Q and A With Dete Meserve
Dete Meserve is an accomplished creator and producer of films and award-winning television shows as well as a best-selling and award-winning novelist.
Meserve adapted her first novel, Good Sam, into a screenplay and produced it as a Netflix Original Film starring Tiya Sircar (The Good Place). The film was released worldwide in May 2019. Her book, Random Acts of Kindness, co-written with award-winning journalist Rachel Greco was published in March 2019. Meserve fifth book entitled The Good Stranger is out today!
We are delighted to feature this interview with Dete!
Why did you decide to write stories that focus on ‘good’ or kindness?
I was increasingly troubled by the fact that most stories on the news, on prime-time TV, and in bestselling books were about the search for someone doing bad things: killers, kidnappers, serial killers, rapists.
And when you were trying to “solve the mystery,” you had to get inside the head of the bad person. You had to think like him. Try to figure out why he did it. How he did it. In effect, we were magnifying the thought processes and acts of evil people in our pursuit to find them.
I wondered: why do we want to spend so much time thinking about people who are wreaking havoc in the world? Even if justice is ultimately served, why were so many pages and so much screen time devoted to the cruelest things people could do to each other?
That’s when I got the idea: what if instead of killers and rapists, we were searching for someone doing extraordinary, but anonymous, good?
How would we go about finding them? What might be the reasons behind their mysterious good? Would they have ulterior motives? Or could they really be doing good without expecting anything in return? That became the basis of my first novel, GOOD SAM, which is now an original feature film for Netflix. The story asks the question: how might we all be changed by searching for someone doing good?
But you didn’t stop there. Good Sam inspired a sequel—Perfectly Good Crime—and a Netflix movie, and now a third in the series, The Good Stranger, coming May 19, 2020.
Once Good Sam became a bestseller and stayed there for months, I started work on Perfectly Good Crime where reporter Kate Bradley uncovers a series of high-tech, sophisticated robberies in some of the wealthiest estates in America and connects the dots to large-scale giving to the poor and disabled. Is there a “Robin Hood” involved or does someone have a bigger plan to bring help and hope to people living in poverty? Wrapped in all the elements of a mystery and romance, I wanted to explore what good might come out of big crimes like that and allow readers to make their own decisions about whether it was “perfectly good” or “perfectly bad” way to go about making change for the most vulnerable people in our society.
So while Good Sam looks at ways to help those who are important in our lives and Perfectly Good Crime examines how we can take care of the poor and disabled, it seemed to me that the missing link was looking at our connection to each other – even if we’re complete strangers. In The Good Stranger, TV reporter Kate Bradley arrives in Manhattan ready to take on a challenging new position as a national news correspondent. When a massive power outage plunges New York City into darkness, the disaster she expected to cover takes an unexpected turn. Someone is leaving thousands of mysterious gifts throughout the city, and the only clue to the giver’s identity is the occasional note from “A Stranger.”
What impact do you hope to make when you write these books?
Over and over, we see stories and in real-life where the good-looking, wealthy, ambitious person is the hero. But I want to shake up that ideal and have us admire quiet courage instead. I aim to celebrate the people who are doing acts of kindness every day for strangers, who put their lives on the line for others, and who do it all without seeking attention or expecting anything in return. In essence, I want people to rethink kindness as something we admire more than wealth or notoriety. I want readers to be more intrigued by finding someone doing profound good than they were of yet another person adding violence and cruelty in the world.
Then you decided to write a non-fiction book, Random Acts of Kindness. Why did you branch out this way?
So many readers began sharing stories with me about real-life Good Samaritans that I realized there was another book I wanted to write. A non-fiction book where we could tell inspiring, true stories about ordinary people of all ages who have found unique ways to show compassion and make a difference. I reached out to award-winning journalist Rachel Greco and asked her to co-write Random Acts of Kindness with me with an eye toward looking at how both the giver and the receiver are forever transformed by an act of kindness.
To me, the real sign of engagement is when people have an emotional reaction to the story that’s powerful enough to propel them to do something. Many readers share stories about how they were inspired to help others and that’s extremely gratifying. If books and movies can spread more kindness in the world? That’s more meaningful than just about anything else we can do.
What has been the reaction to books about ‘kindness and ‘good’?
The response has far exceeded anything I imagined. Occasionally people will tell me my worldview about kindness is “naïve” or “optimistic.” They’ll tell me a story that demonstrates that the world is a dangerous place. But even behind their arguments, I sense they are desperately seeking hope that they’re wrong. I tell them about the UC Berkeley research that shows that we’re wired for good. That we get a positive chemical reaction in our brains when we help others or when we see others helping. I tell them that despite their dominance in entertainment, serial killers and kidnappers are statistically rare and that there are far more people doing acts of kindness.
Mostly—99% of the time—I hear from countless readers who not only enjoy the feel-good stories but become inspired to make the world a better place. They see that even the smallest acts of kindness can have a ripple effect and that we’re all connected in ways we’re just beginning to see.
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Find out more about Dete on her website https://detemeserve.com/
Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/DeteMeserve
Find out more about her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GoodSamBook/
Written by Dete Meserve and Rachel Greco
The true-life tie-in to Good Sam, the bestselling novel and Netflix feature film:
A disabled veteran in Oregon opens his front door to find that an anonymous Good Samaritan has left him a brand-new riding mower.
In Oklahoma City, a woman who has just lost her job is amazed when a stranger swoops in and pays for her groceries.
In snowy Boston, warm blankets mysteriously appear on park benches throughout the city with a note: “These blankets are not lost! If you are cold, without shelter, and looking for comfort, then they are for you. Enjoy, and know that you are loved.”
The true, inspiring tales in Random Acts of Kindness spotlight ordinary people from age nine to one hundred who have found unique ways to show compassion and make a difference. Some of these stories will warm your heart and make you laugh; others will make you smile; and a few might make you cry—in a good way—with the joy of knowing there is so much goodness and generosity in the world.
From the author of the bestselling novel Good Sam (now a motion picture on Netflix worldwide) and award-winning journalist Rachel Greco, these uplifting stories will fill you with hope and gratitude, restore your spirit, and give you faith in the power of kindness to transform you and the world around you.
Visit the Random Acts of Kindness group on Facebook!
THE GOOD STRANGER
From the bestselling author of Good Sam—now a Netflix feature film—comes another Kate Bradley story about the nature of generosity and finding unexpected connections with strangers.
TV reporter Kate Bradley arrives in Manhattan ready to take on a challenging new position as a national news correspondent. When a massive power outage plunges New York City into darkness, the disaster she expected to cover takes an unexpected turn. Someone is leaving thousands of mysterious gifts throughout the city, and the only clue to the giver’s identity is the occasional note from “A Stranger.”
Together with handsome TV series host Scott Jameson, Kate must make sense of these random generous acts, which quickly escalate in scale and capture the attention of viewers across the country. In early-morning stakeouts and late-night surveillance, they crisscross the city hunting down leads, but the elusive Stranger is always one step ahead.
Menacing letters and videos addressed to Kate threaten to derail the investigation, but she’s determined to uncover the identity of the benefactor. The closer Kate gets to the truth, the more clearly she sees that even the smallest act of generosity can bring about powerful change. And it just may take her own selfless act of kindness to solve the feel-good mystery of the year.
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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