Midwest author Jeffrey D. Boldt brings his background in environmental law and his MFA in Fiction from Augsburg University to his latest novel, Big Lake Troubles, an eco-thriller set in Wisconsin. Praised as one of the best legal thrillers of the year by Kirkus Reviews, the novel blends legal drama with timely climate themes and dynamic characters.
Boldt will be at Boswell Books on Jan. 24 for a book talk and signing. We spoke with him about his inspiration, the Midwest, his background in environmental law and more.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
What inspired the story of Big Lake Troubles, and how did you approach weaving legal intricacies with environmental themes?
It is an eco-thriller, as I would describe it, with lots of local atmosphere. It is set in Wisconsin and the dramatic setting is a case involving coal shipping on Lake Superior. But the characters and the character development are at the heart of it, even though it has plenty of plot twists, hopefully to tell a fun and intriguing story.
Cases mean different things to different people, and that was part of what I did learn from hearing people’s concerns for 25 years across the state. One of the things that good fiction can do is help give us an empathetic understanding of different types of people or just to life. I think that is especially true in the environmental setting, like this book addresses climate with the coal tie in. We all have some responsibility when it comes to the climate crisis, and everyone has a different approach to it so that was part of my thematic concerns were what makes people engage with important issues like the climate crisis but also with each other. In both the personal and the public setting, some people are more resilient and open to change and growth. So, the case in my novel is one part of a much larger narrative where the characters other issues and concerns fit in.
There’s four main characters. There’s Jason, he’s a formal administrative judge, he doesn’t want to get involved with the case, he’d rather hang out in California. His girlfriend is an environmental lawyer with strong convictions about fighting climate change, she’s trying to get him involved as the story opens. Then on the other side of the case is Courtney, she’s a tough corporate attorney that represents the coal company. Both sides are trying to get Earl, who is a formal attorney whose fresh out of prison and trying to get his life together, but he has a lot of relevant background knowledge about coal shipping and environmental law. So, both sides are trying to get Earl involved as the story opens.
So, there’s this blending of the personal stories of each of the characters, and they have some connections among them, and then the personal issues and concerns that are reflected in this environmental case as well.
How does the Midwest influence your writing?
It’s really about the environment of the upper Midwest. The story ends in November of 2023, and starts about 2019, but there were some significant impacts of climate during that time here. In Wisconsin, we had those fires from Canada in that summer of 2023. I really wanted to have that local flavor of these sort of bigger issues and down to the intimate level of the individual person and their connections and dynamics to really humanize the local, but also the issues that we all face together.
How has your experience as a former administrative law judge shaped your ability to write legal thrillers?
Oh, very much so. First of all, there is the fundamental hopefulness, and I think this is important, that I wanted to have a hopeful story about climate. There are so many that are set in a post-apocalyptic world, and I know people enjoy both reading and writing those, but I wanted a realistic take on it that was still hopeful, which is a pretty fine needle to thread.
There is a hopefulness about doing environmental work because people do care, and they show up. I would go to hearings around the state where there would be 200 people in a huge audience or more sometimes. People would sit through these hearings because they cared about the places around our beautiful state. Also there is intrigue and there is sort of inherent drama in most legal cases, but also environmental cases in particular because of the various approaches that people bring to that situation.
Can you share any behind the scenes anecdotes from your writing journey, or insights into your process?
Well, it’s a lot of work. Ostensibly I retired years ago, but I have now written two novels and I have even more respect for people who have been authors over many years, seeing how many drafts it takes.
I did workshop it with a number of authors around the country. It was striking how people of different backgrounds, different races, different ages, different life experiences, but often times they had similar reactions to my work, as far as the characters that stood out for them and the narrative arc of the individual people. So, that was quite interesting I thought.
Do you see yourself continuing with the series, or do you have any plans for a new project in the future?
Right now, I’m looking forward to moving on at least for a book or two. I had a piece that I wrote about my late wife that went viral in HuffPost, BuzzFeed and it made me realize how much people respond to and need stories that touch on love and grief and resilience in the face of that. So, that’s a project I’m working on now. I also have a collection of stories that are all set in Wisconsin and they all touch base with Blue Lake. So, those are going to be my first projects. I suspect that I will get back to these characters, but I’m going to take a break for now from them.
What do you hope readers take away from Big Lake Troubles?
I think there is the feature of hope, particularly in environmental situations right now with respect to the climate. There is a lot of gloom and doom, and most of it is justified, and yet, we’ve also made tremendous progress in that area. I think the effort to humanize individual choices, flaws, journeys, growth and connection, I think that’s a contribution that I’m hoping to make around both environmental issues and the various approaches to life that people have, and try to have empathy for each other and try to move forward together in some of these looming issues like the climate crisis.
