An informal interview Q&A style with New Zealand author Chris Else ("Waterline" published in 2019)

In a recent email exchange, Dan Bloom, a Taiwan-based climate activist of the literary kind, asked New Zealand novelist Chris Else some short questions about his new novel titled ''WATERLINE.'' Here is their exchange, slightly edited  for clarity and amplification.

DAN BLOOM: Tom McKinlay reviewed your book in a New Zealand newspaper recently and his opening line was intriguing, I thought.

 

" 'Waterline' '' is a mix of cli-fi, 'black comedy' and domestic drama. With a lot of rain,'' Tom wrote.

https://cli-fi-books.blogspot.com/2019/10/waterline-by-chris-else-is-mix-of-cli.html

 

For readers new to this kind of genre bending, genre blending, can you tell us a little bit more about what Tom might have meant by that opening line?

 

CHRIS ELSE: I didn’t set out to write a cli-fi novel as such. My main focus was to tell the story of a family under pressure from a number of sources. Climate is directly involved, in that their troubles start with the loss of their house in a major storm, but subsequently it mostly provides a background to the story and perhaps serves as a metaphor for their troubles. A more direct impact on their lives is the artificial intelligence in administrative and legal computer systems, which continually gets in the way and makes their problems worse. The ''black comedy'' comes from a satirical take on the society they finish up in.

 

 

QUESTION: ''Waterline'' is not your average cli-fi thriller. It's a  mix of suspense, black comedy, domestic drama and unorthodox romance, set some time in the future to provide an unsettling yet convincing backdrop to some very familiar themes. What was your goal in writing this novel and who was your target audience in terms of age and country?

CHRIS ELSE: My main goal was to tell a good story, but I also wanted to shine some light on what the concept of ''status'' means in the modern world and how it underpins a lot of our problems. I had no particular audience in mind. I guess my ideal readers are intelligent, thinking people of all ages who share my sense of humour. I didn’t write the book for New Zealanders particularly, but I guess my imagination (psychological, social, political and geographical) inevitably has a New Zealand flavour. I expect at least some people in other places will find it interesting.


QUESTION: Do you hope to find readers, attract readers overseas in the UK and the USA and Canada? How?

CHRIS ELSE: Yes, an international audience would be great. Promotion is in the hands of my publisher. Right now we are developing the local market, but we’ll be moving on to international promotion soon.
 
QUESTION: Your book was published in New Zealand and was well-receiwed there by local book reviewers and literary crtics. Will the book be sold in Australian bookshops, and have there been any reviews yet in Australia or Tasmanian newspapers yet?

CHRIS ELSE: We will get to the Australian market in the next little while. I don’t think there will have been any reviews there yet.
 
LAST QUESTION: ''Cli-fi'' is a relatively new literary genre standing for ''climate fiction.'' I coined the term in 2011 as a PR tool and a literary platform for writers and readers. Do you see your novel as cli-fi or sci-fi or a hybrid mix of both genres? 

CHRIS ELSE: I don't see my book as belonging in the science-fiction section of a bookshop or a library. I see it primarily as general fiction, which happens to have a speculative dimension. There is very little in the book that is futuristic. Almost all the science and technology is available today, and all I am doing is pushing it a little towards its extremes for satirical and dramatic effect.