Alistair Potter writes Fantasy, Science Fiction, short stories and poetry. His work has been read on the BBC Radio4, Scottish Shorts series, and he is former recipient of a Scottish Arts Council New Writer's Bursary.
"Perax Frontier" started as an idea about eight years ago, when I was on a family holiday on Lismore Island off the coast of Scotland. Our hosts 'Davie and Gill' let us set up tent, along with some others, in their garden. During a long walk, I discussed the idea of the Interface with Davie. Because of his interests, he saw it as the gate to Valhalla, but I saw it as just how it is in the novel. Regardless of our differing opinions, it was great to bounce ideas about surviving in a world without electricity. In many ways Lismore and much of the West Coast of Scotland was an example of how societies manage without electricity. Power cuts were not too frequent, but they did happen often enough for folks to be 'ready' to cope. From cooking to lighting, entertainment to transport, and the sense of community that existed on the island, it was a loose 'blueprint' of how a community gets by in these circumstances.