As Martinus Publishing has some new contributing authors, I'll
be conducting interviews to help promote their anthologies/works. Today, I'm interviewing Charles Wilcox, an excellent
author who contributed the short story The
Lights on Broadway to "Altered America." Thank you for taking the time to be
interviewed, Charles.
MTI: Starting off,
could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
CHARLES WILCOX: I’m 23 and a lifelong
native of beautiful Boulder, Colorado. I
have a passion for history and international politics, and pursued this in
college to get a degree in international studies at American University.
MTI: Now, getting down to business; what first compelled you
to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?
CW: I have always loved learning
about history and the various twists and turns it can take. That interest got me started into writing
alternate history. It’s always been my
favorite genre to work with because of how many different possibilities there
are for settings while keeping a touch of familiarity.
MTI: Tell me, if you
had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it
be?
CW: That’s a tough one. But I would have to go with Terry Pratchett. The Discworld novels create a brilliant take
on the fantasy genre and can weave witty satire in with a good story very well.
MTI: Your story, The Lights on Broadway, appears in Altered
America, an anthology of alternate histories.
The fictional accounts in this collection let us imagine what it would
be like if something had happened differently at different points in
history. Tell us a little about how your
story changes history.
CW: Well I can’t say much without spoiling the
story, but The Lights on Broadway is
more subtle with the changes. It’s more
of a secret history than straight up alternate history. There have been some changes to technological
progress.
MTI: If you could go
back in time and try to change any one historical event (aside from killing
Hitler/stopping WWII—almost everybody tries that), which would you choose?
CW: I would go back and change the result of the
1954 World Cup so Hungary beats West Germany in the final. As a big fan of international soccer, it’s
very disappointing that one of the best, if not the best national team of all
time didn’t win a World Cup. And who
knows; maybe a more optimistic feeling among the Hungarian population would
alter the course of the Hungarian Revolution two years later for the better.
MTI: Conversely, name
a historical event that you would never want to see changed/would go back in
time to stop somebody from changing it.
CW: That’s a tough question. There’s always something on a grand scale
that could be changed for the better.
However, I probably would not prevent the assassination of President
McKinley. It gave the United States the
presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, and it’s not likely Teddy would have gotten
into office otherwise. Without Teddy
there would not have been a progressive era in the United States.
MTI: Shifting back to
your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?
CW: I have a few alternate history stories in the
works at the moment. Primarily I’m
writing a story set in a New York that stayed Dutch and became the center of a merchant
republic. There are also a bunch of
ideas for stories and settings in my head waiting to be fleshed out.
MTI: Other than your
story appearing in Altered America, do you have any other works being published
in the near future?
CW: Nothing at the moment, but I hope to have
something else out there soon.
MTI: On a lighter
note, have you watched any good television lately?
CW: Lately I’ve been watching Fringe, the Amazing
Race, Vikings, and Borgia (the Canal+ production, not the Showtime
series). Borgia in particular is a great
historical drama.
MTI: What sort of
music do you enjoy?
CW: I’ll listen to just about anything.
MTI: What are three
of your favorite movies?
CW: Run Lola Run, The Transporter, and Road to El
Dorado.
MTI: You have the
attention of potential readers? In
conclusion, do you happen to have any words of wisdom to share with them?
CW: Never immediately discount an idea you have
for a story. Even if it doesn’t seem
like it could work at first, let it sit in your mind for a while. Many times, just keeping a story in mind and
coming back to it will give you a fresh look and new inspiration for the story.
MTI: Solid advice for
any writer. Thank you for that excellent
interview, Charles. For those who want
to check out his story, The Lights on Broadway, along with many other alternate takes on history, pick up Altered America.
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