Resist by Tracy Lawson is book two of a trilogy set that follows the first book, Counteract. Even though I read Resist before reading Counteract, I was still able to follow the plot of the text. At the very beginning of Resist, the reader jumps right in to Tommy and Careen's current situation, which is being on the run from the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense. Playing on the emotions of readers, who are familiar with terrorist attacks, Lawson draws the reader into the trickery of the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense and the falsehood surrounding the anecdote. Furthermore, the text follows the Resistance movement to overthrow a very powerful government.
Lawson paints a powerful picture of what could possibly happen when citizens trust the government to help deal with terrorism. Citizens have relinquish their abilities to think for themselves, to act for themselves, and the general liberties and freedoms that are normally afforded to citizens.
From the very beginning this book is hard to put down. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading Resist and being drawn into a plot that could possibly become a reality for country's that can be overtaken by powerful governments.
Author's Questions and Answers
1. Can you give us a brief summary of Resist?
QUICK SUMMARY OF COUNTERACT:
The Resistance Series takes place in a near-future version
of the United States. The powerful Office of Civilian Safety and Defense has
enacted a long list of Civilian Restrictions designed to keep the people safe
from frequent terrorist attacks, but it hasn’t worked: as the story opens, the
threat of a chemical weapons attack is literally hanging over everyone’s heads.
Careen takes the OCSD’s
offered antidote, but the side effects cause her to hallucinate. Her erratic
behavior attracts the attention of a young law enforcement officer, who
mistakenly pegs her as a dissident. Careen doesn’t realize the antidote is
causing her confusion…until she runs out on the day of the anticipated attack.
Tommy, recuperating from
injuries sustained in a recent auto accident, is unaware that there’s a link
between that accident, which killed his parents, and the chemical weapons
attack that threatens him now. When he discovers that working out before he
takes his dose of the antidote helps him feel more like himself, he defies the
rules to regain his strength and his sanity. On the day of the attack, he meets
Careen, who just might be the girl of his dreams, and tries to save her by
sharing his last dose of the antidote, even though doing so could potentially
hasten his own death.
What Careen and Tommy learn about the true nature
of the terrorist threat spurs them to take action; their decisions lead them to
run afoul of local law enforcement, team up with an underground resistance
group, and ultimately take their quest for the truth to the highest reaches of
the United States government.
QUICK SUMMARY OF RESIST:
In Resist,
the second volume in the Resistance Series, Tommy and Careen are no longer naïve,
frightened teenagers who believe the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense can
protect them from terrorist attacks. They’ve discovered the OCSD’s miracle antidote’s
true purpose: to create a population bereft of free will, incapable of defying
the tyrannical OCSD. They join the
Resistance, but on their first mission, things spin out of control and soon
they’re on the run, dodging the quadrant marshals in a headlong dash for the
Resistance’s secret headquarters.
Being part of
the Resistance presents them with new challenges. Not everyone working for
change will prove trustworthy, and plans to spark revolution go awry with
consequences greater than they could’ve imagined. Tommy and Careen’s
relationship is tested when their philosophical differences and the pressures
of interpersonal rivalries and jealousy put a strain on their romance. Can they
make time for each other while trying to start a revolution?
2. What was the inspiration
behind The Resistance Series?
I was mentoring a friend of my
daughter’s when the initial idea for Counteract
came about. Chase is a pretty sharp guy and an excellent writer—and when he was
in high school I had a lot of fun working with him and editing some of his
short stories. We had finished working on a story about baseball, a broken
nose, and a broken heart, and were ready to start something new, when he
suggested we write scenes in response to the prompt: “What if everyone were on
LSD and all thoughts were communal?” It was certainly thought provoking! Chase
created the characters Tommy and Eduardo, I created Careen, and right away, we
knew we were onto something. Obviously, the story morphed and changed a lot
before it became the finished version of Counteract—but
that was how it all began.
3. Did you always plan to
write another book in the series?
I let my husband read the
first draft of Counteract when I was
about a third of the way through the original outline. He was enthusiastic and
supportive and suggested developing a story line that could be carried forward
if I chose to make Counteract the
first in a series.
I liked the idea of doing
more than one book about Tommy and Careen, and as I wrote the rest of the first
draft, I pinpointed elements of the story I’d need to develop and expand to
pave the way for a series.
4. How do the characters of Tommy and Careen develop
in Resist?
Tommy
and Careen are law-abiding citizens until they accidentally discover that the
Office of Civilian Safety and Defense lied about the terrorist attack and why
it mandated the use of the Counteractive System of Defense drug. They go from
being accepting and compliant to impulsively joining a rebel group that’s
working to overthrow the oppressive government agency, without having a chance
to think about what they’re doing and why.
They’ve
only known each other for a week, and their relationship has progressed far too
quickly—they became a team, then a couple, without really getting to know each
other, and soon they realize they don’t have much in common.
Tommy’s
all for the physical aspects of revolution, and is eager to learn about guns
and explosives. Careen finds kindred spirits among the older leaders of the
group, who are committed to sway the public’s allegiance away from the OCSD by
waging a war of information. Her pacifistic approach clashes with his need to
prove himself on the field of battle, and further complicates their
partnership.
5. What do you enjoy about
this series that cannot be found in any of your other books?
