Indie Collaboration Author Interview – 3 Chris Raven

Indie Collaboration Author Interviews

Welcome to Chris Raven

Please tell us a little about yourself. I’m a 47 year old single father who has been rediscovering writing as a creative outlet.

Please tell us about the story you are offering for the Indie Collaboration anthology? I am not sure where my story came from. It started with an idea of an outwardly normal and happy couple whose neighbours all know that they row terribly behind closed doors. I then had try and work out what was really going on. I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to give away the ending.

Is this your normal genre? Tell us a little about your other works. I’m just starting out really, in that I am writing fiction with the intention of publishing now, as opposed to just writing bits and pieces for my own entertainment. I suspect my ‘genre’ is a mishmash of fantasy, horror, and comedy, but its early days yet and I am experimenting and keeping an open mind. I have a number of other short stories lined up to follow this one, as I am working on a series linked by a small number of localities. I have also been working on some stage plays, which are turning out to be quite quirky.

Do you find shorter stories more difficult to write than a novel/novella? I have really enjoyed the short story format, especially working within a word limit, which I have found really useful in focusing me to structure my stories very tightly.

Research can be important in world-building, how much do you need to do for your books? Do you enjoy this aspect of creating a novel and what are your favourite resources? I have found research quite helpful actually, surprisingly so. Initially it was daunting and I thought it would get in the way of creativity. However, once I started and had some idea of the ‘world’ in which I wanted to set my stories, I found it inspired ideas.

In what formats are your other books available? (E-books, print, large print audio) Are you intending to expand these? Watch this space!!!

Do you self-edit? If so why is that the case? Do you believe a book suffers without being professionally edited? A professional edit has got to be good, but it is expensive. One of the main benefits being a part of the Indie Collaboration I have found is the mutual proof-reading, commenting, suggesting and reviewing that we do for each other.

How important is a high quality cover to you? I love a good cover, e-book or paper; I can’t help but judge a book by its cover.

Do you listen to music or watch TV whilst you write? I start with music playing, but when I realise I don’t know how long ago the CD ended, I know I’ve had a good session at the keyboard.

What experiences can a book provide that a movie or video game cannot? Reading is a shared creative experience.

What advice would you give new writers? As a new writer myself, I would say stick with it and just write, it doesn’t matter what, how good or bad, or how much, the important thing is to start. Also (and I don’t know how true this is for others, but it worked for me) if you get really struck, start something else and come back to the first thing later with fresh eyes. But don’t forget, you do need to finish at least some of the things you start at some point.

What are your best marketing/networking tips? Get as many marketing tips from people as you can.

Most authors also like to read, what books do you enjoy? Big fan of George R. R. Martin at the moment, I just wish he would write a bit faster. I would be lying if I said my short story writing wasn’t inspired to some degree by Ray Bradbury. I’m a big Conan Doyle, HP Lovecraft, Wyndham and Asimov fan.

Can you give us a silly fact about yourself? I secretly sing when no one else is around.

Book links, website/blog and author links:

http://chrisravenblog.wordpress.com/