Aaaaand we’re back! Did you miss us? :D Belated Happy New Year to you all, and thanks for joining us here on The Novel Approach Reviews. Today, Genre Talk is pleased to bring you DSP Publications author Eric Del Carlo who’s come to chat about alternate histories, how the Internet isn’t always a time-sucking curse for writers, and his new Sci-Fi release Raise the Red Flag. So before we get into it, let’s have a look at what we’re in for:
Raise the Red Flag
In an 1867 that never was, the American colonies are finally gearing up to revolt against oppressive British rule enforced by advanced technology. British airship captain Hamilton Arkwright is captured by the rebels when his vessel is commandeered. The insurgents are also aided—reluctantly—by young Jonny Callahan, a thief and ne’er-do-well who would rather carouse on the streets of New Orleans than fight for independence. When the two seemingly opposite men are thrown together on a harrowing journey across the war-torn colonies, they must grudgingly rely on each other for survival. Despite their efforts to resist, the attraction between them threatens to throw a wrench in their plans to remain enemies.
Available now from: DSP Publications, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Books
Carole: So, sounds like a nice mash of a few subgenres beneath the larger Sci-Fi umbrella. Can you give the uninitiated an idea of what that means and how it applies to Raise the Red Flag?
Eric: Science fiction was my first intellectual love. Its fascination for me in childhood was strong, encouraging my imagination on many levels. I found the genre far more interesting than any literature which took place in the “real” world. Steampunk is a surprisingly persistent subset of science fiction. In it a general parallel timeline is postulated, one in which technological advances have, for whatever reason, emerged earlier than in reality, so that modern-like gear and sciences are applied to, say, Victorian society.
Carole: What about the evolution of Raise the Red Flag in particular?
Eric: Raise the Red Flag is a novel I conceived in a coffeehouse a few days after the 2016 election, as I stared numbly at a wall and thought I had better preoccupy myself with some lengthy literary project. I chose—rather arbitrarily, I’m afraid—the steampunk subgenre and set about putting a basic plot together. It all fell quickly together, the general era, the hook of a British-dominated America of the mid-19th century, the story of revolution and love, told from two viewpoints, one British, one American. It fit neatly. In less than half an hour I had a beginning, middle and enough of the end to think about starting in on the project almost right away. Having the two characters so at odds was what drove the book. That they would be drawn romantically to each other gave the novel a clear arc.
Carole: Tell us how you define “diversity” in your writing, and how you explored it in this book.
Eric: Diversity is reflexive for me. I don’t have to keep it in mind. It’s not on any checklist for me. With this novel the diversity arises from the sexuality of the main characters. Normally with my science fiction I postulate future societies where nonheteronormative sexualities don’t even begin to raise an eyebrow; they’ve long since been incorporated into the culture and are an absolute given. Here, with this steampunk tale set in the past, it would have been disingenuous to portray a society where homosexual behavior was perfectly accepted, so I made the British character’s sexuality a “shameful” secret. That wasn’t fun to write, but it was necessary to the story.
Carole: Raise the Red Flag is being published through DSP Publications, Dreamspinner Press’s imprint for genre novels that don’t necessarily focus on or even contain romance. Tell us about the relationship in Raise the Red Flag and why it doesn’t fit the accepted definition of Romance in the M/M genre.
Eric: I don’t read enough outright romance to honestly know if my novel differs from the paradigm. Maybe that’s a good thing, writing-wise. I don’t get trapped in the tropes because I haven’t read them over and over. But I know how to tell a story and am especially good at characterizations and development. “What happens in a story can never be as interesting as who it happens to” is one of my maxims. Here I had two stark, well-defined characters who represented two different cultures and wildly disparate viewpoints. If my book brushes up against any other author I’ve read, it would be Diana Gabaldon of Outlander fame.
Carole: You’ve been writing and publishing for years now. How has your writing changed since you published your first book?
