PW: How did a professor of chemistry and alternative cultures come to write mystery novels set in Ohio Amish country?
PG: I've studied subcultures in America, and the most prominent of these is the Amish culture that's so important in Ohio. I've become an expert in Amish culture, and am interested in illuminating aspects of their religion and culture in society.
PW: Does your interest in Amish culture come from personal experience, or is it more as an objective observer?
PG: I'm not Amish, but I've extensively traveled Holmes County, Ohio, where, by the way, the largest concentration of Amish people live; it's not Lancaster County [Pa.]. This is one of Ohio's most rural counties, and to get there you have to penetrate the dusty back roads to find the Amish community. I wanted to contrast the so-called English society that exists side-by-side with the Amish there.
PW: Are the conflicts between these two societies shown in Clouds Without Rain real?
PG: To some degree. Local "English" people, for example, become irritated at the slow pace of buggy traffic on narrow lanes, or at the tendency of the Amish to keep to themselves and carry on commerce among themselves rather than to include the English population. Most of the tension is minor, however, for the Amish are such an unassuming and peace-loving people that they don't cause trouble.
PW: Among the younger Amish people, do you see any of the same problems of the larger society, such as drugs, sex or violence?
PG: Oh, yes. Amish are people just like all the rest of us and they fall prey to all these temptations, especially in their youth. In fact, there are as many chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous in Holmes County as there are anywhere else in Ohio. Amish parents are subject to all the heartaches that the rest of us are in raising children.
PW: One of the strengths of your writing is the authenticity of the dialogue. Do you spend time talking with Amish people and taping their conversations?
PG: It comes from 20 years of hanging around with them. Many of my friends are Amish, so I have very good sources on Amish life and dialect. I also spend a lot of time listing words and phrases that are common in Holmes County, and have notes and records of words that a character might use in any given situation. This is the scientist in me, for I've tried to maintain uniformity and believability in every character.
PW: What has been the reaction of your Amish friends to your books?
PG: The fellow who drives the bookmobile in Holmes County tells me that he cannot keep enough copies of my books on his bus because they are so widely in demand by Amish families. I think the reception has been very good, and that's what encourages me to go on writing.
PW: Are you planning another book in this series, and when might we see it?
PG: Oh, yes. The next one will be a little more difficult to write because I'm going to take the story onto the campus of fictional Millersburgh College. It will be a tragic love story and will involve an exposé of small college life, a delicate project that will take me twice as long to write as any of the first three. It will focus on an Amish lass who's left home to go to college, with all the tension that develops between her and her family, for this is not the normal expectation for Amish girls. It will be a murder mystery, too, and I hope to bring out the Amish people's attitude toward higher education—which should surprise most readers.
