Blog 20; Future Books, or What I'm Working On Now

 

Hey, all!  I have had an epiphany recently regarding marketing my work. I spent a lot of time and money the last five years trying to market my books, and it did not work. I didn't make hardly any money, and nearly all my readers got my book for free. And I am okay with that. I have just decided (as I said in an email to my friends and family) to focus primarily on them as readers. And God. (He is my first reader, then Erin.) If you don't really know me and visit this blog and find it useful or interesting and like reading the books I write, you are always welcome. Even if you just stumble upon this site, all are welcome here.



For over two years now I've been working on the novel manuscript for A Contrite Spirit the story of a young Mormon man who, along with his brother, volunteers for the Army during World War I. He struggles with Shell Shock (PTSD) after the war and gradually heals. The novel then continues as more of a family saga, I am spending some time on that now, and should be released in 2022.


I am also currently switching from working on the novel to finishing up a short story collection. The book is a revised edition of the collection Fine People, and is only about 100 pages long. This should be released within the next few weeks.


Thanks for taking the time to read the blog, and for taking an interest in what I write.

Blog #19; What it means to be human reflected through historical fiction

 Many famous writers, most notably William Faulkner, have stated that the primary function of literature is to explore what it means to be human, and fiction explores what makes us human beings uniquely human.  Suffering seems to be one trait of being human.  To be human is to feel pain.  Also, another trait is joy.  Triumph over nature, or over one's own nature.  To drink deeply from the wellspring of life!  Sadness, violence.  Tenderness.  Compassion.  All encompass the human experience.

I write primarily historical fiction, and short stories usually set in contemporary times.  I like to think that people in other times and places were basically a lot like me.  A little anxious of change.  A little bold when called upon to be.  Mostly, "enduring to the end" as we like to say in my Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   As I get older, and my body begins its (I hope) slow decline, enduring to the end becomes more important to me.  Taking care of myself becomes a priority.  Diet becomes a big factor.   

I would like to write at least three or four excellent historical novels before my time is up.  Maybe more.  I no longer see it though, as a race against the clock.  I trust that my afterlife will be taken care of, and I will rise to the occasion.  I used to think the only way to live on was through what I wrote.  It's a nice thought, but I don't think that way anymore.  I have a boatload of ambition, but it's not going to kill me if others don't acknowledge what I accomplish during my lifetime.

Blog # 18; FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY for 3 days!

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY for 3 days! 

Ever wonder what it is like to train with a team of Olympic-level athletes? GET A FREE COPY OF SWIMMING AMONG THE OLYMPIANS and find out! This book also includes samples of my historical fiction and my LDS fiction. A great “sampler” of my fiction. 

GET IT WITH NO STRINGS, AND ABSOLUTELY FREE! March 13th through 15th!

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Blog #17; An Inside Look at Writing a Novel; FREE novel give-away for the next five days: IN LOVE AND WAR starting March 3r

 There have been many novel drafts of many novel stories that I have written, and many more that I have started and yet to have completed, but there is only one full novel that I have conceived, written and revised to full fruition.  IN LOVE AND WAR is that historical novel.  I was inspired by a story my dad told me, and used that as a starting point.  I was fascinated with the idea I had seen in David Guterson’s SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS of love between people from both sides of World War II and I knew a lot about German culture and history to round out the depiction of Inga Kaufener’s family.  

Other characters grew as I wrote and refined the story over the course of five years.   As I alluded to before in the blogs, I try to not base any one character too closely on real life people in my novels.  That is why I choose to do historical fiction.  It is made up, not lifted from my own life.   I have done damage to close family members and I have seen writers of all stripes wreck their family ties with hyper-critical depictions of people close to them.  Fitzgerald in TENDER IS THE NIGHT is the best example of this.  Hemingway took him to task for writing a Roman a clef about their mutual friends, and the irreparable damage it would do to them.  Make the characters up, whole cloth, set them in a time and place that is familiar to you, but not too familiar, as central Florida in the 1940s in my book.

I am hard at work on the next historical novel, called A CONTRITE SPIRIT, which should be out later this year.  Meanwhile, if you haven’t already read my novel IN LOVE AND WAR, you are in for a special treat!  It is the book that by far has gotten the most positive comments both on Amazon and in person.   Some people told me they were moved to tears.  I don’t know about that, but I am humbled they would say that.

FREE digital copies of IN LOVE AND WAR available for the next five days starting March 3^rd, 2021.

Click here to get free book March 3rd-7th, 2021

Blog #16; What Makes Serious Fiction Writing?

 A long time ago, when I was first putting together my debut collection of short stories, I asked people I knew in the literary world for blurbs.  One colleague said, “I know Chris to be a serious writer.”  I asked myself, What exactly does that mean?  I can’t put that on the back of my book.

                But that question haunts me to this day.  Am I revising enough?  Refining the prose?  Fashioning a signature style?  It gave me heart that a writer I admired classified me as serious.  I suppose “serious” refers to a level of artistry in the prose style.  Depth of character.  Detailed imagery appealing to the five senses.  An internal landscape that is at least as rich as its physical setting.  And mastery of story.  And seriousness of intent.  A writer working with seriousness of intent wants his or her writing to last.

                An editor and writer friend once said, “The excellent becomes the permanent,” and I like to think of that quote as a motto and a road map to creating prose that lasts.  I hope and pray that people living in the 2100s will be reading my fiction and enjoying it.  But I no longer have the anxiety about literary permanence I once did.  As long as Amazon.com and other book outlets carry and sell books, I know mine will be available.

                And I’ve learned to take the long view on my legacy.  My faith tells me that I have a long and satisfying, joyful future to look forward to.  It tells me that ultimately I will spend eternity with my loved ones.  And that with following my faith today, I will “store up my riches in Heaven” for tomorrow.