Eric: My first efforts at novel writing were ghostwriting jobs, where I found myself thrown into a totally unfamiliar genre. The results were about what you’d expect. When I was able to get published work with my name on it, they were subjects I cared about. The plotting was much improved because I knew how a fantasy or science fiction novel was supposed to move, in general. Also I had by then published a good deal of short fiction, which is the best way to learn any given genre. My prose is both simpler and sharper now than it was, say, a decade or two back. I don’t need to labor so much or strain to find the most glittery of words or turns of phrase. I can make something elegant with better economy now.
Carole: Speaking of elegant, I think I’m in love with the name you’ve chosen for one of your main characters—Arkwright has a really cool ring to it. What goes into naming characters for you? Do the names have significance?
Eric: The internet has made this particular exercise much easier. I used to keep an old New Orleans phone directory in my desk. Sometimes I’d have the idea of a letter I wanted a character’s last name to start with. Other times I would flip pages and drop a finger at random. Now, with all the databases and baby name sites, I can really tailor a surname until it’s just right. Jonny Callahan’s name came easily for Raise the Red Flag. It has just the sass I wanted. Hamilton Arkwright, the British airship captain, took longer. I wanted something a bit starched but not overly awkward. Sometimes a name just looks right when you see it on the page for the first time. With my other science fiction, where I’m naming planets and alien species, it becomes a much more freewheeling game of alphabet soup.
Carole: The alphabet—always a writer’s friend. ;)
Okay, that’s enough lame jokes from us for today. Thanks so much to Eric for coming by to spend time with us, and thank you, Awesome Readers, for coming along for the ride. Buy links and info are below, but before we get to that, please enjoy the following excerpt Eric brought along to whet your appetite.
Raise the Red Flag
Smoke was coming down the passage from the room with the engines; so, Jonny saw with suddenly widening eyes, was a big musclebound figure. He came looming out of the smudgy mist. It was Brixton’s Mexican goon. Maybe he’d been sent after them. Maybe he had thoughts of escape himself.
Either way, he was rushing toward the antechamber, almost upon it, big hands extended like claws. Without a clear thought, Jonny turned the short-barreled firearm toward him and pulled one of its two triggers. The kick knocked him back against the door. For a sickening instant, he thought it would give way and spill him out into the night.
Gunpowder burned his nostrils. The smoke stung his eyes, for which he was grateful. It meant he didn’t have to see the man he had just shot. Shot. Surely… killed, for the power of this weapon was indeed awful.
Still, he gripped the shotgun with white-knuckled fingers. He could, it seemed, do nothing else at the present. Certainly he couldn’t buckle himself into a foolish device such as Hamilton was currently wearing. The captain would have to leave him behind. He resigned himself to this fact.
Hamilton reached past Jonny and undogged the hatch. Night wind tore inside. Hamilton dropped the rifle, stepped close, wrapped his arms around Jonny in a fearsome embrace, and together they dived out through the open portal, into the madness of empty reeling space.
Jonny saw the stars whirl. He stood on nothing. He fell with Hamilton. Blackness came up faster than the vast ground spread beneath them, and he was abruptly, mercifully unconscious.
About the Author
Eric Del Carlo’s erotic genre fiction has appeared in numerous Circlet Press anthologies. His novels and novellas of science fiction erotica have been published by Loose Id. His more mainstream (but still hot!) fare can be found among collections released by Cleis Press. He has also written scads of nonerotic science fiction and fantasy, appearing in such prestige publications as Asimov’s and Analog and with the publishing houses Ace Books and Baen Books. Every story he writes gets equal treatment: character, conflict, resolution. He resides in his native California.
Where to Find Eric Del Carlo: Facebook, Amazon
Where to buy Raise the Red Flag: DSP Publications, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Books
And that will do it for us this week. Thanks for joining us, everyone! If you’d like to keep tabs on Genre Talk and never miss a post, hop on over and like our Facebook page, join our Facebook group, and check out our web page.
We’ll see you next time on Genre Talk when we welcome back author Andrea Speed, who’ll be bringing her upcoming and highly anticipated Mystery & Suspense/Paranormal release Infected: Throwaways, so don’t miss it!
Until then, that’s all for us. On behalf of me and Co-pilot Extraordinaire Elizabeth Noble, thanks for spending some time with us, and have a great week!