\u00a0 The second was to present a clear picture of what life was like in the Chilean campo<\/em> forty-five years ago.\u00a0 And thirdly, the book was meant to be a tribute to the people of Cufeo who opened their hearts and homes to me for the two years I lived and worked there.\u00a0 I believe that I accomplished all three.<\/p>\n

MJT: <\/strong>How long did it take you to write One for the Road?<\/em><\/p>\n

DJM: <\/strong>Five years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>MJT: <\/strong>How has the locale of your novel changed since 1970?<\/p>\n

DJM:<\/strong> As I said, when we first returned it hadn\u2019t changed that much other than the pine trees everywhere.\u00a0 However, when we returned again in 2008, the community of scattered farms where I lived and worked was, sadly, gone.\u00a0 Most of the farms (including \u2018my family\u2019s\u2019) and one-room schoolhouses had been torn down, replaced by pine.\u00a0 It was disconcerting because I knew almost all the trails\u2014oxen, horse, foot\u2014but now it was impossible to get my bearings.\u00a0 What was worse, the majority of campesinos<\/em> couldn\u2019t eke out a living while waiting for the pine to mature.\u00a0 They sold out, pennies on the dollar, to large timber companies.\u00a0 It was the \u2018fat cat\u2019 who benefitted from all their hard work.\u00a0 You can imagine how that made me feel.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>MJT: <\/strong>I assume when you went to Chile in 1968 it really was for the purpose of reforestation. It would take 25 years for the trees to mature. Did you ever find out if the forests were restored or did premature harvesting occur?<\/p>\n

DJM:\u00a0 <\/strong>Originally, the area had been virgin hardwood forest; we were reforesting with primarily Monterey pine.\u00a0 Consequently, the forest would never truly be restored.\u00a0 Premature harvesting was not an issue.\u00a0 The issue, I feel, was that very few of the people who busted their butts to plant the trees benefitted.\u00a0 However, \u2018my family\u2019 did hold out long enough to cash in with a big sale of their pine, and they bought a little house and a rental unit for their old age in a nearby town.<\/p>\n

MJT: <\/strong>How has the Peace Corps influenced your life?<\/p>\n

DJM: <\/strong>The influence the Peace Corps had on my life, in a word, was huge.\u00a0 I had a privileged upbringing\u2014private boarding school, good college, I never wanted for a thing.\u00a0 However, living in those hills of southern Chile in an impoverished community, I soon realized that there was so much \u2018stuff\u2019 back in the States that we did not need.\u00a0 Indeed, it complicated our lives.\u00a0 When I returned to the States, I cloned my existence in Chile.\u00a0 I bought a small piece of land in the woods of New Hampshire over a mile off-grid, cleared the land, built a cabin, had an outhouse, and lived there year-round for over thirty-five years.\u00a0 Recently, my wife and I became residents of Florida, but we still return to the cabin for summers and part of fall.\u00a0 Also, being in the Peace Corps instilled a confidence in the sense that I felt that if I could learn a language and depend pretty much entirely on myself in a lawless area of a foreign land, other things in life would be a \u2018piece of cake.\u2019\u00a0 I have been fending for myself and self-employed for almost my entire adult life.\u00a0 And I have absolutely no regrets on the path I chose.\u00a0 Finally, I am a very big fan of the Peace Corps and promote it whenever I can.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>MJT: <\/strong>Was Maria Elena a real-life person?<\/p>\n

DJM: <\/strong>Maria Elena is fictional, although she is real enough in my mind that my wife (jokingly) has been jealous of her for five years.\u00a0 Maria Elena is absolutely a 10.\u00a0 One thing, though, that I would like to say: One For The Road<\/span> is not a \u2018romance novel.\u2019\u00a0 I find that term somewhat shallow for my book; \u2018romance novels\u2019 are a genre and \u2018a dime a dozen.\u2019\u00a0 Rather, I would like to think that Tomas\u2019s and Maria Elena\u2019s relationship is much deeper\u2014it is a love story.\u00a0 As one review put it, \u201cIf you don\u2019t laugh or cry when you read this, you must be made of stone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>MJT: <\/strong>David, can you tell our readers where to find your novel and would you share what readers will find of interest if they visit your website?<\/p>\n

DJM: <\/strong>My book is available in a limited number of independent bookstores, but is easily purchased through Amazon.\u00a0 It is also available on most e-books like Kindle and Nook.\u00a0 For info about ordering the book, about the book, author, etc., please visit the book\u2019s website: www.onefortheroad-mather.com<\/a>.\u00a0 I think that the site will very much interest people because of, if for no other reason, the pictures of the campo<\/em> and people of Chile.\u00a0 Some are pictures I took 45 years ago, others are from the two return trips.\u00a0 There is also a YouTube interview on the site which I did for a radio station in Ocala, Florida, a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"