Lavado Verde is learning first hand how corporate sponsorship can “enhance” the creative process.
Lavado Verde, the infamous environmentalist writer, is back with another guest post. As many of you may remember, Lavado’s next fiction effort is being sponsored by Fracking and Bottled Water interest groups. After a slight snafu, Lavado is out of the hospital and sharing his experience with corporate sponsorship:
I’ve been dismayed surprised to receive not just financial support from The Society for Convenient and Affordable Methane (S.C.A.M.), the sponsor of my upcoming novel, but also creative guidance.
My novel, formerly a teen girl’s survival story set amidst melting polar ice caps in the Arctic, an allegory about climate change, will now feature a struggling farmer in Pennsylvania who gains a miraculous second chance at life and love through a fracking deal.
Most of the people I’ve met in the Marcellus Shale region so far have mixed feelings about hydraulic fracturing. They’re making money, but the money isn’t as much as they need. They’re seeing changes to their hometowns and their lifestyles. Some good, some bad. They’re worried the money won’t last. They’re worried the drilling won’t stop. My hope is that my novel will give these people hope for a brighter future. After all, they can’t get out of the contracts they’ve signed and, believe me, I sympathize with that. So, I say, chin up. Make the best of it. No sense in questioning whether you should have signed that contract when you’ve already spent your endorsement, er, drilling check on a kitchen renovation.
Speaking of endorsement checks, I’m meeting a lot of people who’ve had really positive experiences with fracking. Sure, a number of them no longer feel safe drinking their well water. Yes, some of them have flammable water coming out of their faucets, but they’ve discovered the joys of bottled water. They’ve got those large bubblers, which are entertaining for children and pets.
Bottled water. Convenient, refreshing and even entertaining for the pre-literate.
Carrie Russell 