It’s time to ask a volunteer on the community forum 10 11 questions submitted by other forum members. This week our latest victim volunteer is Carl D. Albert.
Carl D. Albert graduated from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts with a B.F.A. in Writing for Screen and Television. When he is not writing, you may find him gallivanting around Hollywood, whining about back pain, or calling his dogs obscene things for barking at the ghosts in the walls. Carl currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
Find Carl here: https://linktr.ee/carldalbert
1. What inspired the name of your novel, Truth of Crowns?
Great question! I’m actually self-conscious about it because of the fantasy title cliché of X of Y, and at first glance Truth of Crowns reads like nonsense, which some rando once commented on Reddit. The truth (heh) is I find titles generally difficult to come up with and I went through 1001 versions of a title for this novel. For a long time it was The Ash of Ancient Ways, which might be even more pretentious than Truth of Crowns. Ultimately I settled on Truth of Crowns after crowd-sourcing friends’ and family members’ opinions by giving them a list of options. One of the main themes of the novel is the nature of monarchies and the old-fashioned notion of the divine right of kings. In a more modern or relatable sense, it’s also exploring whether or not human beings crave a single leader, a symbol in human flesh, if you will, and what that leader maybe should or should not look like. Also, the nature of “truth” and “lies” and “secrets” is a sub-theme explored throughout the story, perhaps most obviously in the murder mystery element introduced at the midpoint.
2. Would you rather write a New York Times best selling novel or be the head writer/creator for a highly successful Emmy winning TV show? I know what GRR Martin would say, what about you?
Oh man, that’s tough. I think the Emmy winning show might make me more money, but a New York Times best selling novel would be my baby, my personal artistic endeavor, in a much more literal way. Hmmm. Can I say a bestseller turned into an award-winning TV show I helped run? No, that’s cheating? Okay. I’ve been feeling very cynical about the TV and film industry lately so I’m going with the novel.
3. If you could time travel to any point in history, where would it be and what would you do?
Well, assuming I’m not killed by the locals immediately or catch an incurable disease and I also get to pop back to the present with all our modern luxuries right afterwards…. either the Tower of London in 1483 to see what really happened to the Princes in the Tower or Rome in the time of Augustus to see the city and empire transform. Wait, do I get to speak the local tongue? What do I get to bring with me? God, I’d be helpless at navigating older societies. Maybe the time of the Zodiac Killer? I’d love to catch him, and then disappear and leave the mystery of Who Caught the Zodiac Killer for people to wonder about forever like I’m the DB Cooper of altruistic citizens.
4. If you could choose one song to play every time you walked into a room, what would you choose and why?
Gotta be a nice angelic chorus. Really lets ’em know what they’re getting.
5. What is your favourite trope and why?
Hmmmmm. Hard to go wrong with animal companions. I do love a murder mystery or a secret parentage reveal. But I’m going to go with a quirky mentor. It’s even better if they’re a wizard!
6. If you could collaborate on writing a book with any person (living or dead, author or not, just any person at all), who would it be?
Stephen King. I’m a Constant Reader, he’s co-written books before, and he’s famously a cool person. Unironically I think we’d hit it off. Plus, I feel like I could learn a lot from him. I also feel pretty confident about my ability to end a story strongly — that’s one of my gifts as a writer, I believe, much more than beginnings — so I could help balance him out that way. Plus, the book would sell like hotcakes with him involved! I am nothing if not mercenary.
Why do I like them? Because I have taste! Next question!
7. 5 people from history you’d like to have dinner with
Again, assuming I can speak the same language as them… otherwise it’d be soooo awkward….
Jesus of Nazareth, assuming he’s real. I’m not Christian, but I was raised Christian, and there’s a lot about this guy that’s fascinating to me. A major part of my interest is simply wanting to know what the man actually believed.
Leonardo da Vinci. One of the coolest, smartest people to ever exist. I’d love to bathe in his knowledge and ideas.
Cleopatra. A complex, misunderstood, and tragic figure who stood at the crossroads of the transformation of Rome.
Benjamin Franklin. My favorite of the Founding Fathers. An absolute character and a brilliant mind.
Barack Obama. We’re wading into politics, but basically I think the guy is very smart and he was a competent president, but he also made some major mistakes. He also just seems like a cool dude. I’d love to pick his brain about the world.
8. Do you still believe in Hollywood?
Like a kid believes in Santa Claus. Movie magic, baby.
I’m half-serious. I don’t think the industry is fundamentally dead or anything, but it’s corrupt (always has been) and damaged (that’s more recent) and increasingly difficult to navigate. For those who don’t know, I went to a big, expensive film school and have worked odd jobs in the entertainment industry over the years. Do I hate the industry? Yes. Will I give up on it? No. Entertainment ain‘t any more broken than the rest of America.
The dream lives on.
9. What does the D stand for? Incorrect answers only.
The Will of D. Also, Demonic. Next question!
10. If you had to write a book in a genre that isn’t fantasy what would it be and what would the synopsis read?
Interestinggggg. Because my latest #1, attention-grabbing, it-has-taken-over-my-life project is a not-at-all-fantastical whodunnit novel. I’m almost done with it, actually, and I intend to query agents and attempt the whole trad ordeal with it in the next couple months. As for the synopsis, well, let me pull up my drafted query letter…
Poirot meets the TV show Succession.
It’s all sunshine and roses and dead bodies working as the assistant to the world’s greatest detective, Dominic Crowe. Theo Callahan wouldn’t trade his job for the world. The only catch is he knows next to nothing about his boss’s personal life, other than the fact that Dominic has been estranged from his megarich family since he was a young man, but ain’t a little mystery the point of it all? Then a new case falls onto their doorstep that hits a little too close to home. Dominic’s younger brother was murdered in a locked room on his wedding night. The prime suspects?
Well, for some families, “skeletons in the closet” isn’t a metaphor.
As Theo will discover, even the Crowes who aren’t killers have secrets that will make him want to wash his eyes out with bleach. Sex and drugs and death hide behind every corner of their family farm in Oklahoma. And Dominic, his employer, his hero, is quickly losing control of himself, haunted by old ghosts. If a genius gentleman sleuth can’t separate the subjective from the objective, what hope does some nobody like Theo Callahan have of solving this murder?
11. Why do you hate your characters?
My personal artistic vision definitely leans toward putting my characters through hell, although usually not without some triumphs to make it all worthwhile in the end. Bittersweet endings taste better to me than happy ones, at least with stories that are trying to tackle nuanced issues. I consider myself an existentialist, meaning I believe the universe is amoral and meaningless, but the great joy of our existence is we get to create our own meaning, a purpose to color the black and white of it all. My stories reflect that. Life is hard, and terrible shit happens to good people, but there’s a lot of beauty to behold, and sometimes, if we’re lucky, we find a little peace and love amidst the hardship.
