Welcome, Christopher Nuttall, to my virtual couch.
Tell us a something about yourself?
There isn’t really that much to tell. I was born in Edinburgh, started to read at a very early age and took up writing as a young adult. Currently, I’m living in Malaysia with my wife – which is hot, muggy and surprisingly fun.
When and why did you begin writing?
I dabbled a bit for years, but it only became an obsession in 2005, after reading a book that showed great promise and very poor execution. I told myself that I could do better – and it went on from there. Mind you, my first few books were nothing to write home about.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I started getting admiring comments for my work and discovered that people were actually following me. It was overwhelming!
Where do you get ideas for your stories?
Everywhere. Bookworm grew out of working in Edinburgh University Library’s special collections department. The Empire’s Corps and its sequels came from reading about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Outside Context Problem grew out of an online debate. And plenty of other sources.
What was the hardest part of writing your books?
Oh, the editing. Horrors!
Oh, I so hear you! I’m editing Lucas, book 2 in my Immortal Blood series, now and it’s so painful! But let’s not go there now…Have you ever had a writer’s block and if yes, how did you make it go away?
Yelled at it <grin>. More seriously, I tried to think about the problem logically – or reasoned backwards from where I wanted the story to go. It didn’t always work, but mostly it did.
I’ve never tried yelling at my stories, lol, but might try it if needed 🙂 Indie or traditional publishing?
Both. Right now, I have one book in print (The Royal Sorceress), one book in electronic format and an oncoming paperback (Bookworm), and two more on the way from Elsewhen Press. I also have fifteen books on Amazon Kindle.
Fifteen! OMG! You’ve been busy…What is the force behind your writing?
I say determination. My wife says bloody-mindedness. We’re both right.
Do you have any weird writing habits?
Hard to say – I don’t know what’s ‘weird.’ I normally get up and write around 10’000 words, then deal with the rest of the day.
What is your favorite cartoon character?
Bugs Bunny. Although I do have a soft spot for the 2002 He-Man series.
Your favorite authors? Books?Movies? TV-series?
Authors… David Weber, Peter F. Hamilton, John Ringo, Tom Kratman, Iain Banks and many others.
TV … Babylon 5, Doctor Who
Movies … Battle: LA.
Okay there it is again…Doctor Who! I have not seen a single episode of it but I’m seriously starting to think I’ve missed something awesome…What do you do in your spare time?
Spend time with my wife, mainly. A lot of reading.
Sounds perfect. Any current projects you’d like to share?
Well, right now I’m working on Book 4 of The Empire’s Corps series, where the Marines face their gravest challenge yet. After that, I have a planned space opera epic about a civil war in space and several other projects in mind.
Tell us something unique about yourself you’d like the readers to know…
Unique? That’s a hard question to answer <grin>.
If you could meet one ‘celebrity’ author who would it be?
It would be a toss-up between Peter Hamilton and David Weber, I think.
Do you have any words of wisdom for the other writers?
I think the best piece of advice I could offer would be to carry on – and don’t let the bastards get you down. Writers take time to learn their skills – and there’s no shortage of people who will happily criticize without any real idea of what they’re doing. Oh, and there are no real shortcuts. Your first works will be crappy (mine certainly were) but you’ll improve through effort.
I completely agree! Where can people find out more about you and your books:
Well, I have a webpage at http://www.chrishanger.net/, a blog at http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/ and a facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/ChristopherGNuttall. All welcome! I post snippets and updates on the blog regularly and I’m thinking of breaking into political commentary too.
I’m a great believer in free samples and you can find samples (around one fourth of the book) on my site, allowing you to taste without actually purchasing. There’s also a number of my earlier works online for free (although I wouldn’t object if someone wanted to send me money <evil grin>) and various other resources for my readers.
That’s good to know! Well, thank you for joining us today. It’s been a pleasure!
AUTHOR JENNIFER LOISKE 