Welcome to R.M. Tembruell, who joins May’s Dragonfly’s Indie Corner. R.M. Tembreull is a devoted husband and proud father, a combat veteran with 26 years in the US Air Force, and an accomplished career professional in law enforcement, physical security, and antiterrorism. In his travels and endeavors, he has experienced the best and worst of humankind. He’s also an avid scuba diver with a lifelong passion for experiencing the planet’s natural wonders, employing his skill as an artist at every opportunity. His love of writing is only matched by his respect for nature. He has distilled the whole of himself into his literary works—the new genre of eco- fantasy. In this interview, we talk about his new novel Fractured State: In the Blighted Earth, book 1 (Atmosphere Press).
In Fractured State, the reality of existence on Earth is reinterpreted, where all living things are seen as the children of a sentient planet. Our immortal souls are gifts from Earth Mother, and all living beings progress through many lives within the Hierarchy of Sentience. If our world could feel, would this change how you perceive our world?
Tell us about your background. Which authors inspired you when growing up?
I am a devoted husband to my wife, Andrea, and the proud father of my son, Alexander. I am a combat veteran who served for 26 years in the U.S. Air Force. I have had an accomplished career as a national security professional, with 33 years of federal service and counting. During my time in the Air Force, I had several opportunities to develop my writing skills, including publishing articles in professional journals. Through my travels and experiences, I have witnessed the best and worst of humankind. My wife and I are also avid scuba divers, and we have traveled the world together to explore the planet’s most remote natural wonders. In fact, my diving experiences catapulted my appreciation for nature to another level and ignited my passion for preserving Her. I employ my skills as an artist and creator at every opportunity, and my love of writing is matched only by my respect for nature. I have distilled my experiences and beliefs into my literary works, where my ardor for nature-themed literature is embodied in the world of the Blighted Earth.
I was a visual artist first and have loved art and good stories since childhood. That is why I was initially drawn to comic books and graphic novels. Some of my biggest influences come from that genre. For example, Alan Moore’s creative genius in developing great characters set in dystopian and alternative realities (e.g., Watchmen). Moore’s 1984-1987 run on DC Comics’ Swamp Thing remains among the most influential literary works in my creative life. In particular, in the Swamp Thing story arc known as “American Gothic”, where Moore transformed an obscure character into a DC universe icon, turning him into a green god who is haunted by memories of his lost humanity.
In my writing, I have tried to replicate the power of “American Gothic”, immersing readers in a supernatural world where a troubled yet powerful protagonist collides with the extremes of America’s societal issues of the time. Neil Gaiman’s works have also been a huge influence on me (e.g., The Sandman, American Gods). Gaiman is a proven master at fusing lore, myths, and legends with uniquely powerful characters, themes, and story arcs to create brilliant literary works. Of course, I would be remiss by not mentioning the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, whose legendary writing set the high bar I strive for in all aspects of my writing. The Hobbit was the first novel I ever read, and that wonderful book ignited my passion for brilliantly complex fantasy, complete with great world-building, compelling characters, and epic storytelling.
What led you to write this novel?
I started writing seriously after I retired from the military in 2018. In the years following my service in the Air Force, my wife and I were taking care of her dad while also struggling through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that tumultuous period, I faced huge life changes and stressors, and I started writing as a means of processing my emotions and feelings at the time. While self-isolating, writing became my primary outlet, and my life experiences from the military and my travels to remote parts of the natural world informed my writing and fueled my storylines. Once I arrived at the concept of a sentient planet as a lens through which I would tell my stories and hopefully change how people perceived our world, everything took off from there.
In a nutshell, what’s going on in the novel?
In Fractured State, Chaos, the Destroyer, has launched his most aggressive and expansive campaign yet. Throughout Earth’s history, Chaos, who must work through others to perpetuate his insidious schemes, has tried and failed many times to bring about an unrecoverable state of destructive disorder, the Discordant, on our planet. His human agents have prepared for battle within the veil of modern civilization, and an army of Corrupted elemental sentients has pushed a stressed natural environment past the tipping point into continental catastrophe. In North America, the Chaotic flashpoint within human civilization occurs in Texas. After violently seceding from the United States, the “Lone Star Nation” becomes the world’s newest authoritarian country, and the internal crackdown on potential dissidents by the right-wing extremist regime is experienced through the Druids of Hearthstone Grove.
In the world of the Blighted Earth, the reality of our existence is contextually reinterpreted where all living things are the children of a sentient planet. Our immortal souls are the gifts of Earth Mother, and all living beings progress through many lives within the Hierarchy of Sentience. The continual struggle between order and chaos is an inescapable condition of the universe, and caught in the middle is the delicate balance needed for life to exist and prosper in a world. On Earth, the opposing sides in the timeless conflict are Earth Mother’s Natural Order and Chaos’s Force Corrupted– the En’Troop-EE. In Fractured State, the first book of the Blighted Earth series, Chaos’s Great Cascade is underway, and the High Sentients of the Natural Order have been reduced and in disarray. There may be no stopping Chaos this time!
