1. Along the
Watchtower is a powerful blend of contemporary fiction and fantasy
that demands the reader's attention from start to finish. What was your
inspiration for writing this work, and for combining World of Warcraft with a
casualty of war and a dream world?
I’ve always been fascinated by how we perceive reality.
Think of the film Rashomon, the classic exploration of
multiple realities, where several witnesses to a crime describe events
completely differently, each bringing their own life experience and biases into
play. But it’s when we’re ripped from our normal life and placed in extreme
circumstances that our reality becomes totally fragmented. Such is the case
with hospitals and war.
At the same time, I’d become engrossed in playing the online
fantasy game, World of Warcraft, with my son, an avid
player. With me on the east coast and him on the west, he suggested we meet
weekly in the fantasy world of Azeroth—an invitation I could hardly resist. For
several months, we had a Wednesday evening appointment, where our avatars would
meet in this virtual world and go on quests together. I was struck by how
totally immersed I could get in the game, how quickly time passed, and the
surreal mood of wandering around in castles and crypts, solving riddles and
following quests.
The fantasy gaming experience has a dream-like quality to
it. And I began to wonder: how would this experience affect the dreams of
someone whose reality has been fragmented by war, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury.
These concepts—war, hospitals, and the fantasy world of
online gaming—came together in Along the Watchtower.
2. Without giving away too much,
can you introduce us to the main character Lieutenant Freddie, and tell us how
he's similar and different in both worlds he inhabits?
When Freddie comes out of his medically-induced coma in the
VA hospital, he’s nearly given up hope. Everything he had to live for was gone,
and he was racked with bad memories and guilt, in addition to his physical
injuries.Prince Frederick doesn’t have the luxury of giving up. If he yields to despair, the kingdom that depends on him will fall into darkness. Because of this, he’s more willing to struggle through his trials. It’s through the prince in the fantasy world that Freddie is finally able to confront and overcome his personal demons in the real world.
3. Your first novel, There Comes a
Prophet, explores the roots of the dystopian fiction category while
also reinventing it for a younger generation of readers. This genre boasts many
great classics including Slaughterhouse V,
1984, and Brave New World to name a few.
What are your favorite classic books?
Dystopia literally means dysfunctional utopia, not
necessarily an evil, power-hungry regime oppressing its people, but a
well-intentioned system that has lost its way, resulting in a world gone awry.
My favorite such dystopian is Arthur C. Clarke’s The City and the
Stars. In this near perfect world, there’s no disease, hunger or
poverty, and people are effectively immortal. But all are afraid to venture
outside the walls of their city or even look beyond them. The thought of the
open expanse of stars in the night sky terrifies them. All of this had been put
in place to protect them from some past too horrible to mention. Yet the
unfulfilled aspirations of a single individual drive him to discover the lost
truth and let humanity move forward again.
Lois Lowry’s The Giver is another great
example. In a simple but beautiful writing style, she tells the story of a
seemingly perfect world where bad memories have been abolished, except for one
person, the keeper of memories. But the people are left unable to feel anything
much—good or bad.
4. People read books for many different reasons. Of
all the different reasons you've seen in reviews, can you relate one story that
really stood out for you about a reader's experience?
One reviewer read Along the Watchtower
and it brought back memories of being a young college student, witnessing the
twin towers fall on 9/11. The book touched him deeply, because it reminded him
that, as a result of that tragic event, we’ve been at war his entire adult
life. The shock he felt on 9/11 all came back to him in reading the struggles
of the recovering Lt. Freddie Williams.
Interestingly enough, that same reviewer had a powerful
reaction to the dystopian world of There Comes a Prophet.
In that book, a ruling power limits learning and growth. This reviewer associated
my story with the courageous young Malala Yousafzai, the Pakastani girl who the
Taliban tried to kill for advocating education for women.
5. Along the Watchtower features
a veteran's healing process on the physical, emotional, and intellectual
levels. What role do you think fantasy role-playing games and dreaming can play
in a healing process?
When we’re confronted with trauma too terrible to
comprehend, our mind sometimes shuts the experience out to let us heal. But the
memory still lingers in our subconscious. Sometimes it’s easier to confront
those feelings through fantasy, like dreams or video games, rather than facing
them head on in the cruel light of reality. Then once confronted, we’re better
able to move on.
6. Symbolism and description play a huge role in
the opening chapters of Along the Watchtower. As the lines
between reality and fantasy become more and more blurry, did you find it
difficult to remember which 'character' you were talking as?
Freddie and Prince Frederick were undergoing the same trials
at an emotional level, even though their circumstances differed. The hardest
part in writing the two was to maintain a distinct voice for each—for Freddie
the gritty language of the VA hospital and for Prince Frederick, more of a high
fantasy tone. This difference was important to make each world believable. But
since the book was written in a first person point of view, it was also
critical to quickly alert the reader whenever there was a switch in worlds.
7. Ocean imagery features prominently in your book
Along the Watchtower. What's your favorite place to visit,
and what scenery do you find most inspiring as an author?
I almost hate to mention this because it’s such a well-kept
secret. But my favorite spot is a place called The Knob in my home town of
Falmouth. It’s a raised spit of land rising up dramatically into the harbor
onto a domed rock, reachable only after a half-mile walk through the woods.
I’ve actually used it as a setting in my upcoming novel, The Daughter
of the Sea and the Sky.
8. You run a very active blog and website, though
the demands of marketing yourself can be overwhelming for many authors. How do
you find balance in your life, and time to enjoy your surroundings in a highly
technical world? Coming from a software background, I'm sure you might have
unique insights on balancing the 'real' world with the technical one.
I’ve spent most of my adult life in front of a computer,
first as a software engineer and now as an author. The key is to take advantage
of non-computer time to get out and enjoy yourself. But all writers want to be
read, so you have to spend time reaching out to readers. The software
equivalent was that I used to enjoy taking a break from developing software to
visit customers and see how they were using what I’d developed.
9. You've published two books, Along the
Watchtower and There Comes a Prophet. Is there
anything you'd like to share with readers and your future writing plans?
I’m in late stage edits with an alternate world story called
The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky. It’s about a world
divided between the Blessed Lands, a place of the spirit, and the Republic,
whose people worship at the altar of reason. A mysterious nine-year-old girl
from the Blessed Lands sails into the lives of a troubled couple in the
Republic and seems to heal everyone she meets. She reveals nothing about
herself, other than to say she’s the daughter of the sea and the sky. But she harbors
a secret wound she herself cannot heal.
I’m also currently planning what will be a sequel to
There Comes a Prophet. I’ve always wondered what happened to
Orah and Nathaniel after their world changing heroics and what became of the
contemporaries of the keepmasters who had crossed the ocean. Stay tuned.
10. What do you like to do to unwind? You know, in
those rare moments when you're not writing!
Since writing and social networking are indoor activities, I
try to get outside as often as possible. I go for long walks on the seashore,
play some golf, bicycle, and generally try to stay active. I’m fortunate to be
able to split my time between Cape Cod and Florida, both beautiful places in
their respective nice seasons.
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Along the Watchtower
tells of a tragic warrior lost in two worlds; a woman who
may be his only way back from Hell.
Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes.
There Comes a
Prophet A thousand years ago the Darkness came—a time
of violence and social collapse. Nathaniel has grown up in their world of
limits, longing for something more. For what are we without dreams?
Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes.
David Litwack, the once and
future writer, explores the blurry line between reality and the
Visit David on his website,
Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.
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