Book Description
Most decisions in a day happen quickly, what to say, how to respond, whether to trust what you’re hearing. For Aubrey Shallcross, those moments are never quite that simple. The voices he hears are always there, shaping how he moves through conversations, work, and the choices in front of him in The Hearing Voices Series by Charles Porter.
Aubrey Shallcross has built a life that depends on staying steady, knowing how to read a situation, when to act, when to hold back. But the voices he hears are always present, threading through those moments, shaping how he understands what’s happening in real time.
Most of the time, he manages it. He adjusts, responds, and keeps moving.
But when the stakes rise, when decisions have to be made quickly and the margin for error disappears, the voices don’t stay neutral. They push, redirect, and complicate the choices in front of him.
One decision leads into another. A moment that should pass becomes something that lingers. And as those moments begin to build, Aubrey finds himself pulled into situations that demand action, even when he doesn’t fully trust the reason behind it.
By the time he realizes how far things have gone, he’s no longer reacting.
He’s part of what’s unfolding.
Q&A
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?
I hope someone notices that whilst the present-day chapters and future chapters are chronologically ordered forward in time, the chapters set in the past (early 20th century Siberia) move backwards in time, so that the earliest chapter timeline-wise for the past chapters reaches a climax at the latest period time-wise for the other chapters. Truthfully, there are many other details that might be missed but which astute readers will catch: recurring motifs, the recursive nature of the story, how Gutov’s chapter 26 is also IKONA’s chapter 26, for example.
When did this story or idea “click” into place for you—was there a single moment you knew you had to write it?
This story first came to me in 2012. I planned the structure and journeys for years before I sat down to write it. I knew from the moment I got the first few pages and the title that it would be my most mature work. It is my fourth novel, but my first published novel. It was a persistent inner voice which never left me no matter how many twists and turns my life took in the interim. I wrote it in 2022.
Which character or real-life person surprised you the most while writing this book, and why?
Finley Minor’s journey evolved in a way I didn’t expect. No spoilers so I will just say that his arc deeply moved me, and I was unprepared for my own emotional reaction.
If your book had a soundtrack, what three songs would be on it and what scenes or moments would they pair with?
Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower was a song that appeared in my mind the moment the title and first chapter appeared, as if guiding me with its revolutionary message – I feel that this song is the musical equivalent of IKONA’s message.
The song You Are a Memory by Message to Bears accompanied Part Three of the novel and always brings me back, emotionally, to Finley’s and Wallace’s final chapters.
Saeglopur by Sigur Ros takes me to the narrative’s climax and particularly Jia Li during one of her Shibari performances.
Music was a salve for the entire writing of IKONA and I created a public Spotify playlist for the novel called IKONA the Playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7BbP05jUU3tJm28IfEy4E6?si=w4HVUAmGRui8WkflIg7AYw&pi=VOEyJ7igQqOg0
What’s one belief, question, or emotional truth you hope readers carry with them long after they finish your book?
Hope. I want readers to experience hope and a sense of personal agency in the long road of societal change we currently find ourselves navigating.
Tell us about a moment during the writing process when the story (or message) took an unexpected turn.
Honestly, writing this felt like an experience of transmission. There was no unexpected turn – the consistency in message, tone and narrative arc was set and unwavering. There was always a sense of consistency, as if the river of words flowed, and I was merely the faithful witness. From a craft point of view, there was a fair bit of planning. It felt like a giant puzzle I had to arrange in precisely the correct order. Like sacred geometry. Which chapters went where, and in what order, and so on. But the narrative itself flowed without deviation.
If your protagonist (or the central figure in your nonfiction) could give the reader one piece of advice, what would it be?
Well, as my character Gutov says regarding his chapter the Bridge, “Read it again, this time with your heart.”
What real-world place, object, or memory helped shape a key element in your book?
I am a Russophile by training, albeit 30 years ago. I lived in St. Petersburg, did my doctoral research in Crimea, travelled a lot in Russia and Ukraine…
My experience speaking Russian with friends, speaking of the soul, of life, of destiny, on -35 degree nights in friends’ apartments, with vodka or strong coffee, has certainly shaped me, and by extension, my vision and prose. This was in the 1990s, a time of that society’s collapse – the atmosphere and weight of it permeates my marrow. So this definitely has shaped a certain ‘vibe’ of IKONA.
What’s something you had to research, learn, or experience to write this book that genuinely shocked you?
I can’t speak to shock; I don’t think anything shocked me! But I did a deep dive on the process of creating a metal crucifix –the how tos – and this led me to researching the life of iconographers in early 20th century Russia, and that was fascinating. I found a wonderful academic book on the subject matter with loads of photos, and it just really touched me. Iconographers were like monks, and lived as such and were part of the monastic community. I loved how when they created icons, it was a holy occasion accompanied by fasting and prayer.
SPOILER ALERT: I was surprised (and also not surprised as I know Russians and Russian history) that one of the chief investigators of the Tunguska Event was a famous (at the time) science fantasy author. The government actually invited this person to research and comment, because conventional science had found no answers, but they thought this author had some kind of insight into the field of reality beyond hard science. It always makes me chuckle when I remember this.
If your book were invited to join a shelf with three other titles, which ones would make you happiest—and what would that shelf say about your story?
I would place it alongside Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda, and The Overstory by Richard Powers. I think because it signals to the reader that while the story is a high-concept, multi-timeline puzzle, it is grounded in the visceral, feet-on-the-ground reality of a spiritual initiation. This shelf tells the reader that IKONA is an invitation to look beyond the shadows of our current reality and contemplate how consciousness itself can heal the future.
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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