The Green House received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Dan Lawton.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The Green House was published by Black Rose Writing on July 30, 2020.
What’s the book’s first line?
Chapter Note: Pink was a delicacy.
Actual First Line: Girard’s hand was not as steady as he yearned it to be.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
The green house is more than a greenhouse.
Seven flowers, seven colors, seven meanings, and one 37-year-old secret—the green house is the keeper of it all. Its creator, Girard, is a fragile elderly man whose life was shattered by tragedy nearly four decades ago. And when tragedy strikes again—this time to his beloved wife, Miriam—Girard struggles to cope.
The pain of the two interwoven tragedies drives Girard to places of his psyche he desperately tries but is unable to escape. And while the green house he constructed reminds him every day of the regret and the agony and the heartache, it’s the only place in his world that offers him peace and tranquility.
Girard turns to the green house as his savior, and with it, he discovers the power behind it not even he knew existed—hope for a second chance.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
The Green House was inspired by someone who, at the time, was incredibly close to me. This person struggled with metal health, which I struggled to understand. For me, the best way to try and understand was to write about it—and project this person’s struggles on the very flawed protagonist in the story to try and put myself in his shoes.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
I wrote it as a literary expression—in a fictionalized world, though many of the details comes from a real place—of life and loss and mental health, and early reviewers have connected with the personal influence the story has. In many ways the story is inspirational, which may offer hope.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Girard Remington is the protagonist, and while flawed and damaged, he’s one of my favorite characters I’ve ever written. He’s redeemable and hopeful, though perhaps naïve about life, despite his many years. At 67 years old, he reminds me of anyone’s grandfather or father or neighbor or friend, which I hope makes him relatable to everyone.
When did you first decide to become an author?
Writing was something I’ve done since I was a preteen, so I knew at a young age writing was something I wanted to do—and had to for full satisfaction.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
The Green House is my fifth novel. My first two novels were self-published (Deception, 2015) and Operation Salazar (2016); since, I’ve been published thrice—Amber Alert (Solstice Publishing, 2016), Plum Springs (Moonshine Cove Publishing, 2018), and The Green House (Black Rose Writing, 2020). The Green House was a finalist in the Mystery category for the 2020 Book Excellence Awards; Plum Springs won the 2019 New Hampshire Writers’ Project Readers’ Choice Award for Fiction.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
By day, I’m a copy editor and copywriter for an ad agency in New Hampshire. I also freelance edit for other novelists.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
If you love it, do it; writers write. There’s no such thing as an aspiring writer—no one’s stopping you from writing. Getting published is another thing.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
I write because I have to—without it, I’m unfulfilled—regardless of commercial or monetary success.