Carson Dane Interview

How did you decide to write the book?

For years I’d seen the TV shows and heard the radio shows about aliens, extraterrestrials, UFOs, and the paranormal. Along with all the speculation, I’d had some ideas about it all. Those ideas became itches I wanted to scratch, so I wrote the book.

How did you get started?

The adult education department at the local junior college offered a seminar about self-publishing. That convinced me that writing and getting published were possible.
Later, I attended a small seminar for writers: to succeed, I’d have to write to produce values for my audience.

How did you go about writing it?

I was working fulltime plus overtime at my regular job to make ends meet. I started writing 4 to 12 hours per weekend at home. After three years, I had my self-edited manuscript, and then one more year for manuscript evaluation, professional editing, proofreading and formatting, and publishing.

What surprised you the most?

Candice was a character I developed and brought into the manuscript to make the plot arch work better. Candice describes crab-like and marine mammal-like extraterrestrial visitors: what surprised me was how quickly and easily the descriptions of those flowed from my mind to the word processor. The same thing happened when writing about Suzie and Scotts’ encounter with a Darkonge. Those scenes, descriptions, and actions were seamless pieces of writing for me.

Were there any other surprises?

After publishing, I was doing some research on the internet, and came across something known as “Altairians”: not as portrayed in video games or television shows, instead, as described on websites about the unexplained, paranormal, and alien races. I’d written not about specific races or species, rather, about general types of mind. So given my impression overall of what I’d written, a subtle suggestion of something Altairian surprised me, and wondering how that could be.

Altairian? Do you mean a contingent of Nordics, Greys, Reptilians, and a Terran military presence working together?

Something such as that, though more species of what I call the Realcit type, such as the Hosts and other Human-like Beings, and some Animal-Hybrid characters are included in my writing.

You said, and I quote, “The book puts a completely new perspective on life here, in outer space and in other worlds throughout the universe.” How does it do that?

It develops and introduces the concept of Realcit. Realcits are human beings whose minds evolve in congruence with the nature of the universe, quickly attaining biological immortality, and then, everlasting life. In the book I suggest that the universe is actually full of human life, and that, most of it is of the Realcit type.

How does that put a perspective on life here?

To describe mortal human beings I developed the concept of Anticit. Anticits are humans in whose minds create a nature of the universe that is not real and never can be real, thereafter defaulting to mortality, after a life subject to the rules of their leaders.

You also say, “It introduces a new philosophy about different minds in the universe and what they mean for our society.” Can you expand on that?

Understanding the principles of Realcits opens minds to understanding Anticits’ problem – our problem here on earth. Discussions between characters in the book uncover and reveal how dishonest leaders here control and manipulate the masses of people.

So you’re saying we here on earth are among the mortal Anticits in the universe and the Realcits are the majority out there among the galaxies; what other risks did you take in writing Alien Witness?

In suggesting the Realcit types live forever and are the majority of conscious life in the universe, I surmised the common driving goal for them to be the stabilization of the universe. Then using my imagination I wrote “The Story of Mantis”. The Story of Mantis is a very short story within the book, about how the universe might be transitioning from cycles of “big bangs” to stability.

Any other ideas or themes in the book?

At times, some of the characters in the book discuss consciousness and reincarnation. The idea about consciousness is that it has properties that can be understood and manipulated by highly advanced human beings of the Realcit type. Then there’s speculation about reincarnation not working as intended here – and why.

You describe several paranormal and extraterrestrial encounters in Alien Witness. Did those happen to you?

The answer to that question is the subject of my next book...

Thanks for the interview.

You're welcome.