An Interview with G. Spencer Myers

G. Spencer Myers’s specialty is the eco-political thriller, featuring Dr. Derk Bryan, a college professor, obsessive environmentalist and intrepid investigator, the Indiana Jones of the EPA. His blogs feature controversial issues from an ecological point of view.

Myers’s first book, Pest (2005), featured a race against the clock to bring down a fraudulent pesticide manufacturer and his ex-wrestler turned body guard with anger management issues. His 2018 book, A Letter to My Grandson, inspired the 1st Palm Beach County Short Story Contest entitled, “In Search of Integrity.” Ann Bocock in an interview of Myers for her Between the Covers series on PBS said this about Dead Wrong (2022): “The use of an EPA investigator in a crime novel is new and timely… I really liked Derk Bryan and I really liked this book.”

In his yet-to-be-published book, The Girl with the Red Nails, the antagonist is Pendleton Danswirth III, but the real villain is plastics. Since its completion the EPA has chosen to regulate so-called forever chemicals in drinking water.

Myers is an avid conservationist and was the first person in the U.S. to put solar panels on a multi-family home listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, holds an MBA from Bowling Green State University and is Certified by the American College of Sports Medicine. He is a native of Michigan but lives in Boynton Beach, FL, where he is still in pursuit of par.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

When 1,000 American white pelicans fell from the sky like fodder over Lake Apopka in central Florida and 90% of the alligators died I had to find out why. The answer was pesticides and I decided to write a murder mystery/thriller (Pest) about the danger of pesticides in our water, air and soil. Since then I have written about other threats to our environment from global warming to plastics. The author who most influenced my style is Carl Hiaasen. I use characters who make us laugh while we despise them.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

When I learned that each of us ingests enough microscopic plastic particles each week to make a credit card I knew I had a topic. The Girl with the Red Nails involves a woman who is convinced that these chemicals killed her infant child, wrecked her marriage and destroyed her family business. The wit and wile of Dr. Derk Bryan helps her uncover the culprit.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The idea of a completely naked woman encased within a block of poly-carbonate showing up in someone’s fishing net seemed to summarize principal themes in the book. The only thing she had on was red nail polish. Hence, the title.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

Although my career began in banking, I always wanted to write. One of my poems won Honorable Mention in a college writing contest. There is poetry in my first book, Pest.

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

I have read countless books about the causes and likely outcomes of unchecked Global Warming caused by our addiction to pesticides, plastics and fossil fuels. I try to minimize the disaster scenarios and concentrate upon the actions everyday folks can take to combat the approaching chaos. Dr. Derk Bryan represents these things. He does the things most of us would not think about. He had published his “Top ten Ways to Reduce Global Warming” on You Tube and at: www.EcoBuzzBooks.com. If each of us does a few of things we may overcome this crisis.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I want my readers to be entertained and enlightened. I want them to laugh and still walk away with, “I did not know that.”

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.