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What’s a detail, theme, or clue in your book that most readers might miss on the first read but you secretly hope someone notices?
The main character is a high functioning schizophrenic.
When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?
After I was 60 years old.
Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?
Aubrey Shallcross. He turned out to be me.
If your book had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?
“Please Come to Boston”—Dave Loggins—The opening scene in the Shallcross: The Blindspot Cathedral.
“Rachel Mason”—By Charles Porter—-Sung on stage in a bar to his sweetheart in Flame Vine.
“Pegasus”—By Charles Porter— Sung in a recording studio at the end of Flame Vine.
Not all schizophrenics are mentally ill, in fact many act normal.
What’s one belief, question, or emotional truth you hope readers carry with them long after they finish your book?
One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever choose.
If your protagonist (or central figure) could give the reader one piece of advice, what would it be?
Listen to the voices in your head—they’re real.
What real-world place, object, or memory helped shape a key element in your book?
Every piece of fiction is a higher form of autobiography. The book is full of Florida, and my life of eighty-two years—ups, downs, all around.
What’s something you had to research, learn, or experience to write this book that genuinely surprised you?
Only some research on Schizophrenia. Mostly that came from Julian Jayne’s book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, the rest came from my head, I was born in the Chinese year of the monkey—monkey mind.
If your book were invited to join a shelf with three other titles, which ones would make you happiest?
Accordion Crimes—Annie Proulx
South Moon Under—-Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Some Horses—-Thomas McGuane
The landscape around Aubrey Shallcross is constantly changing, waterways shifting, land being pushed and reshaped, tension building between what exists and what’s coming next.
He moves through it as someone who knows the terrain, someone who understands how things work.
But the voices he hears don’t separate from that world. They move with him through it, shaping how he reacts when the balance starts to break.As pressure builds between development, environment, and survival, Aubrey is drawn into situations where standing still is no longer an option. What begins as awareness turns into involvement, and involvement
turns into action.
And once he acts, there’s no pulling it back.
The land changes. The situation escalates.
And Aubrey is right in the middle of it.
Amazon: https://bit.ly/4c4ask8
Goodreads:
Book 1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57118173-shallcross
Book 2: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35464582-flame-vine
Book 3: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57118286-shallcross
Meet The Author: Charles Porter is the author of the award-winning Hearing Voices series, a collection of literary novels rooted in the lived experience of hearing voices.
Rather than approaching the subject clinically, Porter explores it through story — examining how people build full, complex lives while navigating forms of perception often misunderstood or labeled as disorder. His work engages with questions around consciousness, culture, and the boundaries of what we consider typical human experience.
The first novel in the series, Shallcross: The Blindspot Cathedral, was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2014, with later titles also receiving critical recognition.
Porter divides his time between Florida and Massachusetts, where he works with horses and continues to write.
For more information, visit his website.
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