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drewkittyGloball War of Terror - An Author / Character Interview
Good evening. I'm drewkitty, and I'm here with Echo 18, the pseudonym of the main character in my dystopian series, Globall War of Terror. So, Echo 18, how are you today?
E18: (warily) I'm fine.
DK: No burns from that Data Center escapade?
E18: (very warily) No.
DK: Oh, good. So, tell our audience a little bit about yourself.
E18: (long pause) I'm a leader. I don't much like myself, or anyone else for that matter, but when you see a tsunami inbound, you tell people to get the fuck off the beach.
DK: Haven't seen you on a beach yet.
E18: I believe I get a little beach time in GWOT 5, then a lot more in GWOT 7.
DK: So how many books do you appear in?
E18: Seven. Unless you let me die sooner.
DK: Sorry. No can do. I understand from among others, Joseph Campbell, that there's a hero's journey and that a hero should be seen to grow along the journey. How have you grown?
E18: I'm not a hero.
DK: I'll let you skate on that one. How have you grown?
E18: I know that I advance in rank. And that everyone I care about gets killed. And that some Buddhist freak calls me a genocidaire and apparently some part of me agrees, so I've probably killed job lots of people somehow.
DK: Ummm. Not what I was looking for.
E18: Look, you _wrote_ me. You know how little I'm equipped for either introspection or personal growth. I believe I'm hallucinating all this from a Homeland torture cell, anyway. What kind of author puts his main character in a fucking furnace, anyway?
DK: (looks uncomfortable) It's a learning experience.
E18: (dryly) Briefly.
DK: Moving on. So you appear in seven full length books?
E18: Yes. Each one is defined by some critical event, and can be seen as a book length answer to the question posed by that event. GWOT I starts with a literal bang. GWOT II has to do with complicity, or collaboration. GWOT III asks what's the point of resistance? GWOT IV is a book length exploration of genocide. GWOT V takes a discussion of nationalism to the Border. GWOT VI reprises the theme in peacekeeping operations, in a form adapted to enrage any Christian. But it's GWOT VII that has me confused. You're sending me to China?
DK: Yes.
E18: But not as an American?
DK: No.
E18: So obviously I'm going to China to somehow atone for or apologize for the Firecracker War. But you know, China's got her own genocidaire problem. You seem to have spared Hong Kong, which the real world hasn't ... but the Uighur genocide camps apparently go on stage in GWOT III. How are you going to get me there?
DK: I'm not. Viewpoint character.
E18: So do I get to see them?
DK: Not directly. You're too busy in China.
E18: You're not going to make me into some pumped up Rambo special operations trooper, are you?
DK: No. (looks uneasy)
E18: Good. Why do you keep glancing at my left hand?
DK: Oh, nothing.
E18: I suppose there's a certain comfort in knowing that I'm going to last a few more books. But there's a point at which I'd really like to take a long vacation. Iced tea, military history books, perhaps a nice girl or two, a trip to Victoria's Secret...
DK: I'll see what I can do.
E18: I don't suppose there's much point to me arguing with you for Brooke's life, is there?
DK: Sorry, no. Dying in the Revolution is the best death I can give her. Do you want her stuck as a bailiff in the Trials? Or crawling through the mud at the Border with a nepotism waiver for her thoroughly wrecked back? Or sorting through cribs in Iowa looking for stolen babies?
E18: Say what?
DK: Never mind. Are you going to ask about Sarah too?
E18: She was killed in the first week of the Firecracker, the rest was just a matter of time. I think she'd prefer grenades to bedsores.
DK: I agree. Speaking of the Hero's Journey, I've got quite the task for you. You get to save the world.
E18: If the world needs someone like me to save it, the world doesn't deserve saving.
DK: The world needs to be saved continually. It's quite the dumpster fire.
E18: (wistful) It would be nice to save it once, and have it stay saved. Or, you know, reach a world saving Save Point.
DK: I'll remind you, and the audience, that the saving of the world is neither inevitable nor guaranteed. We're not scrambling in the radioactive ruins because of a handful of brave men, most of them Russian. We still know what a 'Jew' is because of some more brave men, most of them not Jewish. But 'Never Again' became a sick joke when the Serbians went downtown and America trained the Bosnians just enough to make killing all the military age men not a war crime. Pro tip: if special operations troops offer to make you a partisan in six weeks rather than six months, you're not cannon fodder, you're inconvenient and about to be disposed of.
E18: You're preaching to your own creation.
DK: Sorry. I get carried away sometimes.
E18: (dryly says nothing)
DK: I don't suppose you've ever studied Chinese?
E18: Neither Mandarin nor Cantonese. Or any of the other languages or dialects. And I certainly don't have time, even if I could lay hands on the materials.
DK: Point. Do you want to know how you'll save the world?
E18: Knowing you, probably by threatening to destroy it.
DK: (hastily) Well, that's all the time we have for now. Stay tuned for our next episode, and have a great day!
