Life is built on the assumption that what we experience is shared and understood. For Aubrey Shallcross, that assumption has never fully held. The voices he hears have always been part of how he moves through the world in The Hearing Voices Series by Charles Porter.
Aubrey Shallcross finds himself moving between two paths, one grounded in the present, where immediate danger and tension continue to build, and another reaching back into events that never fully settled.
Both begin to converge.
The voices that have always shaped how he understands the world remain constant, but now they seem to connect what’s happening now to what came before.
As those lines blur, the distinction between memory and reality becomes harder to hold onto. What feels immediate carries echoes of something older, something unresolved.
And as everything begins to overlap, Aubrey is left trying to act within a situation that refuses to stay defined.
With no clear boundary between what is happening…and what has been leading him there all along.
Author Interview
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.
Not all schizophrenics are mentally ill, in fact many act normal.
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.
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
About 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.
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
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