What is the coolest thing you experienced during the writing process?
From a very young age, I was a visual artist first, and I will always be one. That is probably why I invest the time to illustrate my books. Before becoming a writer, I had always been a believer in the adage that a “picture is worth a thousand words.” To this day, much of my writing is the process of translating the storyboards that reside in my mind’s eye. When I was making the jump from short stories to novels, I realized just how limited pictures can be because there are possibilities for entire worlds in those thousand words. You can never develop characters in a visual sense with the depth, layers, and colors that an author can with the written word. I love the challenge!
I have not had any formal training in the fine arts or writing, and the greatest lesson I learned during the writing process was also my coolest experience: the importance of characters to a story. Amazing stories demand amazing and unique characters. In the process of creating my characters, I found myself immersed in their feelings and invested in their decisions. I was taking the journey with them, and we were building a world together. How I felt or what kind of day I was having in the real world dictated which part of the story I was working on. Sad days were devoted to the darkest parts– the struggles, conflicts, and failures– and good days were devoted to levity, reunions, and the battles won. Without fully realizing it until the project was finished, I had built an entire world that was as much a part of me as I was of it. I am excited to share it with the real world!
How do you think fiction addressing our natural places and ecological health is important for today’s world?
Storytelling is one of the definitive traits that make us human beings. It is one of the key abilities that aided our relatively rapid rise to become the planet’s dominant species. People love stories, and with all the uncertainty, instability, conflict, and challenges in our modern world, people need stories now more than ever. Great fiction provides an escape—a reprieve to recharge our batteries. If we as authors can make that escape one that generates an appreciation for natural places while also encouraging readers to think critically about our planet’s ecological health, our fiction can be a double-edged force for good. I have found entertaining through the written word while also exploring serious themes related to humanity’s roles and responsibilities in addressing climate change and ecological conservation to be very challenging. Hopefully, I am striking the right balance with my readers. It was this very challenge that led to the concept of a sentient planet in the world of the Blighted Earth. I am hoping that immersing my readers in a world where our Earth can feel will change how they feel about our Earth. “All hail, Earth Mother!”
How do you think creativity and imagination can help our world?
Human imagination and creativity are prominently counted among our species’ amazing gifts. People usually think of these gifts in terms of literature and the arts, but they are equally applicable to science and human innovation. Most impactful technology and tools created in our history were developed by well-intended people to make life better for everyone, or, conversely, they were the result of innovations to gain an advantage over adversaries on the battlefield. Just as the power of great storytelling helps us imagine fantastical worlds with magic and dragons, it can also help us imagine a better world, one where humankind has a balanced relationship with the natural world and helps our planet to heal Herself.
Collectively, we need to recognize climate change for the existential threat that it is because humankind has demonstrated the extraordinary ability to come together and do great things when facing a common enemy. We need to leverage our creativity and imagination as writers to reach a distracted audience overwhelmed by all the instability, conflict, and enormity of global challenges. We need powerful stories that can cut through the mountains of disinformation and misinformation to reach the misguided and deceived among us. Even with all the problems in the world, people still respond to great stories, and we need to use creative writing to entertain while also introducing complex issues to our audience in imaginative ways. Of equal importance, we need to convince people that individual decisions and actions matter and can make all the difference.
Is there anything else that you want to talk about regarding your novel?
At its core, Fractured State in the Blighted Earth, is a story of many threads woven by extremes of thought, ideology, emotions, climate, violence, and the list goes on. The story may be fictional, but the context of its happening– one of layered and multifaceted extremes– is not. These extremes are very real, driving real impacts and outcomes on our planet just as much as they drive the plot of the book. Even as you read this, they are shaping the human condition and degrading the quality of our lives, not just for humans, but for all life! This convergence of extremes presents a complex set of asymmetric conditions that adversely impact the conditions for life.
One might say this collection of extremes is humanity’s blight. So, I would ask my readers to ponder the following questions as they read Fractured State. Are homo sapiens not the dominant species? Is it not our duty to address this multi-source affliction on behalf of the planet? If you look at Earth Mother as one living body, as She is described in the Blighted Earth, She is hemorrhaging. Who would be in the best position to staunch the bleeding if not Her most gifted children?
In picking up a copy of Fractured State and starting to read it, you are starting a journey into a fantastical world that largely exists outside our known reality and beyond the limits of human perception. I sincerely hope the journey brings you as much entertainment and enjoyment as it did me in the creation of it, while also giving you opportunities to think critically about our world’s challenge and what you could do to fight the blight!
Thanks so much, R.M. Your life sounds fascinating, and it’s great to hear about your scuba diving and love for Nature.
