Hypertext Magazine asked Robert Tomaino, author of New Madrid, “What prompted you to write an alternate history novel?”
By Robert Tomaino
The spark for my story was a simple “what if” question. What if the Salem witch trials had never ended and instead had spread across the country? It’s hard not to look at our country today and conclude that the essence of those trials didn’t end in 1693. Much of what defined the trials – a rush to judgement, closemindedness, disingenuousness, and a refusal to truly listen to an alternate point of view – still pulsate through our lives to this day. Although women aren’t literally being hanged, as a society we’ve failed to evolve beyond the mistrust, tribalism, patriarchy, and worst elements of those events. That we’ve failed to move past these emotions makes us human, but as a society it can still be disheartening to understand we’ve not learned from what history can teach us.
Part of my motivation in writing this book is the belief these same destructive emotions also wage battle inside of us. I wanted to explore how this uncritical way of thinking affects us as individuals. The protagonist in the story has a shrouded past, but the rumors of what happened may not sync with his memory. Can we trust our own assessment of ourselves? One reason our society is bogged down in these negative thinking patterns is because we are often bogged down in them personally. We lose objectivity and the ability to test our personal hypotheses. I wanted to explore how false accusations, the fragility and unreliability of memory, and a lack of understanding or honesty about one’s own motivations can have devastating consequences on small towns and communities. I also wanted to write a western, escapist story that would allow people to forget about the current times as well.
New Madrid is a small town on the Mississippi River. It was a growing riverport in 1811 (when the novel takes place.) During that year, several calamitous events occurred reminding us that the last two years aren’t the only ones filled with strange and never-ending tribulations in this country’s history. We’ve suffered before and found a way to rise beyond the misfortune.
The characters in New Madrid find it difficult to reassess their initial opinions and interpretations. No one wants to admit they were wrong or misconstrued or misjudged a situation. In fact, it is the character who arrives with the most rigid thinking and focus that demonstrates the ability to critically assess a situation and arrive at a different conclusion.
As the story evolved, I realized that the protagonist was less than reliable as a judge of his own actions or memories, and that the people who try and do the right thing are often the ones that face the most scrutiny. As Oscar Wilde is often credited with saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
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Robert Tomaino is a writer and author born and raised in Connecticut. For more than 20 years, Robert has worked as in the rare disease community as a patient advocacy consultant and medical writer, taking complex medical concepts and converting it into understandable, lay language. Robert is an Internet minister who has performed three weddings, still has the stories he wrote in elementary school, believes everyone has a story to tell, and doesn’t make his bed in the morning. Robert’s first book, New Madrid, will be published by Woodhall Press in October of 2021. While Robert’s medical writing is primarily technical, his fiction writing covers a much broader range, from the obvious charms of the fantastical to the hidden depths of the mundane.