I first met P.J. (Pam) Lazos way back in the 20th century before the days of blogs and cell phones. She and my wife Krista (who wasn’t yet my wife) had just graduated from Temple Law School and decided to celebrate with a group adventure to Europe. As Krista now says, I tagged along like gum on their shoe.
These days P. J. Lazos is an environmental lawyer and the author of the eco thriller, “Oil and Water”, about oil spills and green technology, and of a collection of novellas, “Six Sisters”, about family, dysfunction and the ties that bind us; creator of the literary and eco blog Green Life Blue Water; a blogger for the Global Water Alliance (GWA) in Philadelphia; on the Board of Advisors for the wH2O Journal, the Journal of Gender and Water (University of Pennsylvania); a former correspondent for her local newspaper (Lancaster Intelligencer Journal); an editor and ghostwriter; the author of a children’s book (“Into the Land of the Loud”); and, because it’s cool, a beekeeper’s apprentice. She practices laughter daily.
About Oil & Water: When inventor Martin Tirabi builds a machine that converts trash into oil it sends shockwaves through the corporate halls of the oil cognoscenti. Weeks later, Marty and his wife, Ruth are killed in a mysterious car accident. Their son, Gil, a 10-year old physics prodigy is the only one capable of finishing the machine that could solve the world’s energy problems. Plagued with epilepsy from birth, Gil is also psychic, and through dreams and the occasional missive from his dead father he gets the push he needs to finish the job.
Meanwhile, Bicky Coleman, head of Akanabi Oil is doing his best to smear the planet in it. From a slow leak in the Gulf of Mexico to the most devastating oil spill the Delaware River has ever seen, Akanabi’s corporate practices are leaving oily imprints in their wake. To divert the tide of bad press, Bicky dispatches his son-in-law and Chief Engineer, David Hartos to clean up his mess. A disillusioned Hart, reeling from the recent death of his wife and unborn child, travels to Philadelphia to fulfill his father-in-law’s wishes.
There’s no such thing as coincidence when Hart meets Gil and agrees to help him finish Marty’s dream machine. But how will he bring such a revolutionary invention to market in a world reliant on fossil fuels and awash in corporate greed? To do so, Hart must confront those who would quash the project, including his own father-in-law.
You’ll find murder, mystery, and humor as black as fine Arabian crude filling the pages of Oil and Water. The characters are fictional, but the technology is real. What will we do when the oil runs out? Open up and see.
When did you decide to write your first book?
My first book was actually a children’s book, “Into the Land of the Loud” that I wrote for my godson who didn’t talk, but always yelled. A normal voice was not in his repertoire. So I wrote a book about a kid who always yelled. It was super fun.
No one can say it’s too quiet!
What’s your favorite book?
There are way too many to choose. I loved “The Religion” by Tim Willocks, the “Outlander” series by Diana Gabaldon, anything by Dave Eggers, Terry Tempest Williams, Jim Harrison or Rick Bass, Bruce Lipton’s “The Biology of Belief,” anything by Carolyn Myss, I could go on.
One of the first things one notices upon meeting you is that you laugh freely. I think a lot of people would like to laugh more freely if they only knew how. What’s your secret?
Hahaha — that’s funny. I have no idea. It’s my gut reaction to things, I guess. My father laughed easily and was quite the jokester so I guess his legacy was to leave me his laughter. It’s a healthy lifetime practice. A day without laughter is a sad day indeed.
In a recent blog post you wrote about cutting through the madness of life, turning off the internal editor and tuning into the higher self. I think that’s a challenge for a lot of writers. Do you have any techniques you use to help you get to that place?
Where you use being on hold with Verizon to germinate ideas, I walk the dog and while doing so, work out plot lines, character traits and other story challenges. I also get good ideas when I’m swimming or I’m in the shower. I think any way that you can alter your consciousness just a tad, put the constant critic off and just let the subconscious mind take over is a time when ideas flow freely.
Speaking of techniques, what’s your favorite writing prompt?
I loved timed writing exercises as another way to move the internal editor out of the way. You can pick any prompt, really — favorite childhood moment, best dog story, most embarrassing moment — whatever gets your pen moving.
I’ll have to try some of these!
You are obviously very concerned about the environment, which makes total sense to me. What could be more important that the planet that we depend on for life? But I read recently that the importance of where politicians stand on the environment is very low on the list of people’s priorities when they vote. I’ve also noticed that many people feel anger towards those who work to protect the environment. Why do you think that is?
Wow, if I could answer those questions we could have turned this whole thing around by now. I really don’t know why people don’t care about the environment. I think, in part, it has to do with the size and complexity of the problems. Nothing is an easy fix, nothing goes away overnight, and fixing anything costs tons of money. Plus we’ve been sold a bill of goods. Politicians tell us that it costs too much to have clean air or clean water so they kick the can down the road. Meanwhile there are countries like China working to create “sponge cities” (retrofitting impermeable surfaces with permeable ones) and states like California that are creating whole industries out of green energy and infrastructure. We spend so much time looking backwards to how we’ve always done it when we should be looking forward and creating the new vision for the world. The saying “there’s never enough time to do it right the first time but there’s always enough time to do it over” is apropos of our environmental policy. When we tally the health costs to treat long term problems like asthma and cancer for which you can often find a causal connection, I believe that justifies doing it right the first time.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
No such thing.
Why did you decide to use the pen name P. J. Lazos?
I was trying to separate my lawyer self from my writer self, but I’m second-guessing that decision now. Who knows? The next thing you see from me may be by Pam Lazos.
I think P.J. sounds very literary.
There’s a lot of real science in Oil and Water. What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning this book?
I did spend a lot of time researching. I even went to the actual public library and made copies of information I needed from books on the Marsh Arabs which I couldn’t find online. It was awesome and so retro.
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
No, but what a fantastic idea!
What’s your perfect writing day look like?
I took a day off from work a few months ago and just wrote for the whole day with breaks for the gym and walking the dog. It was really fun and I got so into my book. Usually, I get a half hour here or there. It’s hard to keep the thread of the story that way.
How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific person in mind when you write them? If so, has this ever gotten you into trouble?
Some characters I take from real life. For instance, David Hartos, one of the protagonists in Oil and Water was created around stories my husband told me from his commercial diving days. I can see how writing about someone would get you into trouble so I only “borrow” characteristics with permission if the person is still alive. If the person is dead, all bets are off.
Anything new in the works?
Yes, actually, a book about a clinical trial for a new vaccine gone awry.
Sounds dark. Can’t wait to read it!
Well it’s been nice talking to you. Good luck with your future endeavors.
Other titles by P.J. Lazos:
Blog: https://greenlifebluewater.wordpress.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pamela.lazos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pjlazos
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/P.-J.-Lazos/e/B00HPIUGBI