About Stephen Christiansen:
Born in Henderson, Nevada, Stephen was born to a long line of military personnel. His travels from base to base helped inspire a young and imaginative mind. As he grew he continued his world travels and have visited ancient cultural ruins, rain forests, volcanos, and exotic locations. With these in mind, he is able to weave epic stories of wondrous places and extraordinary people.
Stephen now lives in Roseburg, Oregon with his wife and daughter. He enjoys taking care of his 5 acre black oak wooded land, gardening, hiking, and traveling. Today, he inspires to share with the rest of the world some of the fantastic real-life inspired places and events that has shaped his life.
What inspires you to write?
I've always enjoyed reading when I was young and loved going to far off places in my mind. One day I read about dark elves and realized how they intrigued me. I love mushrooms, and spiders, and caves (weird, I know) but imagine finding a set of characters that live in this world.
One day I read the 6 book series "War of the Spider Queen" and thought that it should have been 8 books (you know, because spiders have 8 legs). Then I thought, 'I can write a series'. Well, my 8 books became 10, then 12, then 17 with offshoots.
There are many days that I just wake up and can't wait to put the next paragraph down and share with those that want to experience it with me. It's like it is screaming to get out. There are days when a fan will say "I love what you wrote".
I guess I just enjoy sharing the worlds within my mind with other people and can't wait to put to paper my next novel.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
My absolute favorite author is Poe. I've enjoyed his interesting take on the human psyche. He's inspired Doyle for the creation of Holmes and he's known as the first Sci-Fi author. While a lot of his writings may seem dark, the underlying message is the same, people have a conscious and it will eventually come forth. There's a lot of "romanticism" in Poe's works.
I also enjoy reading King, Salvatore, and Silverberg. I think many people can see these influences in my writings.
Tell us about your writing process.
Well, I'm kind of both. I know where I want to start and finish and then plot about half of the book before I start writing. This gives me "wiggle room" to let my characters and plot flow as it wants. Sometimes it changes some of my plot points, but that alright. Usually this ends up being better than what I had originally planned out.
When I plot out my novel, I'll write a sentence or two on a word document to summarize a chapter and then perhaps write a bit within that chapter. Sometimes I'll even jump around from chapter to chapter (I know that sounds odd, but that's the way my mind works).
Sometimes I'll have a character idea in mind that I want to run with, sometimes it just comes to me while I'm write. Sometimes I have a character that is a throw away character but ends up surprising me. Both Istobarra and Quithxell were this way. Now Istobarra is a main character and Quithxell is a fan favorite.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
It's odd to say this, but yes, sometimes I can hear the characters talk to me. "Hey, I want to do this or that" or "that's not what I would say". Sometimes I can even "hear" their distinct voices. I know, this means that my characters seem to run the story and not me, but the stories take on fantastic twists and turns when I listen to the characters and let them run for a while.
What advice would you give other writers?
I always like to give inspiring authors three pieces of advice. First, Live. Put the phone down, step away from the computer and go live. Experience life. Life is full of many things to write about.
Second, Read. Read good books, read bad books. Find what you like. Find out why a book is good and why is it bad. Read the classics, especially if you don't like them, they are classics and have been around for a reason. All of this will help build your own writing style.
Finally, write. Write well, write poorly, but write. Write everyday. The first attempt won't be that good, but that's ok, you can go back and edit later. You'll also learn along the way. You may be surprised when I ask authors what they have written and get the answer of "Well, I actually haven't started". You can't be an author if you don't write.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
When I finally decided to start my dark elf series, I saw an advertisement with Wizards of the Coast. They were looking for authors who would write a little bit more of adult content than their usual authors. When I submitted my initial idea to Wizards, I was told that they weren't interested at the moment. Well, I decided to write the dark elf series anyway. After talking to various other authors, I found that they were having nightmares with the publishers and were doing everything that they could to get out of their contract and self-publish. With all of this, I decided to go self-publishing.
My advice to new authors? Check things out for yourself. There are pros and cons for both publisher and self-publisher routes. Find what works for you. If you want to go with a publisher, then don't quit. Many authors get rejected. I just decided that self-publishing was more for me. You decide for yourself.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Self-publishing has really flooded the market for novels. Some are good, many aren't. Either way, the market is now full and it's harder to get any good material out there. I've also found that many readers now want audio books so they don't have to read. The market of book publishing is ever changing. Gone are many of the book stores. What is the future going to look like? That's anyone's guess, but one thing is certain, authors need to learn to adapt their content if they still want to capture their audience.
What genres do you write?: Mostly High Fantasy/Fiction, but also dabble in Sci-Fi, and modern thriller
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Stephen Christiansen Home Page Link
Link To Stephen Christiansen Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Facebook
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
