Imagine knowing how to combat climate change, but no one will listen. This is what the main character of the gripping new thrill by E. A. Smiroldo faces.
The Silent Count is a satire as well as a thriller. Called cli-fi or climate fiction, it combines elements of technology, suspense and political intrigue. People have compared the The Silent Count to the comedy on Netflix “Don’t Look Up.” In both, world leaders respond to a scenario without doing much to really help people.
In the book, the protagonist is named Dara Bouldin and she brilliantly comes up with a bold strategy to fix the climate crisis. There is only one issue, and that is that nobody at the government agency where she works is aware that she even exists. She is still grieving from the breakup of her engagement to her musician ex-boyfriend Jericho, who is climbing the charts quickly with his new hit, while she is stuck paying off student loans and the gambling debts incurred by her father.
As soon as Dara realizes what’s happening, she’s pulled into the heart of a global struggle where her innovations could prove disastrous in ways that she never could have predicted.
Read the interview with E. A. Smiroldo…
Q. Your novel, The Silent Count, has been compared to the critically acclaimed film “Don’t Look Up”. Can you comment on this comparison? Who would you like to see play the principal role in The Silent Count if it were adapted into a movie or a television show? Why?
A. While my book is satire in the same spirit as movies like “Don’t Look Up”, is also a cautionary tale. We as a society need to think about our choices now.
Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven on the Netflix show “Stranger Things,” would be an excellent choice to play Dara Bouldin (the main character in The Silent Count). As the plot develops, Dara discovers her inner power despite her youth, her introversion, and the emotional trauma she has endured as a result of loss and heartache. Millie Bobby Brown has demonstrated this degree of emotional depth in her role as Eleven on the program “Stranger Things.”
Q. What is the most important thing you want people to take away from your book, The Silent Count, and share with the rest of the world?
A. Why is it that we can’t do something about climate change that would actually solve the problem? If countries like France can make climate headway, then the US can, too. Hope is not lost, but we have to move fast.
Q. E. A. Smiroldo, as the author of The Silent Count, share with your audience a fact about yourself that no one else is aware of.
A. I have a hidden passion for collecting Barbies, and I even design and sew clothes for them.
Q. What book brought E. A. Smiroldo to tears, and why did she feel that way while reading it?
A. “Independent People,” a novel written by Halldor Laxness, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in the Fifties. A poor Icelandic sheep farmer, Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book’s protagonist, has great determination to achieve independence. He spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude and wants to be free. His daughter also wants to be free of him.
At the very end, there is a scene in which Bjartur makes amends with his estranged daughter. It is totally and completely devastating.
Q. What would your ideal vacation look like? Where on Earth would E. A. Smiroldo most want to vacation if she could go anywhere?
A. One of my goals is to travel to Antarctica!
Q. What would you want Ms. E. A. Smiroldo, if a genie were to grant you three wishes?
A. A real solution to climate change, of course. Plus, world peace and a cure for cancer.
Q. How does real science inspire your writing?
A. My novel is inspired by real science, but even more so by the human condition. Heartbreak, career setbacks, financial woes, jealousy, and grief all work their way into my story.
Q. Who should read your book, The Silent Count, and why?
A. I think readers who long for a better world and dream of making change through their own ingenuity will find a kindred spirit in my main character. They’ll understand and empathize with the emotional roller coaster that comes with dreaming big.
Q. Please tell me, E. A. Smiroldo, where you got the idea for the title of your book, The Silent Count.
A. The term “The Silent Count” alludes to a countdown of time that is taking place all around us even if we are unable to hear it. Because we have spent years doing little to combat climate change and making very little progress toward doing so, time is slipping away from us whether we are aware of this or choose to ignore it.
You can check out The Silent Count on Amazon.
For more information about E.A. Smiroldo, you can visit her website or find her on Facebook and Instagram.
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