An Interview With a Writer: Carole McDonnell

Welcome Adventurers! Today I have a special treat for you. I have guest blogger and fellow author Carole McDonnell. To talk about her book The Constant Tower.

Tell my adventurers the name of your book and about the world you created.

The book I’ll talk about is The Constant Tower. It takes place on Odunao. I had had a dream of a world where each morning the inhabitants of a city woke to find the landmarks and geography of their city changed as if someone had moved around a jigsaw puzzle. Except that, in the dream someone said, “But the tower is constant.” So I thought about that tower that was always constant in such a world. In the end, I didn’t write that story but I wrote a story where the world stayed put but people were tossed around all over the planet.

After that, I began thinking about how would society and clans develop on such a planet. I like walking around in the worlds I create. I like using and seeing every possibility and permutation of a particular system. It’s like a game to me. Given situation A, how would B, appear? And how would B appear if C is present under D conditions? I’m always trying to see how all the organic possibilities of a possible situation.

For instance: there is the technological issue: Technology is about controlling our life and making life livable. In life and in societies, there are degrees of control. Rich cultures have more control over their life and against dangers. The worst danger is being separated from those you love. How would people deal with that possibility of separation? Why, of course, they would live in longhouses. They would, of course, fear the night. How much warning would the inhabitants of this world have each night before having to dash into their houses and longhouse before night fell and did its separating work? Because its technology, every clan doesn’t have the same amount or kind of technology --tower science”or “tower lore.”-- Because the towers have some control over the night.

Technology is also connected with wealth, religion, communication, and of course, knowledge. Humans being humans, people will want to protect what they own. But humans being humans, what do the haves owe the have-nots? What would ownership be like on such a planet? How would people from one longhouse behave if they met someone from another longhouse. And religion? The clans would of course have different ideas about why the world was like that? Or would they have one common truth? On earth, the idea of a pure sacrifice has been in many cultures. So, wouldn’t the clans of Odunao have some idea of a divine curse? Wouldn’t they want the night to be restored? And because it’s all theological, there would be issues of doubt. Some folks will believe some things, others will believe other doctrines, and some will not believe at all. What about courtship rituals and marriage? What would the god of such a planet consider important? And are animals affected by this particular situation? How do strangers react to each other if they are equally tossed about by the night? What if there is disparity between the strangers? How would family be defined? How would war be defined? How would culture be defined? What does one owe the poor strangers one met?

So, I walked into that world and wrote what I saw. I saw that some clans had power, some did not. Some clans liked being rooted to the same spot. (But what prevented them from creating a science that helped the longhouse to stay in one spot?) Some clans liked being night-tossed. Their idea of a Permanent Home is the afterlife. I saw the towers and realized they were sentient. Some of them were quite powerful, some of them petulant, some of them failing, some of them angry at humans. Then I wondered…what would happen if the towers fail? All good fantasies need a looming disaster and heroes who can save the world or help the world move from one era to the next.

In this world, clans live in longhouses. Each longhouse is called a sub-clan. Sub-clans are named after the longhouse chief. Depending on the size and unity of the clan, each longhouse contains anywhere from 1 to 400 people. The clans live in longhouses which are attached to towers. The towers are transported every night and the clan houses with them. The greatest of these Clans is the Wheel Clan. They are able to corral fields and regions and return to them whenever they are able. The Wheel Clan, whose tower knowledge is great, is united and very organized. As such, their clan is formidable. Because knowledge brings power and control over the tower’s travels, no clan is as rich as the Wheel Clan. The Wheel Clan teaches all its members tower some amount of tower knowledge. But their studiers are the most highly-skilled.

THE PEACOCK CLAN

The Peacock clan is a dark-skinned clan whose knowledge of Tower Science is great, but not as great as that of the Wheel Clan. The Peacock clan, however, often has disagreements with each other and is somewhat fractured. Their many sub-clans, with varying sizes and degree of knowledge. Unlike the Wheel Clan, the Peacock sub-clans do not have one king. But King Tsbosso has the power to bring many sub-clans together to fight against the Wheel Clan.

THE VOCA CLAN

An all-female clan that is the most technologically-advanced clan. They are cruel warriors and steal children.

THE FALCONER CLAN

A clan that is preoccupied with staying in one place. Their king, Renn, is one of Psal’s close friends.

THE GRASSROPE CLAN

A clan that is reputed to be full of lowlifes, robbers, deviants, and miscreants.

THE MACAW CLAN

The clan of Psal’s mother, Hinis. A scheming clan. Very advanced, very populous.

