Q&A | Carla Buckley: Novel on flu crisis

[Guest guest]

Novel on flu crisis unfolds right here, February 7, 2010

By Grossberg THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The electricity is out, the food is almost gone, the neighbors are dead or

missing, and a winter storm is approaching. Trapped in a Columbus suburb with

two young daughters, Ann and aren't sure what to do or where to

head when civil order collapses because of an avian-flu pandemic. How far the

unhappily married couple will go to protect their family is explored by Columbus

writer Carla Buckley in The Things That Keep Us Here. Her first novel, to be

published Tuesday, is a family drama based on scientific facts.

Buckley didn't have to go far for expert advice.

" The novel accurately represents the potential of a pandemic, " said husband Tim

Buckley, an associate professor in the College of Public Health at Ohio State

University and chairman of its Division of Environmental Health Sciences.

The novelist, who lives in Dublin with her husband and three children, recently

spoke about her work.

Q: You have written seven other novels, mostly mysteries, but not had any others

published. What made the difference?

A: I felt passionate about the book, and I think my writing took a huge leap

forward. Looking back, it feels as if the book wrote itself . . . and came from

a very deep place inside me. . . . It's not a traditional mystery but more of a

family drama with a thriller background about what happens in a family when

something really, truly frightening is happening around them.

I consider it more of a bottom-up thriller than a top-down. You're never in

Russia; you're never in the president's office; you're always in the house of

this one family in this one community: Columbus, Ohio.

Q: Why Columbus?

A: I think of Columbus, and I think a lot of people do, as a city that

represents America. That makes my novel more accessible to the reader.

So many highways go through Columbus, a transportation hub. That's an aspect I

wanted to explore: If you can get in and out easily, what are your choices? Do

you stay or do you leave?

Q: Will local readers spot local references?

A: I was kind of cagey. I did mention Graeter's ice cream because I'm a fan. I

have a university that's unnamed, but it's based on OSU, and The Dispatch is

mentioned but not named.

The day the paper is not delivered, that's a crisis for the family. The

newspaper is something I feel people take for granted, because it comes to your

door and you can check what's going on in your community. When that's removed,

it's like you've lost a family member in a sense because you're cut off.

Q: How did your husband help shape and inform the novel?

A: He was instrumental. Tim is on the cutting edge. I've learned a lot from Tim

about what we're exposed to as human beings on this planet.

When news of the bird flu in 2007 started circulating, I was frightened and

asked Tim what would we do. He said the people really at risk are the scientists

in the field monitoring avian influenza.

That was where my character , who carries half the novel and largely was

based on Tim, was born: A university professor and father of two, is a

scientist very passionate about making the world a better place.

Q: How realistic is your story?

A: It's extremely plausible.

As the H1N1 pandemic played out, it was exactly the same as my novel -- how the

virus mutated, how the government responded, the stages of the alert levels. The

only difference is that H1N1 was not as lethal as my virus.

Q: Is this a cautionary tale?

A: So many things are beyond our control. In that sense, it's a cautionary tale.

Here is a scientist on the cutting edge of the research who should ideally be

prepared for this eventuality. He sees it unfold, and his wife, who knows his

work, should also be prepared. But these characters are faced with chaos as

their community and the whole world disintegrates.

You can't get gas. The lights go out. There are food shortages. You have to rely

on yourself. . . . The truth is that you can never prepare for something like

that.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2010/02/07/1A_BUCKLEY_BOOK_ART\

_02-07-10_E1_29GFL86.html?sid=101