Good evening. I'm drewkitty, and I'm here with Echo 18, the pseudonym of the main character in my dystopian series, Globall War of Terror. So, Echo 18, how are you today?
E18: (warily) I'm fine.
DK: No burns from that Data Center escapade?
E18: (very warily) No.
DK: Oh, good. So, tell our audience a little bit about yourself.
E18: (long pause) I'm a leader. I don't much like myself, or anyone else for that matter, but when you see a tsunami inbound, you tell people to get the fuck off the beach.
DK: Haven't seen you on a beach yet.
E18: I believe I get a little beach time in GWOT 5, then a lot more in GWOT 7.
DK: So how many books do you appear in?
E18: Seven. Unless you let me die sooner.
DK: Sorry. No can do. I understand from among others, Joseph Campbell, that there's a hero's journey and that a hero should be seen to grow along the journey. How have you grown?
E18: I'm not a hero.
DK: I'll let you skate on that one. How have you grown?
E18: I know that I advance in rank. And that everyone I care about gets killed. And that some Buddhist freak calls me a genocidaire and apparently some part of me agrees, so I've probably killed job lots of people somehow.
DK: Ummm. Not what I was looking for.
E18: Look, you _wrote_ me. You know how little I'm equipped for either introspection or personal growth. I believe I'm hallucinating all this from a Homeland torture cell, anyway. What kind of author puts his main character in a fucking furnace, anyway?
DK: (looks uncomfortable) It's a learning experience.
E18: (dryly) Briefly.
DK: Moving on. So you appear in seven full length books?
E18: Yes. Each one is defined by some critical event, and can be seen as a book length answer to the question posed by that event. GWOT I starts with a literal bang. GWOT II has to do with complicity, or collaboration. GWOT III asks what's the point of resistance? GWOT IV is a book length exploration of genocide. GWOT V takes a discussion of nationalism to the Border. GWOT VI reprises the theme in peacekeeping operations, in a form adapted to enrage any Christian. But it's GWOT VII that has me confused. You're sending me to China?
DK: Yes.
E18: But not as an American?
DK: No.
E18: So obviously I'm going to China to somehow atone for or apologize for the Firecracker War. But you know, China's got her own genocidaire problem. You seem to have spared Hong Kong, which the real world hasn't ... but the Uighur genocide camps apparently go on stage in GWOT III. How are you going to get me there?
DK: I'm not. Viewpoint character.
E18: So do I get to see them?
DK: Not directly. You're too busy in China.
E18: You're not going to make me into some pumped up Rambo special operations trooper, are you?
DK: No. (looks uneasy)
E18: Good. Why do you keep glancing at my left hand?
DK: Oh, nothing.
E18: I suppose there's a certain comfort in knowing that I'm going to last a few more books. But there's a point at which I'd really like to take a long vacation. Iced tea, military history books, perhaps a nice girl or two, a trip to Victoria's Secret...
DK: I'll see what I can do.
E18: I don't suppose there's much point to me arguing with you for Brooke's life, is there?
DK: Sorry, no. Dying in the Revolution is the best death I can give her. Do you want her stuck as a bailiff in the Trials? Or crawling through the mud at the Border with a nepotism waiver for her thoroughly wrecked back? Or sorting through cribs in Iowa looking for stolen babies?
E18: Say what?
DK: Never mind. Are you going to ask about Sarah too?
E18: She was killed in the first week of the Firecracker, the rest was just a matter of time. I think she'd prefer grenades to bedsores.
DK: I agree. Speaking of the Hero's Journey, I've got quite the task for you. You get to save the world.
E18: If the world needs someone like me to save it, the world doesn't deserve saving.
DK: The world needs to be saved continually. It's quite the dumpster fire.
E18: (wistful) It would be nice to save it once, and have it stay saved. Or, you know, reach a world saving Save Point.
DK: I'll remind you, and the audience, that the saving of the world is neither inevitable nor guaranteed. We're not scrambling in the radioactive ruins because of a handful of brave men, most of them Russian. We still know what a 'Jew' is because of some more brave men, most of them not Jewish. But 'Never Again' became a sick joke when the Serbians went downtown and America trained the Bosnians just enough to make killing all the military age men not a war crime. Pro tip: if special operations troops offer to make you a partisan in six weeks rather than six months, you're not cannon fodder, you're inconvenient and about to be disposed of.
E18: You're preaching to your own creation.
DK: Sorry. I get carried away sometimes.
E18: (dryly says nothing)
DK: I don't suppose you've ever studied Chinese?
E18: Neither Mandarin nor Cantonese. Or any of the other languages or dialects. And I certainly don't have time, even if I could lay hands on the materials.
DK: Point. Do you want to know how you'll save the world?
E18: Knowing you, probably by threatening to destroy it.
DK: (hastily) Well, that's all the time we have for now. Stay tuned for our next episode, and have a great day!
