It’s a well-worn subject in Virginia’s Piedmont: The forces of conservation and development are at odds. Toss in a bit of family strife, a touch of sexual tension and a galloping pace and you’ve got the latest entry in local author J. Harris Anderson’s Paradise Gap series.
The writer took his cues from the ongoing conservation conversation to produce “Paving Paradise,” a continuation of the series he started in 2013.
The central question, Anderson says, is whether the fictional Crutchfield County in his books – but based on his beloved Fauquier countryside – can grow and thrive while maintaining the rural, verdant wildness that’s attracted and entranced visitors and residents for centuries.
The answer, Anderson writes, is a resounding yes, but it takes time and effort, in the book as in reality.
Anderson uses the tale of the Billington clan and a looming land grab by a shady developer to push forward the story launched in his first Paradise Gap novel, “Prophet of Paradise” almost a decade ago. He bases the books on the same issues vexing outdoor field sports worldwide – development pressure threatens open space, often to the detriment of both.
Anderson writes that the notion of “stability, revered traditions (and) permanence, where the land is used for productive purposes and cherished for more than its monetary value” makes a perfect backdrop to continue the story of master of foxhounds Thumper Billington and his Montfair Hounds. “Why would anyone want to tear this up and pave it over?”
The Paradise Gap series is based around horses and hounds, but knowledge or experience with either isn’t required to understand and enjoy the story. The central theme of conservation of resources is important to everyone living in what Anderson calls “the paradise of Virginia’s Piedmont.”
Write what you know
Anderson lives with wife, Ellen, and an assortment of dogs and horses in Warrenton Hunt territory west of town. Though not born into an equestrian family, he took up riding as a young boy, starting at Rock Creek Park, then at the Bar J in Merrifield “for $5 an hour,” Anderson recalled. “I remember the sign – ‘Ride at your own risk.’”
John Harris Anderson has created a fast read in ‘Paving Paradise,’ the galloping tale of treachery and triumph over development pressures in a fictional Virginia county in the Piedmont region.
He graduated from Arlington's Washington and Lee High School, studied English at the University of Virginia and earned an MBA from George Mason.
Anderson married and left the horse world for a 25-year career as a marketing specialist in the banking, hospitality and construction industries. There he wrote copy and served as consultant for a firm specializing in training programs and corporate communications. He raised a family in Richmond, returning to Northern Virginia for work in 1994.
He jumped back into riding, hunting with Fairfax, whipping-in to huntsman Kevin Palmer and serving as outrider for their point-to-point.
Anderson started working as a writer for Horse Country Saddlery's In and Around Horse Country magazine in 1998, and now serves as managing editor.
As a committee member for the Masters of Foxhounds Association’s Centennial Celebration, Anderson assisted with editing the commemorative book “A Centennial View.” He also created the accompanying DVD, A Centennial Run, an archival collection of information, histories, photos, and videos from every recognized foxhunting club in North America – 165 of them.
It was the fervor with which foxhunters embrace open, rural spaces, conservation and their passion for riding – something he saw during the MFHA's centennial, and something he reads time and again editing copy for Horse Country – that gave Anderson the nudge to write his first book, “Prophet of Paradise” which knitted religion and sport.
Like Anderson’s other books, “Paving Paradise” is set in the idyllic hunt country of Crutchfield County, Virginia. Hunt master Thumper’s sister, Myrna, is in trouble with a loan shark. She sees an easy way to service the debt – sell her share of Montfair, the Billington family estate.
When he hears of his sister’s crazy notion, Thumper has vivid dreams – the book’s opening scene is a dystopian nightmare of asphalt spreading over the Montfair territory.
The protagonist wakes in a panic, setting the scene for the looming battle pitting conservation-minded residents against those determined to change the landscape forever.
Anderson says ardor for conservation, along with a deep love of writing and publishing, started when he was a child. “Two passions directed my life from an early age – horses and words,” Anderson said. “Riding and writing. I wrote my first book when I was about 7. It was a tale of adventurers landing on an uncharted island where they encountered dinosaurs and other dangers. I was both author and illustrator.”
Anderson designed the cover, punched holes in pieces of cardboard, ran string and bound the pages. “My skills as an artist and bookbinder were soon dismissed,” he said. “But the writing drive remained.”
The “Paving Paradise” cover is more professionally produced, from a painting by artist Leland Neff.
All the Paradise Gap books are available on Amazon, print and eBook. Horse Country Saddlery has them in Warrenton.
"local" - Google News
August 06, 2021 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/3lDrVYb
Local author marries passions in latest foxhunting novel - Fauquier Times
"local" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WoMCc3
https://ift.tt/2KVQLik
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Local author marries passions in latest foxhunting novel - Fauquier Times"
Post a Comment