Interviewed by Lassiter Jamison Fiction editor at Chaotic Merge
Lassiter Jamison: Do you have any upcoming projects or pieces you’re working on?
Alec Evan March: My main project for the past couple of years has been a novel, which I worked on diligently throughout the summer of its conception but, due to university responsibilities and life getting in the way, haven’t managed to complete. My schedule’s a lot less busy now, however, so my main goal for 2024 is to finally push myself to finish it. It’s about two former boyfriends reconnecting almost three years after one of them had mysteriously run away and it explores how long a secret can be kept and how, for all our efforts, it is impossible to make it out of adolescence and young adulthood without hurting the ones closest to us. The characters are both very dear to me and I’m excited to work on their story again. In the meantime, I might also work on a Southern gothic horror novel I’m a third of the way through writing, a look at late-2000s supernatural teen shows and books through a queer, deconstructionist lens. I may even write a short story or two, kind of like a palette cleanser, since I’ve always been unable to do just one thing at a time. Still, I have to prioritize the project I’m most enthusiastic about.
Lassiter Jamison: If you could have any story of yours adapted, which one would you pick and why?
Alec Evan March: Any and all of them. I have a lot of respect for all forms of art so an adaptation of any kind would be a great honor. I would of course first want to ensure the person adapting the story had sufficient understanding of its nuances and I would want them to be someone I can trust, but I would love to see any of the projects I’m working on or the ones I’ve planned for the future adapted. If I absolutely had to pick one, I guess it’d have to be the aforementioned horror novel. I think its imagery, as well as its larger cast and interconnected storylines, would translate well into a TV show if the right people were handling it. But that book is far from done so any thoughts of adaptation are just a daydream for the moment.
Lassiter Jamison: Some stories change a lot from first draft to completion. What was the process of writing “Casualties” like for you?
Alec Evan March: I follow the controversial practice of editing as I go so most of the changes implemented were part of the drafting process itself. I wrote “Casualties” in the span of either a week or a month a year and a half ago. I had just broken up and, for whatever reason, the line about finding someone with the exact same nose as your ex stuck with me. I thought it was an interesting predicament, though a completely fictional one. The rest of the story was born out of my mental state at the time, namely my fears of never getting over my first love, and that first line. In hindsight, a story about grief as a response to a peaceful breakup is a tad dramatic, and I can admit it now that I’ve moved on, but at the time it really did feel like the end of the world! In any case, “Casualties” was created line by line, with no real plan in mind. I would go back and fix stuff as I came up with new ideas along the way. The experience provided a welcome and refreshing break from the relatively arduous process of novel writing, which for me includes painstakingly detailed planning. I wrote another draft after it was accepted for publication, but even that didn’t include any radical changes, being focused instead on some necessary clarity edits.
Lassiter Jamison: What sort of feeling would you like readers to come away with after reading “Casualties“?
Alec Evan March: I gave up on writing with an audience in mind a long time ago. My perfectionism is debilitating so writing to please myself is hard enough. Writing with the pleasure of other, unknown-to-me people in mind would be impossible. My main hope is that readers have found the story engaging. If it also succeeded in making them feel something, anything, then I’m overjoyed. Transmission of feelings you can’t quite put your finger on or name is the main goal of everything I write.
Who is Alec Evan March?
Alec Evan March is a writer and literature student from Athens, Greece, as well as a cautionary tale about what happens when one internalizes a few too many Mitski lyrics at a tender age. He is currently at work on his first novel, which is to be released (at this pace) sometime in the next three decades. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.