Jeff VanderMeer

I just posted my comprehensive interview with Meg Gardiner, whose China Lake found a US publisher after Stephen King raved about the book in Entertainment Weekly. I found Gardiner a sharp and interesting interview subject.

Excerpt: Cults divide the world into Good–them–and Evil–the rest of us. To those in their blessed little band they offer love, salvation, and paradise. They promise members a unique role at the center of great cosmic events. Some promise followers a front row seat for Armageddon. Sometimes they just take people’s money and hollow out their spirits. But cults feed on us-versus-them thinking. They may believe they’re embattled, and nurture a raging sense of grievance. This makes them prone to conspiracy theories. They can become paranoid, and start to believe that great forces are not just persecuting them, but massing to strike. And at that point they can spiral into violence, self-destruction, or terrorism.