What does a Navy journalist in Vietnam have in common with a corporate communications strategist for global brands? If you're Fred Yager, the answer is a lifetime of storytelling that spans war zones, Hollywood screening rooms, and the deep, silent forests of the mind. This week on In The Writer's Chair, host Lana McAra welcomes the award-winning writer and TV executive to discuss his multifaceted career and his latest leap into the "eco-thriller" genre.
Fred shares how a chance meeting with a Hollywood icon sparked a novel, the gritty reality of the "optioning" game in Los Angeles, and why he’s now rewriting his best screenplays into books.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
- The Screenplay-to-Novel Pivot: Why Fred is digging into his Hollywood vault to turn unproduced scripts into "unputdownable" prose.
- The Seeds of The Asian Queen: How a real-life interview with actress Liv Ullmann and a blood-stained river boat in the Mekong Delta merged into a gripping historical novel.
- Writing Under Fire: Fred’s origins as a Navy journalist in the Vietnam War and how he learned to tell the truth when the military was accused of "smoke and mirrors."
- Psychology in Art: How a degree in psychology and NYU film training helped him "get into the mind of the killer" in collaborative works like Untimely Death.
- The "Wood-Wide Web": A deep dive into his latest book, Botanica, which explores how trees communicate through fungal networks to survive mass extinction.
- The Audio Revolution: Why Fred believes the growth of audiobooks is the best thing to happen to the modern attention span.
Instructive Insight: The "Wood-Wide Web"
In his novel Botanica, Fred relies on the fascinating science of mycorrhizal networks. This isn't just fiction; it's a real-world biological communication system.
- Communication: Large "Mother Trees" use this network to send excess sugar to smaller, shaded saplings.
- Defense: When a tree is attacked by insects, it can send chemical warning signals through the fungi to neighboring trees, allowing them to prep their immune responses.
- Mass Migration: As Fred discusses, these networks may play a role in how plant populations shift in response to environmental catastrophes.
About Fred Yager
Fred Yager is a veteran journalist (AP, CBS News), television executive, and screenwriter. He is the founder of the World News and Information Network and a prolific ghostwriter. Based in Tampa, Florida, Fred continues to explore the intersection of technology, nature, and human psychology through his fiction.
Connect with Fred:
- Books: Find Botanica, The Asian Queen, and Untimely Death on Amazon.
- Format Choice: Botanica is available in hardcover, softcover, e-book, and a high-fidelity audiobook narrated by the talented Smartwatch.
Connect with Lana McAra:
- Podcast: In The Writer's Chair
- Publisher: Vendela Publishing
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