… the thriller is the entertainment part which I probably carried from a lifetime of movies, comic collecting, and great film school training, but the heart of the tale is about love.
A.E.S. O’Neill – 24 January 2023
The Back Flap
Will Ginger and Alby survive their new home in the West? At times, it seems doubtful they will make it to Sedona, Arizona. Even worse, they have no idea of the danger that waits for them there.
As they cross the United States to relocate to their new witness protection home in Arizona, Ginger and Alby’s search for love is marred by violent interludes with insurrectionists, white supremacists, and jihadists. Yet the worse threat of all is the fury of climate chaos—storms beyond measure, a bitter fact of life in 2026. And as our characters soon discover, even more, these storms’ death and destruction are insidiously random—and for them, become very personal.
Even Climate Change Can’t Stop Love and Murder, Volume 2: Paying the Price is the second novel of this romance thriller series and offers a uniquely American vision of love and murder, trauma and healing. Traveling with Alby, Ginger shares her life with him, but not the dark secrets of her childhood which explain so much of her strong, determined character. All the threads of the old life and new culminate at Tuzigoot National Monument, where Ginger and Alby face certain death—and someone pays the price.
About the book
What is the book about?
I consider it a uniquely American vision of love and murder, trauma, and healing around 2026, Even Climate Change Can’t Stop Love and Murder, is the highly-anticipated romance suspense thriller and follow up to last year’s critically-acclaimed and best-selling book, Even A Pandemic Can’t Stop Love And Murder by A.E.S. O’Neill.
Barely surviving the climatic run-in in Even A Pandemic Can’t Stop Love and Murder with Jagger, the golem-like mob killer antagonist, Alby and Ginger, the series’ reluctant protagonists, are being relocated by government agents from New Jersey to Sedona, AZ. A dark episode in Iraq has left Alby permanently in hiding—a threat of death that follows him from the deserts of the Middle East to the deserts of Arizona.
The two cross a country straining at its social seams against climate chaos, insurrectionists, and white supremacists—deadly threats are at every turn as they search to define their love for each other—unaware that Jagger is still alive and after them.
Stuck in Alby’s truck for days, Alby and Ginger slowly get to know each other. Alby is quiet, with a wry sharpness. Ginger, a professional dance instructor, who is both tough and righteous with a hair-trigger temper, feels safe with Alby in ways she doesn’t understand. Their conversations range from deeply emotional to darkly funny and irreverent, reminiscent of the snappy patter used in the 1930s “Thin Man” classics.
Jagger is also heading West, fighting against poisoned lungs and an unseen force stronger than himself—his uncanny ability to use facial recognition to read his victims is rendered useless against this new enemy. Battling this unseen foe and his mob “Owners,” has him metamorphosed into something even more dangerous than the professional killer he was before.
Suffering from droughts, fires, storms, secessionists, and a gun-loving culture, the couple navigates their new home in Sedona while Jagger, having avoided death, waits for his moment to exact revenge on Alby. In a deadly climax that brings them all together with jihadists on the hottest day ever recorded at the national pueblo monument, Tuzigoot, the terrorists who forced Alby into hiding finally catch up with him. Adding a heightened level of evil into the mix, Jagger’s own battles have changed him… but to what?
When did you start writing the book?
As I finished and published the first volume of the series with Even A Pandemic Can’t Stop Love and Murder, I was writing snippets of scenes for volume two; in fact, I spent several days in Sedona in July 2021 scouting out the different locales, especially Tuzigoot, the pueblo archeological site.
How long did it take you to write it?
Two years. Year one was when it overlapped with the first part of the love story thriller series. The day I published Even A Pandemic Can’t Stop Love and Murder, volume 1, I went into a full journey mode with Ginger and Alby as they headed West for Even Climate Change Can’t Stop Love and Murder. The real concentration of effort and spirit took exactly one year.
Where did you get the idea from?
The first book is based on a true story my father told me (he was a lower-level money launderer). But these new characters who took over that tale blossomed into a three-part series; I am proud they chose me to capture their adventures.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
Yes, and my editor saved the day. Jagger, the mob assassin, has a very hallucinatory personal journey before he meets up with our heroes again. I wrote Jagger’s story and the rest of the novel as two pieces. But I could not reconcile them together. Rosie Pearson, my editor, helped me knit them into one timeline.
What came easily?
Never thought of that. Nothing really, yet also everything. I knew their story, in all its love and tragedy. I knew how Ginger and Alby talked to each other. Crafting the scenes and the glue between their dialogue was the hardest part – the sharpening of language, the right metaphors from the right person, the descriptions of driving West, and the alien beauty of Arizona.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real-world people you know?
Only Ginger — the willful, beautiful, angry, impatient, lovable protagonist — has the essence of someone real. My wife Nadine, who passed in April 2020, was a huge Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire fan; her rebel spirit is deep within Ginger.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
The only authors who influence how I write are Robert Penn Warren and Dashiell Hammett. Everything else is more cerebral or of spiritual influence. I read a lot of poetry, in fact, I start every day with a poem. Studying structure and pacing and how they have to balance out character development is a source of endless curiosity on how others do it – when I close my eyes, I feel the novel moving like a river with different speeds, bumps, threats, surprising curves and beautiful surroundings.
