Spencer J. Quinn Interviewed About Critical Daze

2,176 words

You can preorder Spencer J. Quinn’s Critical Daze here.

Did you always intend on writing a No College  Club sequel?

Certainly. When I envisioned The No College Club back in 2021, I had in mind a potential vehicle that could support an indefinite number of sequels—perhaps in other formats, such as comics. I’m even considering illustrated adventures for young children, like kindergarteners or first or second graders. This series will be called The No College Kids and will focus on the children of the No College Club members. At the end of Critical Daze (which is May of 2027) there are four of these children: two 5-year-olds and two 3-year-olds.

After the No College Club forms in the first book, they establish themselves as a civil rights organization primarily for white Americans. They’re an upstart, right-wing answer to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. They’re basically just four tough kids—two young married couples. They’re supported by family and various donors, and they manage a homestead and campus for dissidents in Virginia. But their reach and influence is miniscule compared to the anti-white leviathans they face. In the real world this would be bad, but in the world of fiction it’s the gift that keeps on giving since there is always drama attached to a David vs. Goliath story. Everybody loves a worthy underdog.

The basic formula is to have high school students running afoul of political correctness in one way or another and getting into trouble. The No College Club then swoops in to help. Not only do they give these kids moral support, legal aid, and a place to stay, they also equip them with the guidance that will help them grow into healthy and responsible men and women. But ultimately it will be about the kids themselves overcoming the obstacles that the anti-white establishment places in front of them.

In what ways do the protagonists in Critical Daze differ from the protagonists in the first book?

Of course, they’re different people with different perspectives and temperaments. In the first book, we quickly achieve boy-girl balance, with Derek and Caroline being an item as well as Brock and Rose. By the book’s end, they wind up marrying and having children. So there’s no love triangle or jealousy or anything like that. In Critical Daze we have two boys, Will Askew and JD Craiglow, and a girl, Connie Craft. So there is an inherent imbalance. Further, the first novel takes for granted the good character of the four protagonists, while the second, not so much. In fact, that’s part of the suspense—which kid, if any, will actually prove to be true in the end.

And while they are all high school students who question political correctness as a form of authoritarian dogma, exactly what they have to deal with is different. In the first book, the protagonists challenge the black slavery victimhood cult. In Critical Daze they address critical race theory. In both cases—and in all cases moving forward, I hope—they are forced to address pervasive, anti-white ideology of some stripe or another. Exactly the kind of thing white kids get bombarded with in high school and in college.

In what ways is Critical Daze similar to the first book?

In both books, the protagonists team up for a project. In The No College Club it’s a class presentation on slavery. In Critical Daze it’s a critical race theory scholarship essay competition. In both cases the protagonists meet a knowledgeable older relative as part of their research and learn the anti-white truth behind each topic. And then it is up to them to decide what to do about it. Do they tell the truth and risk being called racists and putting their college careers at risk? Or do they play it safe and regurgitate the politically correct lies their families and teachers want to hear?

Still, this isn’t a formula I necessarily plan on sticking with. Future sequels may have plot devices that have nothing to do with cooperative academic projects. The plot I am envisioning for book 3 is much more of a family drama.

The members of the No College Club do not appear until halfway into Critical Daze. Is this what you intend for all the sequels?

Not necessarily. For this particular sequel, though, the answer is yes. I wanted to give plenty of time for Will, Connie, JD, and their story to develop. When writing the book, I was confident that the characters were well drawn out enough, and the plot gripping enough, not to need the previous characters for support. Critical Daze stands just fine on its own. The No College Club gets mentioned a few times in the first half of the book since they are well-known figures by this point. Will, the central character, is drawn to them as he learns more about the insidiousness behind critical race theory. By the time the reader reaches part two of the novel, the appearance of the No College Club will appear natural and organic.

Again, this is not necessarily a recurring formula, and later books may take a different approach. As the No College Club universe broadens with more and more new characters, existing characters are going to be more integrated into the stories from the beginning, middle, and end.

Another facet of storytelling I wanted to explore was first-person omniscient narration. Except for its five manuscript chapters, the first book uses this technique entirely through Caroline. The story is essentially told through her eyes. Critical Daze uses this technique mostly with Will, but also with each of the original No College Club members in the second half of the book. Thus, we can explore them more thoroughly as three-dimensional characters by viewing the story and the world from their perspectives. This was actually very exciting for me as a writer since one of the most consistent compliments I received for The No College Club was how well drawn out the characters were. Plus, the characters from the first novel are now having kids of their own, and this changes a person in a myriad of ways that can be interesting for both the reader and the author.

You bring back the protagonists from the first book. Do you intend on bringing back any of the villains?

Quite possibly, yes. In Critical Daze one villain in particular is a family member, so in that case it wouldn’t be difficult. As for the ones from the first book, such as Medina Klayman, Dr. Nogimbe, and Abe Zinger, the will is there, I just need to find the inspiration.

