Ryan Rudeseal, alias AnachronistRocketeer, is a moderator on Althistoria, a new alternate history site. The site can be found here.

Wallace: What made you interested in alternate history?

Rudeseal: Well, like most people who lover alternate history, I've been a rather big history nerd since I was a child. However, what got me into alternate history was my love of biology. When I was young, one of my first books was an Encyclopedia on pre-Triassic period biology. This fascinated me as a kid, and I would try to follow the evolutionary paths as best I could. Occasionally though, I would find a creature I really liked and would try to model what would happen if they hadn't died off, even trying to model fictional ecosystems along these lines. Years later, I would find a site for speculative biology, and while I was not the most productive member I eventually read a timeline where they even modeled how history would change due to different ice-age die offs. That sparked something in my brain, that you could do the same thing for history like you could for animals or fictional places. After that it was simply a matter of time before I found the online alternate history community.

Wallace: What brought you to moderatorship of Althistoria?

Rudeseal: During the time Althistoria was being created, I was one of the people interested in keeping a community for alternate history running outside of the main alternate history forum for various reasons. I offered any services I could help to Krall, and one of those duties turned out to be moderation!

Wallace: What are the day-to-day duties of a moderator?

Rudeseal: Honestly? I'm really thankful for our community for making my job as a moderator more about trying to inspire content and stir participation than about having to ensure things don't get out of hand! Most of my job is reviewing applicants, stirring discussion, and being a part of trying to further improve Althistoria on the technical side of things. I also ensure that our board does not in fact develop self-awareness and become a time-traveling omnipotent superintelligence as per Krall's instructions.

Wallace: Is there anything particularly enjoyable about the job?

Rudeseal: I certainly enjoy being a part of the community and helping add things that people use and appreciate. I think my favorite part though is watching how well Althistoria has done under the leadership of Krall and all the people on our forum.

Wallace: Is there anything particularly frustrating?

Rudeseal: Aside from the occasional minor issue, I've never seen the job as moderator particularly frustrating.

Wallace: Does working with the other moderators pose any issue?

Rudeseal: No, I think our other Moderators are all excellent people, and we seem to work together quite well. We all have different strengths, and together we can usually manage to come to a reasonable conclusion on an issue.

Wallace: How does being a moderator affect your standing in the community?

Rudeseal: I can't imagine it affects my standing in the community very much, even as a moderator I'm not one of the most prolific users or one of the most eloquent.

Wallace: You’re also a writer on Althistoria; what sparks inspiration for your writing?

Rudeseal: I wake up in the morning and throw a dart at a bookshelf full of books, whichever ones are hit is what inspires me at that time. In a more serious manner, I tend to be inspired most by religion and technology, two things that have always changed human civilization and can easily affect whole cultures. I absolutely love looking into more obscure religions, history books and science fiction for my inspiration. One particular love of mine is the writings of Isaac Asimov, particularly the Galactic Empire and Foundation novels. I also absolutely love Star Wars and its expanded universe of novels and works. Both inspire a sense of grandness and wonder that I try to emulate in my works.

Wallace: What sort of projects do you write?

Rudeseal: Well, primarily I tend to write for roleplaying games, which means I write in a wide variety of genres and in smaller amounts than many other writers on Althistoria. However, in my own time I tend to write science fiction of one stripe or another.

Wallace: How do you envision the future of Althistoria?

Rudeseal: I envision the future of Althistoria as a rather bright one hopefully, one where people can discus and present their own works and feel like they have an inclusive community where discussion will be helpful and open for everyone from moderators to the newest members.