Hey Guys! I am here with another interview! But first, I wanna say a huge thank you to all you guys reading this! Yesterday, Indieviews exploded. I have requests for Interviews and Reviews flooding in, so “Thank You!”
Anyways, today we have an interview with Indie Author, Chris Turner. Check it out!
Logan Rutherford: Tell us a little bit about your self,
and about your latest book.
Chris Turner: I started writing back in the early 90’s
during a biking backpacking trip to Asia. I was really inspired by Lord of
the Rings which I was rereading around the time. Well, all to say, writing
became one of my fondest passions, along with playing music and painting. My
latest book Wolf’s-head is the first book in the Rogues of Bindar
series. Along with the other two volumes, they have been enthusiastic pursuits
in the making since 2007, and I’m very proud of the series.
LR: Why did you start
writing?
CT: Fascination. I have a lot of creative
energy that needs to be channelled. Some authors are so stimulating—like
Tolkien, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber—that you just have to give it a try! Never
would I have known that 20 years after the fact, I would have had a real chance
at getting stories out to the world—thanks to e-publishing, Amazon, Smashwords
and the like.
LR: Where and when do you write the
most?
CT: Pretty much everywhere—on paper, in my
mind, on the computer. When I can’t physically type, I’m frantically trying to
scrawl it down on bits of paper before I lose the thread. Obviously most of the
bulk of the work is done in front of a laptop, but ironically, a lot of the
ideas occur in meditation. My mind gets very clear then, and all the little
niggling problems of plot, setting, character disconnects, dialogue issues get
resolved. I get new revelations on the characters: how to strengthen their
conflict and their quest and the overall theme of the story. As the current
novel is being written, it’s a flowing, seamless work in progress. It’s
constantly being evolved, revised, and with constant rewrites, gets better and
better.
LR: How do you come up with your
characters?
CT: Oddly, the characters are the last things
to appear. First it’s the setting, then the time frame (future/past/sf-world or
fantasy world). The characters appear after that. I find it takes a long time
to develop the characters; they just progress slowly, day by day, and I can’t
rush their unfolding, otherwise I blank out. I find even half way through the
first draft, the characters are changing enough that I have to rework their
dialogues, and their relation with the rest of the story. I’m glad this
happens—otherwise the writing wouldn’t be half as deep.
LR: Why did you choose to
self-publish?
CT: Like most independent writers, I really
had no option. After endless rejections, and realizing that it was not the
quality of my work that was the problem (but more the dismal statistics on
getting published), I got fed up with that route and started looking into
self-publishing. In today’s publishing sphere, I believe a writer is better to
go Indie. All the tools are in place; it doesn’t really cost anything, outside
of an author’s time. But then again, to manifest anything of quality, requires
time, in my opinion. Authors can be their best promoters. I am convinced of
this because they are the most passionate of any about their work. They will
take the necessary steps to present their magnum opus before the public,
especially if they believe in themselves.
LR: Who is your favorite
author(s)?
CT: Jack Vance, R.E. Howard, J.R.R Tolkien,
Alexandre Dumas, Fritz Leiber, Arthur C. Clarke, John D. Macdonald.
LR: What is your favorite
book(s)?
CT: Eyes of the Overworld, The Demon Princes,
Lyonesse, Count of Monte Cristo, 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Lord of the Rings and
the Conan chronicles.
LR: How do you promote your
book(s)?
CT: Currently through review blogs, interview
spotlight blogs, like Indieview, and Kindleboards and Twitter. I also am having
a blast designing my own book covers.
LR: What are some of your hobbies
besides writing?
CT: Landscape oil painting, which has turned
out to be quite lucrative. Other hobbies include biking, meditation, guitar,
tennis and canoeing. I used to be heavily involved in studio recording back in
the ’90’s when my brother and I had our own band. I’ve dabbled in a lot of
personal software development projects too: chess engines, multimedia tools and
educational software.
CT: Where can people find you on the
internet?
http://innerskybooks.blogspot.com/
Twitter (@ChrisInnersky)
Thanks a lot, Chris!
One last thing before I get outta here. I announced my first full length novel, THE ARRIVAL. You can check out the announcment on my personal blog, Existential Bacon. http://existentialbacon.wordpress.com
Alright! That’s all folks!
Logan Rutherford (@jaloru95)
Indieviews 
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