Interview with Christopher Hoare, Author of The Wildcat's Victory

A former engineer working in oil exploration in the Libyan desert and the Canadian Arctic, Christopher Hoare is now an author of several speculative novels such as Arrival, Deadly Enterprise, and The Wildcat's Victory. In this interview, Hoare talks about his books, writing habits, critique groups, and finding the right publisher.

Thanks for being here today. Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.

The first three novels of my Iskander series are my current releases, with the third due out in July. They feature a small group of modern people stranded in an alternate 17th century Earth, called Gaia. The three are Arrival, Deadly Enterprise, and The Wildcat’s Victory.

Several interests and intentions fuel the series: the unapologetic desire to write a strong female protagonist who blends femininity with fearless action being the first. I wanted to show that a man could do it. Secondly, I wanted to explore the interactions between modern and earlier cultures, exercising a somewhat sociological imagination in that the moderns launch a technological revolution into the earlier world. Then there was the opportunity to explore some historical what-ifs in the scenario, such as the tactical effect of having instant communication in a world that operated at the speed of a fast horse.

What type of writer are you — the one who experiences before writing, like Hemingway, or the one who mostly daydreams and fantasizes?

I like this question because both answers are true. While I always expected to employ my thirty years' experience in oil exploration in my writing – in the Libyan Desert as well as the Canadian Arctic and Rockies – I find I’m not yet ready to use those experiences in fiction. Consequently I’m writing mostly speculative novels. On the other hand, I do use personal experience in my fiction, like the use of communication devices in borderline areas, as well as my early service in the Royal Artillery in the gunfire sequences in The Wildcat’s Victory.

Do you write non-stop until you have a first draft, or do you edit as you move along?

Again, both are true. My earlier works were all outright explorations of the characters’ responses in developing situations. I wrote the first drafts with almost no backtracking to beef up perceived weak portions. Now I’m working on the fourth novel in the Iskander series I find myself editing the plot as I write and going back repeatedly to either foreshadow developments or to strengthen plot elements that the novel structure calls for — even adding entire chapters.

Not sure if that can be called the result of writing maturity or insecurity that I’m not creating as freely as I once felt confident with. I have scrapped several entire novels that grew from the seat of the pants approach — and did not work. So perhaps I’m hedging my bets now.

Article Author: Mayra Calvani

Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children, teens and adults. She also offers online workshops on the art of reviewing and picture book writing at SavvyAuthors.com.

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