Eric Christopherson Interview

Kipp Poe Speicher VS. Eric Christopherson

1: What is the most productive time of the day for you to write?

Mornings, when the brain is freshest. I’d be surprised if that’s not the case for most novelists.

2: Do you start your projects writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?

All on the computer. I hear Cormac McCarthy uses a typewriter still, which makes me wonder whether his comma key is broken. (Just try finding one in his books.)

3: What do you draw inspiration from?

Anywhere I can find it. I get a lot of good ideas for the work in progress while going for long walks.

4: Do you set yourself goals when you sit down to write such as word count?

I used to do that, but now I just write as much as I can until I’m tired or until life intervenes.

5: Being a self published author how do you come up with your cover art?

I know a guy. He’s an author too, but freelances book covers at a very reasonable rate.

6: What drives you to chose the career of being a writer?

I have always loved stories. I can recall watching old movies from when I was the age of three onwards. At some point I decided I could do as well or better than some of the professional story tellers. Now what drives me is simply to do the best job I can. I only compare myself with myself. That it takes everything I’ve got to write a decent book is one of my chief pleasures. One definition of happiness, I think it was George Bernard Shaw’s, involves that feeling of being used up and ready for the scrap heap.

7: Do you own an ebook reading devise?

A Kindle. But I’m considering getting an iPad.

8: Who are some of your favorite authors and What are you reading now?

My all-time fave is Charles Dickens—for the language and characterization. Among today’s authors working in my field (mystery/suspense) my favorite is Martin Cruz Smith. He does everything well, which so few authors do, and I’m including the most famous authors working today. I’m also a big fan of T. Jefferson Parker and Dennis Lehane. I'm currently reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (on the Kindle).

9: What do you think of book trailers and do you have any plans to have any?

I don’t have the technical skills to do that. I’d have to hire someone.

10: What are you working on now that you can talk about?

My work in progress is a departure for me in that it’s more literary and for the first time an historical novel. It’s a Gothic thriller set in New York City in 1919. There’s a lot more emphasis on characterization and voice than in my previous works—to the extent that I wonder whether readers who’ve enjoyed my previous books would enjoy this one. We’ll see.

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