From a Q & A with David Goodwillie about his new novel,
American Subversive:
Q. How did you come to write American Subversive?
A. I was initially interested in how my generation—now in their late twenties and thirties--was reacting (or not reacting) to a changing America. On the one hand, our country, in the new century, is still the envy of the world—it’s only 
superpower, a beacon of freedom. At the same time, so many things seem headed in the wrong direction—culturally, politically, economically. The book’s two main characters, Aidan and Paige, developed out of this dichotomy. They’re well educated and similar in age, and yet they see America, and their place in it, incredibly differently. I wasn’t interested in liberal and conservative, rather apathy versus engagement, cynicism versus sincerity. How should the next generation act (and react) in a country flying on autopilot at a dangerous altitude? Have we learned any lessons from the past? And can a single person still affect change in a country run by opinion polls and mass consensus? With my two main characters staking out such extremes, I realized pretty quickly that plot would involve bringing them together, not just physically, but temperamentally. They would come to save each other--or at least try. Once the characters and themes were established the plot came quite naturally, and the book became far more suspenseful than I ever envisioned (which is never a bad thing). It also became quite research intensive. I’m a stickler for facts, even in my fiction, and I ended up speaking with all kinds of experts, from an FBI ordnance specialist to a former member of the Weather Underground. It was important that the book “feel” real, that the reader could envision these events actually occurring.
Read
more from the Q & A, including about Goodwillie's five favorite books of all time.
Visit
David Goodwillie's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
