Judy Foreman
Author Interview - Judy Foreman
Author of The Scallop Plot
This is a thriller that takes place in Provincetown, MA. It pits a feisty scallop fisherwoman, Isabella Ferreira, and a female investigative reporter against a sleazy wind farm developer who wants to poison nearby scallop beds in order install his wind turbines right off the coast of Cape Cod.
The wind farm developer, Olaf Svensson, secretly hires a pair of just-married marine biologists, Leif and Astrid Borgen, who work at a nearby scallop hatchery, owned by fisherman-turned entrepreneur, Mark Strong. At the hatchery, Leif and Astrid are using CRISPR, the new gene editing technique, to insert a growth hormone gene into scallop embryos to make them bigger, and thus more profitable, a process that is legal, and already done in salmon.
But unbeknownst to Mark Strong, Svensson has secretly hired the pair to also insert into the embryos the deadly saxitoxin gene, which causes PSP, paralytic shellfish poisoning. If his plan works, no one will ever be able to eat scallops from this site again, thus freeing it up for Svensson’s turbines.
Enter Pulitzer-prize winning reporter from The Boston Times, Samantha Fuller, who makes friends with Isabella. Together, they slowly begin to uncover Svensson’s deadly plot -- but not before hundreds of people die.
And not before they learn to their horror that the seemingly simple narrative of fishermen against wind farms is far more sinister than they thought, as a group of well-funded, right-wing anti-wind climate deniers try to use Isabella's local scallopers group as a front for their tactics.
Along the way, love blossoms, a tragic accident occurs in the hatchery lab, a dramatic suicide happens and the subtleties of the pro and anti-wind power groups are exposed.
Author Interview - Judy Foreman
Author I draw inspiration from:
Tess Gerritsen, "Ice Cold"
Author Interview - Judy Foreman | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
in bed
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
The character, Louis Zamperini, from Laura Hillenbrand's best-seller: "UNBROKEN," the story of a young athlete's survival in World War II. I would ask questions about courage it takes to keep surviving against all odds.
Author Interview - Judy Foreman | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I've actually been writing all my life -- my high school newspaper, my college paper, many, many wonderful years as the Boston Globe health columnist and science writer. But after all these years in journalism, writing the truth, or truths, and trying to be as clear and succinct as possible, writing my first thriller, "CRISPR'd" and now my new one, "The Scallop Plot," have turned me into a different kind of storyteller. With fiction and thrillers in general, I've been delighted -- and challenged -- by having to spin out the story slowly, dropping hints, and false cues along the way and ramping up the suspense along the way. So I guess my first moments of realizing I wanted to become a fiction author came in the writing of "CRISPR'd."
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I like the solid feel of hardbacks, though they get heavy to hold while lying down. I love paperbacks because they're easier to hold and lighter to carry around. I only use audiobooks to lull myself to sleep.
The last book I read:
"The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters. I loved it.
Author Interview - Judy Foreman | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer. I don't know how Shakespeare did it!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Two women: Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli, from Tess Gerritsen's thrillers. They're fun.
Author Interview - Judy Foreman | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Scientist or psychologist
Favorite decade in fashion history:
the late 60's
Place I’d most like to travel:
Brazil...I"d love to go back because I lived there years ago while I was in the Peace Corps.
My signature drink:
Pear apple martini
Favorite artist:
Brahms
Number one on my bucket list:
snorkeling in the Galapagos
Anything else you'd like to add:
I had a blast writing "The Scallop Plot"
Find more from the author:
email: judy@judyforeman.com
website: www.judyforeman.com
bluesky: @judyforeman.bsky.social
facebook: @judyforeman1234
Linkedin: judy-foreman-88a0272
Instagram: judyforemanjournalist
Judy Foreman
