Ask the Author: Christopher Swann
Answered Questions (8)
Christopher Swann
Part of me wants to say Hogwarts, as I'm a high school English teacher and think teaching at Hogwarts would be fabulous. But I also imagine teenagers with the ability to cast magical spells and I'm a bit terrified. The Shire sounds like a lovely place to retire to.
Christopher Swann
Thanks for reaching out! I remember y'all--I graduated in 1988, so Emmett Wright was my headmaster. Hope you and Dr. Mac are doing well. Glad you recognized WFS, although it's a much nicer place than Blackburne. :)
Christopher Swann
Hi, Mike! Thanks for your question, and for wanting to read more of my work. I really appreciate it.
My publisher, my friends, my wife . . . I'm used to the question by now. Right now I'm working on my next novel, which is set in Atlanta, and I hope to get a draft to my agent soon. The paperback for Shadow of the Lions comes out July 31, and I'll be going on a two-week tour up the East Coast to promote it, with trips scheduled for California and Tennessee, among other places, later in the fall. You can follow my events and other news at http://christopherswann.com. Sign up for my newsletter if you like--I promise not to flood your inbox.
My publisher, my friends, my wife . . . I'm used to the question by now. Right now I'm working on my next novel, which is set in Atlanta, and I hope to get a draft to my agent soon. The paperback for Shadow of the Lions comes out July 31, and I'll be going on a two-week tour up the East Coast to promote it, with trips scheduled for California and Tennessee, among other places, later in the fall. You can follow my events and other news at http://christopherswann.com. Sign up for my newsletter if you like--I promise not to flood your inbox.
Christopher Swann
I'm working my way back through Stephen King's Dark Tower cycle to see how they've fared after several years. I'm looking forward to Wiley Cash's The Last Ballad and C. Morgan Babst's The Floating World. And Patti Callahan Henry's The Bookshop at Water's End. I've checked Annie Proulx's Barkskins out of the library but am a bit intimidated by it. And I still haven't read The Underground Railroad or Commonwealth yet. Got a lot of catching up to do!
Christopher Swann
All sorts of things inspire me. I think initially I was inspired to write by the sheer joy of getting to make up stuff and commit it to paper in a way that would hopefully entertain people. Writing is solitary work, but it's written eventually for someone else other than the author, for a reader. I love reading great books, and I wanted to write stories in part because I wanted to be able to create something that someone in Topeka or Seattle or Mobile would read and have that same feeling that I had when I read a book I really liked.
Christopher Swann
Don't quit. Keep writing. If 10,000 hours is what it takes to become good at something, carve out thirty minutes tonight and whittle away at that goal. I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was in eighth grade. Now I'm 47 and my debut novel is getting published. By all rights I should have quit. But I didn't.
It also helps tremendously to have a spouse or partner who is supportive and pushes you to do your best. My wife is my greatest reader and cheerleader.
It also helps tremendously to have a spouse or partner who is supportive and pushes you to do your best. My wife is my greatest reader and cheerleader.
Christopher Swann
Having people you know and respect and love tell you that something you have written is good. A very close second is having people who are complete strangers tell you the same thing. And just behind both of those is when you are deep in your writing and you hit that zone where it's going well and you are creating something that feels right.
Christopher Swann
For me writer's block isn't usually due to a lack of material. It's more about a lack of willpower. Sure, there are scenes I get stuck on and don't know how to move through. But usually writer's block for me is about being distracted: by my phone, by my e-mail, by life. The best way to avoid writer's block is to sit in the chair and write. Write anything--part of your novel, a scene from a story you will write at a later time, answers to Goodreads questions. Anything.
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