What age group is Critical Daze directed to?

I’d say from seventh grade on up. And while one of the main characters is slightly less wholesome than the others, the book isentirely appropriate for young adults. As with The No College Club, there’s no profanity or sex in it. There are no adult themes either, other than the characters taking on white racial perspective, which is the most subversive thing a person could do in today’s society.

The book is only 230 pages, which is slightly longer than the original. I also stuck with my 3,000 words per chapter rule in order to keep young readers engaged. If they can pop off a chapter in 15 minutes, I think there is a greater likelihood they will stick with Critical Daze until the end.

But just as with the original, Critical Daze is for all ages. Adults will enjoy it as much as anyone.

What would you say is the message of Critical Daze?

Well, as I have said before, I try to avoid messaging. It might be quite satisfying for an author to scribble down his red-pilled observations, but in most cases the result is pretty boring. Direct messaging usually takes us away from plot or character development, and the reader becomes aware of the author speaking directly to him. It’s like shattering the fourth wall. If the messaging is there for its own sake, then at best it is a distraction. It doesn’t matter how beautifully it is written or how cogent the arguments are.

On the other hand, the world in which Will and the others live is the real world. This is the same world our dissident ideas spring from—ideas which our leaders would desperately like to keep hidden. My goal is to craft scenarios in which these hidden aspects of the world come to the fore and ordinary high school students have to deal with them. They’re not red-pilled starting out, but as the story unfolds, they begin to realize that reality is not what they are taught in school and in their society at large.

So, yes, Critical Daze is a dissident novel—but it doesn’t tell you this. It shows it to you and makes you feel it vicariously through the characters. And critical race theory is the medium through which both the characters and the reader make their discoveries.

Does your book discuss the topic of race?

More so than in the first one, certainly. But still not very much. Race realism does get mentioned explicitly, and there is a brief discussion on psychometrics and IQ. It’s fair to say that Critical Daze touches on race in a biological or statistical sense. Closer to the heart of the novel, however, is white identity—and even this isn’t terribly overt. Remember, the protagonists are not starting out red-pilled. The critical race theory competition entices them to grope in that direction. They begin to notice anti-whiteism in not only the dogma itself but in the people who propagate it. They notice inconsistencies. They ask questions. And they get in trouble as a result—which is why we need the No College Club, to help them get out of trouble.

I have always found that escaping the comfy matrix of political correctness—where frogs eventually get boiled—and exploring the perilous yet undeniably real world of racial identity is a fascinating transformation. It’s like the characters must cross the fortified borderline between paradigms, away from the comforts of home and into uncharted, less-populated, and frankly dangerous territory. All because they’re following the beacon of Truth. Once they do this, nothing will ever be the same again. That is drama. That is suspense. That is high stakes fiction. And for my money, it beats any fiction in which characters start out red-pilled (usually as stand-ins for the author) and then go off to fight a race war.

It will also attract more readers—especially young ones—since most people aren’t red pilled either.

What about the Jewish Question?

I’d like to think that the JQ is both everywhere and nowhere in the No College Club universe. So far, the J-word has not been mentioned in either novel, but the clues are there. From a grownup perspective, I would say it is a moderately deep undercurrent. If a reader is entirely innocent on the JQ, then it will likely pass him by, but he’ll still get a lot out of the novel. If he’s at least familiar with Jews, even only superficially, then he’ll begin to notice themes emerge. And if a reader is aware of the Dissident Right, then it will come through loud and clear.

Of course, there is nothing over the top. There are no anti-Semitic stereotypes or hateful rhetoric or oily bearded merchants rubbing their hands together. In fact, I would like to believe that the Jewish presence is so accurately presented in The No College Club and Critical Daze that left-wing Jews themselves would identify with the villains and not see what all the fuss is about.

In any case, Kevin MacDonald caught the Jewish Question undercurrent pretty well in his recent review of Critical Daze.

Have you started on the third installment of the series?

I have. I am in the process of plotting it out. I am pretty sure the new central character will once again be female. I’m envisioning fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, with the boy beingexceptionally perceptive but given to anger and restlessness. He fearlessly (and perhaps foolishly) become a dissident while still a teen. When his sister tries to rescue him, she begins to realize not only the truth behind his perspective but also how he comes in contact with people who are not honest and could potentially harm him. Meanwhile, the original members of the No College Club as well as characters found in Critical Daze will continue to develop, and their children will continue to grow.

Strangely enough, I am tempted to take a wait-and-see approach for book 3. I have no idea yet how the second Trump administration will change things about our culture. Most likely it won’t. But if it does, I might want to include subtle signs of that moving forward.

I do however plan on keeping with the first-person omniscient narration which has characterized the series so for. I’ve gotten good feedback from that approach, and hopefully, readers will continue to enjoy it as the characters and story develop.