Features
Who Really Shot Abraham Lincoln?
U of G student marries history and literature in long list of literary and theatre projects
BY DAVID DICENZO
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| Eating and sleeping come second for writer, producer, director, actor, stand-up comedian and full-time student Erik Mortensen. Photo by Martin Schwalbe |
Humdrum just doesn't cut it for Erik Mortensen. A 19-year-old Fergus writer in his second year of an English and history double major at U of G, Mortensen says he's always been interested in edgy subjects when it comes to his work. Be it conspiracies or the paranormal, the more colourful the topic, the better.
“One of the concepts I like to apply to my writing is, if it isn't controversial, it isn't good enough,” he says.
Controversial is an apt description of his recently released novella, Avenging Abe. Set during the Civil War, the story follows Capt. Jason Gosse, a dedicated Union soldier who's assigned to protect President Abraham Lincoln on a trip through a dangerous stretch of the countryside riddled with assassins. When Lincoln is subsequently shot — and not in a theatre — Gosse and his best friend, sharpshooter Kevin Hughes, follow orders and bring the president back to Washington, where “one of the greatest coverups of all time” begins to unfold.
Told through Gosse's voice, Avenging Abe blends historically accurate detail and a wild storyline. Mortensen says the first-person account is particularly important because it provides insight into a character who remains dedicated to the cause — ultimately winning the war — despite his apprehension throughout.
“I wanted to set it up that way because when you reach the end, you see a lot more of the web that comes loose,” he says. “And you get to see how quickly what you assume to be real, whether you're in the situation or just reading about it, changes. I think that's pretty true of all time periods and these situations — the person being told what to do never knows the full facts until it's too late.”
Mortensen last took American history back in high school when he attended St. James in Guelph, which is when he actually began to write the book. He says he put a lot of time into researching the period, making sure that details of the story were bang on, from the movements in battle and the type of liquor consumed to the names of native Americans depicted. Capturing the gore of the conflict was also crucial, he says.
“More Americans ended up dying in the Civil War than in every other war America has been involved in combined,” he says. “It was one of the most brutal and bloody fights. Sometimes it's essential to catalogue the graphic nature of the war. You realize you don't ever want to see that again.”
A prolific writer, Mortensen says he typically has two ways of coming up with ideas. Sometimes they simply pop into his head. Other times, he asks a friend to give him a list of a couple of items, some traits of a potential character and a setting for the story, which is how Avenging Abe got its start. A friend suggested a pocket watch, a tri-cornered hat, a coward, a loudmouth and the setting of the Civil War. “From there, I threw the story together.”
Mortensen says his first serious attempt at writing was in Grade 5 when his teacher asked the class to produce a short story. He handed in 20 pages on a group of people off to find the lost world of Atlantis.
“I've always loved creativity and imagination,” he says. “Most of my friends were off playing football, and I was sitting there thinking up imaginary worlds.”
Mortensen, who writes every day and admits to getting only about four hours of sleep a night, received the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association Young Authors Award, the Lions Club Creative Writing Award, the St. James Literary Award and the St. James Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award.
But he aspires to much more than seeing his words on a page. He's also interested in producing, directing, doing stand-up comedy and acting. In November, he did his first one-person show.
The list of projects Mortensen has in the works is staggering: a second novel, to be called Divine Revolution; a children's book that will be illustrated by his girlfriend; a Sherlock Holmes-themed production that's being put on by the Mainstreet Players, a Fergus-based theatre company he founded last year; a musical planned for 2008 consisting entirely of Aerosmith music; and an “edgy” play for the “Shakespeare — Made in Canada” festival called Hot Pursuit, which he sums up as “A Midsummer Night's Dream meets American Pie.”
Mortensen also works at Tim Hortons to raise extra funds for his theatre company, regularly sends scripts out to Hollywood bigwigs like Jerry Bruckheimer and says he'd love to do an MA in creative writing at the University of Guelph-Humber.
Throw in school and it's easy to see why he says eating and sleeping “come second to everything else.”
Prof. Kevin James, History, says Mortensen “has found a very creative way of marrying his skills in history and literature. His approach to historical fiction is imaginative. And between stand-up, writing fiction and his other pursuits, Erik also devotes a lot of time and energy to his courses. That's impressive.”
Mortensen admits he's endured some struggles, mostly because of his age. When some people realize he's just 19, they quickly lose interest in his work, he says. But that hasn't deterred him from following his dreams. He says he simply works with the people who do believe in him, like Crackjaw Publishing, a new local company that helped see Avenging Abe come to fruition.
“A quote I heard when I was younger and that I really believe in is: ‘The only things we regret in life are the risks we don't take.' Ever since then, every time I think: ‘Should I or shouldn't I do something,' I end up doing it.”