The Resistance Series is my
first published fiction. My other book, Fips,
Bots, Doggeries, and More, is based on a journal kept by my great-great-great
grandfather during his family’s 1838 horse and wagon trip from Cincinnati to
New York City.
I did a ton of research
before writing that book, and amassed two filing cabinet drawers full of
information related to the 22-page journal! During the publication process, I
nearly went crazy double-checking all my facts and citations, and by the time
the book went to print, I never wanted to see another footnote. Fiction? Yes,
please!
Now that I’ve had a little
break from footnotes, I’m enjoying writing another nonfiction history book. I’m
planning to merge my two favorite genres and write some YA historical fiction sometime
after I finish the Resistance Series.
6. The main characters in The
Resistance Series are Tommy and Careen. Where did you find your inspiration for
them?
My characters are a little
bit of me, and little bits of people around me, but as I spend time with them in
the context of the story, they become less like people in the real world; I
don’t stop developing them until they are individuals: unique and unlike anyone
else.
Chase created Tommy, and at
first I wasn’t as close to him as I was Careen. That changed as I wrote more
scenes for Tommy—especially the scene when he and Careen meet. His reactions
and his choices came from inside me; before long, he was unique and independent
of any outside influence.
7. How does the Office of
Civilian Safety and Defense (OCSD) differ from other dystopian governments in
young adult series like The Hunger Games and Divergent?
In the Resistance Series, there has been no rebellion, no cataclysmic event. The dystopian world in which they live has been created by fear, engineered by an enemy masquerading as a protector.
The Office of Civilian Safety
and Defense was created to protect against the rampant terrorism that has
affected the nation for the better part of the twenty-first century. Little by
little, the OCSD usurped power from the traditional three branches of the US
government.
The OCSD’s long list of Civilian
Restrictions was designed to maximize safety and security. Most people don’t
consider themselves oppressed or fettered by their lack of freedom. Teenagers
like Tommy and Careen don’t know things were ever different. They can’t
remember a time when teenagers learned how to drive and went on dates to malls
and movie theaters.
8. What elements test the relationship between Tommy
and Careen in Resist?
Tommy
and Careen had only each other to rely on in Counteract, and their relationship
progressed quickly—perhaps a little too quickly.
Now
they’ve joined the Resistance, and they’re part of a community for the first
time. They have a hard time adjusting to the constant scrutiny, and Tommy
laments about how their relationship seemed a lot less complicated when they
were alone.
Their
philosophical differences about how to fight the OCSD drive a wedge between
them, and interpersonal rivalries and jealousy test their budding relationship.
9. What do you hope readers take away from this book?
First and foremost, I want readers enjoy the story! I
hope they relate to Tommy and Careen, and look forward to reading the next
installment in the series.
Books
for young adults often reflect the reader’s need to question authority and
rebel against the rules set down by older generations; the Resistance Series
looks at what can happen when people surrender our civil liberties in exchange
for the promise of safety and security.
I
hope readers understand that protagonists in dystopian books are often branded
as outcasts or rebels because they question the restrictive rules of their
societies—and that individuals who change the world rarely do so by going along
with the herd.
10. What kind of research did
you do for the series?
Please don’t call the police
if you see what’s in my browser history! I’ve Googled the effects of various
controlled substances, different types of explosives, and interrogation
techniques.
I learned to shoot a handgun
so that my characters’ first experiences with weapons would be authentic. At
first it was scary, but now I enjoy going to the target range. I’m no Annie
Oakley yet, but I’m at least as good as Scarlett O’Hara, who once saucily told
Rhett Butler, “I can shoot straight, if I don’t have to shoot too far.”
11. What made you want to write books for
young readers?
I love reading YA, and I taught
dance classes for twenty years before I got serious about writing. I spent a
lot of time around my students, my daughter, and her friends, so it seemed natural
to write for a teen audience.
12. How long did it take you
to write Resist?
I wrote Resist in a little over a year. It went a lot faster than Counteract (which took almost three
years) because I knew the characters
well and had planned ways to continue the story into the second book.
13. Do you have any
interesting writing quirks?
I like to write with pen and
paper—preferably outside. I sit quietly until one of the characters starts to
speak, and then I write down what they say. Some days I’ll scribble for pages
and pages, and when I look at the clock I’ll be surprised how much time has
flown by! I usually let those pages sit for at least a few hours, sometimes a
few days, before I transcribe them into the computer, and that’s where the
scenes really begin to take shape.
As far as writing snacks go,
I’m partial to sunflower seeds and Diet Dr Pepper!
14. What does your family
think of your writing?
My family has been very
supportive. My husband knows how to urge me on when I get discouraged, and my
daughter says I’m a better choreographer now that I’ve become an author. I
guess writing helped me refine how to advance a story through dance.
I haven’t shared much about
what happens in Resist with my
family. My five teenaged nieces can’t wait to read it, and I can’t wait to hear
what they think!
15. Tell us where we can find
your book and more information about you.
My books are available on
Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle, and on Barnes & Noble’s online store.
If you live near Columbus, Ohio, you can buy signed copies of my books at three
independent stores: The Book Loft of German Village, Mary B’s, and Urban
Emporium.
You can get the
behind-the-scenes scoop on all things Resistance Series, see book trailers, and
check out my blog at http://counteractbook.com. You can also find me on Twitter @TracySLawson and on
Instagram as TracyLawsonAuthor.
