A Place Unmade, a debut thriller by Carla Seyler
Book & Author Info + Author Interview + Author Pet Corner!
A Place Unmade
A Place Unmade is a book about someone who commits a crime, causes a disaster and the people who try to stop him.
Valentina Sorelli is a part-time graduate student and full-time marketing director of a community park in New Orleans. Jack Stillman is a corporate executive who hijacks his company’s research for personal gain, and he doesn’t care about the consequences. Their separate paths intersect when Valentina meets Jack’s son Sam, who becomes the link between the worlds of scientific discovery and corporate espionage.
As the story unfolds, Valentina and her classmates unite to try to stop Jack. They get a little help from a corporate whistleblower as well as the FBI. Valentina’s friendship with one of her classmates evolves into something more as they fight for their lives. A Place Unmade takes the reader on a provocative journey into the dangers lurking in our decreasing lack of biodiversity and patentable genetics.
To purchase A Place Unmade, click any of the following links: Amazon, Black Rose Writing & Barnes and Noble
A Place Unmade — Author Interview with Carla Seyler
A Place Unmade focuses on Valentina Sorelli and Jack Stillman, tell us about those characters and how they come to impact each other:
Valentina is in her mid-20’s and the new marketing director at a New Orleans city park.
Like many New Orleanians, she is close to her family and expects others to be too. Through her part time graduate program, she meets Jack Stillman’s son, Sam. As they become friends, Valentina is surprised by their lack of connection and difficult family dynamic. Through her friendship with Sam, she discovers Jack’s role in the wheat crisis affecting farmers across the country.
Growing up in New Orleans gave me the opportunity to experience many different cultures and backgrounds, and I wanted that for my characters. A university setting was a realistic place where they could meet, interact, and participate in an ethics class that became the framework to the challenges they faced. As they worked together, I had a natural platform for them to express different perspectives and values.
A Place Unmade is set in New Orleans. How do the characters interact with that environment?
I wanted to portray the city realistically and use places and settings that aren’t typically depicted.
Some descriptions of New Orleans in popular fiction present this incredible city as a caricature instead of a place where residents go about their lives. The university Valentina attends is similar to the public university I attended for my undergraduate degree—very open, practical, and offering an opportunity for personal growth.
I borrowed heavily from City Park in New Orleans to create Valentina’s employer, Winslow Park. In addition to being a city that celebrates music and food, New Orleans is family-oriented and multi-cultural. Sometimes that gets lost and I wanted to emphasize that.
A Place Unmade also addresses our decreasing lack of biodiversity and patentable genetics. What drew you to those issues for your debut novel?
An article published in the NYT called “Save our Food Free the Seed” introduced me to the dangers of industrial agriculture and patentable genetics. Mass production of crops causes a lack of biodiversity. Four industrial agricultural companies now control 60% of all the seeds that are produced in this country.
One of those companies is American, two of those companies are German, and the last one is Chinese. They control all the pesticides and fertilizers. They use one or just a few versions of a grain or vegetable, and this makes our food supply increasingly vulnerable.
I wanted to create awareness and felt driven to write a book that would make the science accessible and the danger real. I hoped to highlight the importance of small farmers and the critical contribution they make to our country, not only from an economic standpoint, but culturally. It’s a way of life that is endangered and we should be doing more to support them.
How did your background in psychology and counseling aid in creating characters for your debut?
I tried to provide a background for Jack’s motivation to succeed at all costs. By putting my characters under stress, I had the opportunity to explore their reactions.
After working in the field of vocational rehabilitation for many years, I wanted to include a character who functions well in spite of a disability. Although this character appears much later in A Place Unmade, the role is quite important and this character may appear in my next book.
What can we find you doing when you aren’t reading and writing?
I enjoy traveling, and try to identify places off the beaten path, even when going to mainstream locations.
With New Orleans’ record breaking temperatures in the summer, I spend time in Colorado to get away from the heat and hurricanes. I love being with my family and friends, attending musical performances, as well as cooking, practicing yoga and gardening.
What are you working on now?
I am writing a new book tentatively called CHANCE ENCOUNTERS. It’s about Coco Benoit, a single, professional woman in her mid-40’s who stumbles onto a smuggling operation at her long-term employer, an offshore oilfield supplier. She encounters pirates in the southern Gulf of Mexico, smooth-talking Cajuns, and Ira, her boyfriend, who is too clever for his own good.
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:
Decide what your goals are. Is it to be a best-selling author? A local writer who develops a following, maybe gets known regionally? Or maybe just writing is your goal? Every writer now, unless you’re someone like Stephen King, has to market her work. You’re going to need a social media presence, so get started on that now. Pick one platform, whether it’s Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, whatever. Even if you self-publish, if you want people to read what you’ve written you have to let people know about it.
If you are really ambitious, you need to think about hiring a publicist. Otherwise, you’ll need to have some familiarity with social media. Agents look to see whether you have a social media presence. Join some online Facebook groups to get to know the lay of the land. Look at websites and social media posts for authors you like and see what they do. Keep in mind your priorities, what you want to happen. Keep your focus on what you enjoy about this crazy world of writing and publishing.
Great Advice!
Author Pet Corner!
The Granddogs!
Murray is a Catahoula and Charlie is a Brittany.
Carla Sayler — Author of A Place Unmade
Carla Seyler is a graduate of the University of New Orleans (UNO) and Loyola University, where she studied psychology and counseling. She worked in the field of vocational rehabilitation counseling for many years. Each individual, each situation was different and required a great deal of research to understand what were the challenges and how to address them.
She was driven to write A Place Unmade after reading a NYT article by Dan Barber called “Save our Food, Free the Seed.” The article pointed out the increasing lack of diversity in our food supply. Regulations and patents support large agribusinesses that are most profitable with uniform, monoculture crops. She was shocked to learn that a company can patent a seed. Or even a trait that a plant manifests. Seyler took a deep dive into the world of agriculture, seed banks, as well as grain crops and their predators to be able to tell a story that she hopes entertains and informs.
Seyler lives in New Orleans with her husband, Mark Winter. She has two independent daughters.
To learn more about Carla click on any of the following links: Instagram & Website
Header image from Pixabay