Do you have a target reader?
Funny, I ask myself that question daily. My editor – and first reader — is a Reiki master and thrillers are the last thing she wanted in her mind; but she saw the spiritual element to the story and my approach to raising and resolving traumas.
Mainly, a mystery reader who likes a love story with witty dialogue and a meaningful and fun story. Someone who gravitates to the truth that love and healing are at the story’s core; the thriller is the entertainment part which I probably carried from a lifetime of movies, comic collecting, and great film school training, but the heart of the tale is about love. As I am now writing volume three of their story, it is a different tale than volume two, which was different that volume one. As the writer moves, does the reader move with them?
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
If I just let my mind go, open it up, and empty it, images, snippets of dialogue, and scenes will start to appear. Capturing what the characters are saying is hardest – usually, when I am my most tired does that window open and like someone passing a party, I hear and see them through the open window. My two main sources of inspiration are nighttime and nature. Finding sacred places for inspiration is a very important part of clearing the noise out of the brain and let the story come in.
From a methodology perspective, I do try and outline the novel and come to understand the characters…but then I find myself writing scenes and the outline becomes the novel. It can be a bit messy, but it is lot of fun.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
A good outline is inspirational for me – not just the facts, but the moments, emotions, thrills, character and plot twists, and drama. My graduate school film experience makes everything very visual. But in the outline, I look for key actions that drive the plot forward, always balancing the ever-present sense of a threat lingering, while seeding the ever-deepening levity and love that is Ginger and Alby.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I do not write in a linear fashion, so I am always editing. The story flows and fills as it is meant to organically. While the novel may have a timeline, in my inner world there is none; all Time is Now. Editing never stops, though I did have a dream about this book as I was finishing it, with Ginger telling me “Let us go, it’s time.” That was a bit spooky.
Did you hire a professional editor?
Rosie Pearson, Proof Positive Editing, a Reiki master, genius of spirit, language, intent, and as I joke, my “muse with Track Changes”. I quickly realized how lucky I was to have her on this journey.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
Music and silence — each play a huge role on my writing. As of now, I am listening to Celtic reiki music to let my mind wander; sometimes I rock out, throw on Zappa or Grateful Dead for inspiration, Joni Mitchell for mood, Gershwin for flare and joy, and Beethoven and Mozart for a somber peace. When I hear the story and the music goes off and silence ensues.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
A professional editor at a publishing house I worked with years ago directed me to a literary agency; for my first book, I sent out to several as I did with the second novel. No responses. Getting a trusted literary agent is a big piece in this adventure I am on. Self-publishing makes it more complicated, especially when writing a series.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Again, my editor friend, at the end of her career in traditional publishing, warned me of how decrepit the industry is, and pushed me to self-publish. Her description of a broken business model that shapes mega sellers and throws scraps at lesser-known authors, plus the long timeline they take… self-publish, she said, take your chances. She also said to get a Kirkus review and roll the dice, which worked out very well; they loved both novels.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
Scout James is the designer of my book jackets and website; he is amazingly creative, intuitive, funny, and highly professional.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I intentionally did not study book marketing when I was writing my first novel. Ironic, considering I spent over thirty years as a marketing executive in NY. In hindsight, a bit willfully naïve on my part. But the need to craft the very truest telling of the story was much more important than marketing. Now I do have a marketing plan; the components are public relations, FB video ads, Amazon ads, and as many reviews as I can urge people to write!
Making the slog to bestseller (#4 on B&N) and #43 on the massive Amazon list, makes it worthwhile.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Start with something you know and care about a lot. Knowledge and passion can kickstart you and power through insecurities and entropy – two of the biggest hobgoblins for an author.
About You
Where did you grow up?
Philadelphia; went to an all-boy Quaker school for twelve years. Adding in that my dad worked for the mob gives my growing up a little extra accent. Highly ethical education meet highly illegal father.
Where do you live now?
In Mt Airy, just near the northwest Philly border. Old 1920’s home, with the kindest neighbors you would ever imagine.
What would you like readers to know about you?
Having been told I was meant to be a successful author at 14, I always wrote and pursued many iterations of creating – copywriter, screenplay, film school, ad executive, ghostwriter. But it took a life-changing tragedy to actually push me to embrace the joys and risks of the author’s dream.
If you believe in your Self, the power of your stories, then you have to just go for it. It may take what seems forever, but once you make writing a habit, give yourself the chance to see what happens.
What are you working on now?
Two novels. Even Biowarfare Can’t stop Love and Murder, Volume 3 –Ginger and Alby’s third adventure takes place on the Queen Mary 2, the greatest ship in the world. A true murder mystery. At the same time, I am deep into an outline for a “memoir of imagination” about my work on a mayoral campaign in the 1990s. Yet time and imagination have turned my story into something far different; the working title is Decay of the Angel.
End of Interview:
For more from A.E.S. O’Neill visit his website, follow him on Twitter, and like his Facebook page.
Get your copy of Even Climate Change Can’t Stop Love and Murder from Amazon US or Amazon UK.
If you’d prefer to start with Even A Pandemic Can’t Stop Love And Murder, the first book in the series, get it from the same places, Amazon US or Amazon UK.