THE WAYMAKER CLAN

This is a large clan that is technologically-advanced. They tend to develop and explore lands but not to keep them. Netophah’s mother belonged to this clan. This clan doesn’t show up in this book although we meet a few people who belong to this clan.

THE TOWERS

Towers are considered a clan of their own and they behave accordingly.

STUDIERS

Studiers belong to specific clans but they are also considered to be connected to each other and are in some ways a kind of international clan. Since a studier of worlds is the anthropologist, linguist, and all-around-scientist of his clan, they are important. Since all clans are always traveling and bumping into each other, linguists are needed.

Other clans exist who have some tower science and some kind of organization. Some of these are allied to larger clans. Some are unknown to the large clans. Some are unallied. Some are outcast longhouses.

THE WHEEL CLAN

The Wheel Clan is light-skinned, imperialistic, eugenistic, and very knowledgeable in tower science and have been able to consume much of the planet’s resources. But they don’t know everything about the towers. Nahas is head of the Nahas wheel clan, head of all the Wheel sub-clans. Prince Psal is his oldest son, peace child of the alliance between the Wheel Clan and the dark-skinned Macaw Clan. Prince Netophah is King Nahas third son, peace child between the Wheel Clan and the Waymaker Clan. Ephan is Nahas’ adopted son, and it is discovered he I the peace child between the Wheel Clan and the Voca clan, the son of Nahas and Queen Ezbel.

WHEEL CLAN CLASS STRUCTURE

Wheel Clan Studiers -- Studiers in other clans are well-respected except for the Wheel Clan studiers. Many Wheel Clan studiers are addicted to several dangerous herbs in order to cope with their rejection and stress.

Wheel Clan Stewards – Stewards reside in steward longhouses and it is their job to take care of Wheel Clan lands. The Wheel Clan has a rule that only children of Wheel Clan warriors can become warriors. If a man has a Wheel Clan mother but a father from another clan, that man is (generally) made into a steward. Stewards are higher in the hierarchy than Studiers

Wheel Clan Comfort Women—Wheel Clan women born damaged are made into comfort women of their longhouses. Troublesome women are also made into comfort women.

What inspired you to write about this character?

I was more intrigued by the kind of societies, technologies, economic, and religious systems such a world would create. My major love is anthropology and I’ve always loved worldbuilding. But then I realized there was a war on Odunao. We have warriors; of course we need a war. And a different kind of warrior.

So after several characters from the book came to my dreams and introduced themselves, I saw how the story would go. Then I grew to really love them. My main male character is Psal. He suffers with a polio-like disease. Psal’s biggest desire is to feel loved by his father, which is difficult. Psal is a prince and his health and mindset shames his father, Nahas. Then there is his best friend Ephan, who suffers from albinism. I’ve never been able to write a story about a character who is perfectly healthy. In Wind Follower, my tribal Christianity novel, my main character has epilepsy. In My Life as an Onion, my main male character is an addictive personality with tons of money and a gift for manipulation. My main characters often have an unpleasant trait but the reader understands –sooner or later-- why the trait exists. In Psal’s case, his clan admires health. He is supposed to rule the clan as all Firstborns do, but because of his polio, he is “damaged” and not given the kingship. He has all the arrogance of a Fantasy Warrior Prince, but he is not a warrior. And he has the desire to go on a journey but one cannot simply run away from a longhouse on the planet Odunao.

In so many fantasies, the hero is noble and strong and good. My hero was petulant, sickly, and whiny and he identified with the disabled and poor. But worst of all, he admired the culture his father was warring against. Psal, the boy who could not go on a journey, is one of my favorite characters.

How long has this character been in your thoughts?

Weirdly, I think he’s always been there. All those tragic Shakespearean heroes and anti-heroes (Hamlet, Iago, Othello, Edmund, Henry IV) and Biblical princes. (Shechem, Absalom, Jonathon) I often feel sad that my main heroes tend to be men or boys but that is what I grew up with and that trope is too much a part of my makeup for me to change it.

What is the one trait you wished you shared with your main character?

Psal can be ruthless when he feels he has to be. He has power behind that ruthlessness. I’m pretty gullible and a pushover. I’d like some of Psal’s expedient ruthlessness. It’s rooted in his anger and his sense of rejection. And perversely, he often is more seriously testy when he’s protecting the weak. He does all kinds of stuff that his fellow warriors resent him doing and he often grieves that he can’t be as cold as they all are. I’d like to have that kind of “the devil may care but I don’t” attitude.

Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog.

My blog is www.carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com

My twitter is @scifiwritir or @carolemcdonnell

You can find The Constant Tower here on Amazon