In her debut novel Gator Country, author Rebecca Renner weaves together a primordial talE of greed, danger and deceit in Florida’s Everglades, a place nearly untouched by time itself. Following Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) agent Jeff Babuata, Gator Country tells the story of Operation Alligator Thief, a multi-year undercover investigation into illegal alligator poaching. More importantly, however, Gator Country tells the story of a state divided: the rich wonders of Florida’s Everglades squaring off against rampant development. It breaks down the conventional barriers of what it truly means to be a “poacher”, reminding us all there is more to people than meets the eye. In November, Renner came to Sarasota to discuss her book and career at the Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources Off the Page Literary Celebration.

SRQ: Gator Country feels like a story split in two: half action-thriller and half love letter to the natural wonders of Florida. What was the original pitch you had for the book and how did that change over time? Rebecca Renner: I had originally thought that more of it would be about me investigating the sting. I had thought that there would be more conflict with my investigation of it and that people would stonewall me more than they did. The Florida Wildlife Commission is really funny, however, because they know that I can put in requests for all of these records (since they’re public records). So they were like, “Just take it, take whatever.” A lot of the records were actual physical notebooks that Jeff kept. He and I went through a lot of them together and he found things in them for me, which was very helpful. Every time Jeff would tell me something, even when it sounded off the wall, I'd dig deep and check in every direction possible if it could be true. And every time it checked out, which doesn’t make for a very exciting half of a book. With a book proposal, you tell the publisher that “I’m going to do X, Y and Z.” A big part of the book was meant to be me going down to the Everglades and embedding with the poachers. And I hadn’t done that, at least not to the degree that I thought I would. So I thought that I was messing it up and hadn’t found the people that I needed to. I was sitting in my apartment going over all my information and suddenly I had this epiphany that I’d talked to so many people who were exactly who I needed to talk to, but they didn’t fit the stereotypes that I realized I was viewing the story through the lens of. I had the people, they just didn’t look how I’d thought they’d look and didn’t act how I thought they’d act. That was the epiphany that made the story. I think a lot of people going into the book would think the same way as I did, that the guys I hung out with down in the Everglades who were former poachers were bad guys. And they're just nice older fellas and you'd never think of it. And that just really hit me. These are guys who might fit in with my family or my neighbors or whoever, and they're not who I was anticipating being the criminals of the Everglades.

They didn’t seem that way at all? I think a lot of the characters are larger than life, but they're that in ways that you don't expect. All the Gladesmen that I talk to are funny and they're storytellers, but they're also very caring people. A lot of them really wanted to make sure that I was doing okay while I was in the Everglades. I feel like that wasn't what I anticipated. They were very hospitable and kind. I think that comes from me being kind and open going down there instead of just looking for the thing that I thought I needed.

Did you feel a sense of responsibility to tell their story from a different perspective? I really did because the people of the Everglades have never really seen themselves reflected accurately by journalists who come from outside their world. I don't know if there are stories out there that are accurate about them, but that's how they feel. And so many people have reached out to me saying , “Wow, this is us. You got us. You did it. Thank you." That’s been really affirming to me as a journalist that when the people you're writing about say, "Hey, wow, you listened.” That is a great feeling.

In Gator Country, you write extensively about the tradition of storytelling, especially amongst the Gladesmen. Can you tell me about that tradition? One of the things that I've realized I didn’t put in the book, but perhaps should have is that the storytelling tradition is passed down from several different populations. One of the settler populations I’ve seen the same attributes of storytelling in, however, is the Irish tradition of storytelling. Floridians and Gladesmen use repetition a lot. They use repetition for emphasis and I do that in the book, although I don’t explicitly call it out. That’s one aspect of the storytelling. But from my own perspective, and something that I saw reflected in the storytelling culture of the Glades that is also present where I'm from, there’s a tradition that the old folks tell stories about the times when they were young. They give a lot of texture and backdrop to the world, just in their descriptions and the patterns and stories follow. Some of those patterns are the old mythic story patterns, like Robinhood taking on the man in Europe and beyond. I really like storytelling and really enjoyed doing that research and seeing the ancient story forms pop up in places that I wasn’t expecting.

What was the timeline of your connection with Jeff Babuata? I got in touch with Jeff early on in the pandemic before I sold the book. Getting to know him was slow and then all at once, because we both realized that we were trustworthy people and that we have a lot in common. He was eager to have his story told because he feels it's a story with a purpose, to protect the wild. Especially when it's an animal that people believe erroneously does not need protecting. Because there is no animal that doesn't need protecting. He's a great storyteller and that was the real meat of what I was doing. The way he told the stories really helped put a frame on what happened because the things that he emphasized were the things that felt the most important. There isn't really anything in the story that is like a gotcha, "Haha, FWC, you screwed things up."

No, it feels pretty honest. Jeff was pretty honest with everything and he told me how he felt about things. He was really a dream subject for a journalist because he not only knows how to tell a story, he knows how to back up what he's saying with evidence. Additionally, the way that he tells stories also is very helpful because he would have actions and then go, "And then I stood there and I thought..." and he'd say what he thought and how he felt. That’s how I was able to tell the story as if through his eyes, because he literally said those things to me.

One of the parts of the book that really struck me was when Jeff is in the swamp, poaching alligator eggs with his crew and suspects that his cover has been blown. How did you create such a visceral scene for the reader? The way he told me that story was so good. In so many of our interviews, we would end up talking for hours. I remember doing that interview and being literally on the edge of my seat, like, "Oh my God, does he make it out?" Even though I'm literally talking to him. I'm like, "He survives. I know it." But he's that good of a storyteller that I was just like, "Holy crap, I need to have all this in the book." He was describing parts where he hears a woman's voice in the woods. And I'm even getting shivers now because I'm like, "Who could it be?" Did you learn anything about yourself as a writer through doing this? One of the biggest things I learned is that I'm very hard on myself. I thought I was a good editor of my work, but I think I'm maybe a too intense editor of my work that I potentially take out things that are good or even great because I'm just hacking and slashing. So that's one of the reasons why I just had all of this stuff and I just gave it to the editor because there are big parts of this that lots of people have really liked that I was like, “I would've left that on the cutting room floor.” But apparently, what the hell do I know? So that's been a real learning experience.

Do you have any advice for young writers? Aim high. Don't sell yourself short. Don't reject yourself. Let someone else do that for you. Honestly. Especially for journalism, there are so many resources for journalism. If you want to figure out how to do something, the resource is out there. If you don't know how to do something, there's somebody who knows how. Find the person or people who will gladly answer your stupid questions. Because I think those were the ones that I learned the most from. Questions that I would be too embarrassed to tweet or post or whatever. Find that person who will say, "Wow, you're a dumbass, but this is what you should do." I've talked to so many young journalists who are excited and doing great work. I think the other thing is to find your reason why. Like why you are doing this job that is very hard, that can be exhausting. Know your why.