Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Amazing Christopher C Starr, and the Road to Hell

I'm back!
Bet you didn't know I was gone...well, in a way I was, back at Camp NaNo. Not to mention summer time. Ahhh, yes. Hubby is on vacation, schedules are up in the air, I'm packing picnics, beach bags, washing more towels a week than I own and chasing after the sun...just to be able to spend time with DH...and my kids, of course. But routine has once again befallen my household and I can let out a sigh of relief.

And now, back to business.

Allow me to introduce a fascinating author, one I hope will leave a lasting impression on you.

Meet Christopher C. Starr

Chris is the author of The Road to Hell: The Book of Lucifer, the first novel in the Heaven Falls series. These stories examine the God’s relationship with Heaven and Earth, told through the eyes of the angels. The next book in the series, Come Hell or High Water, is scheduled for late 2012/early 2013.

He makes it a point to look at the dark side of his characters, both heroes and villains, and his work explores the “grey”—that place where good and evil come together in all of us.

When he’s not being chased out of churches, Chris enjoys comic books and movies, staying away from cemeteries, and poorly participating in P90X. He lives in Seattle with his wife, two kids (The Boy and the Honey Badger), and his huskies, Rocky the Wonder Dog and his colorful sidekick, Leylah Redd. You can check out his blog at christophercstarr.net.
Christopher is the founder of Sanford House Press, an indie publishing house.
 
 
Now, I did have the chance to interview Chris, and so I do want to share it with you...because he is quite interesting. So hold on tight, and let's go!
 
Could you share a little about yourself and what led you to become a writer?
Storytelling has always been a part of my life—writing is just my preferred medium. I saw Alien at 6 and it scared the crap outta me. I learned at an early age that I wanted to be able to do that to people, to make them laugh or angry or scared—I just wanted them to feel something through my stories. Then, in college, I saw a woman get shot next to me and it traumatized me enough to make the write just to make sense of everything. It made me understand the power of the written word, the ability to process this thing we call the human condition. I grew up as a writer through that experience.
Wow, now that is something I would not like to have to go through. I can understand you being traumatized.
 
Do you write full time? How much of your life is set aside for writing?
Nope. I’m a full-time training professional for a talent management software company, a father of 2 kids (the Honey Badger and the Boy), a husband to my Disney-loving wife, and best-friend to my husky, Rocky the WonderDog. I wish I could write full time but I have this horrible addiction to food and shelter, heat and light. So I’m relegated to writing after everyone goes to sleep, usually after 11pm. I’m in the middle of a novel right now, so I’m sleepy.
Unfortunately, I can truly relate. 
 
Could you tell us a little about your novel?
The Road to Hell is the story of the war in Heaven, the fall of Lucifer and the dawn of mankind, told through the eyes of the angels. What makes it different, compelling (I hope) is that it’s the words of Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Lucifer telling this story. It’s an intimate, action-packed, gritty, gory look at the birth of evil.
An interesting twist, to say the least.
 
Would you mind taking us on a brief tour of your novel and the world you’ve created?
Sure thing. This story is primarily Lucifer’s story and we walk through his experience with God, Heaven, and the other angels from the very beginning. In this novel, everything takes place in the hand of the Father (God) and the angels have the ability to impact their world. We learn from Lucifer why they have wings, how they can manipulate Heaven, what kinds of powers they have. And we learn the origin of doubt, fear, and that a rebellion was always seething beneath the surface.
Fascinating, do go on.
This isn’t a version of Heaven you’ve seen before—folks aren’t necessarily happy and I don’t give you a jewelled, gold-laden environment. Things are grittier, harsher, I guess bleak is a fair statement. And they’re not as happy as you’d expect.
 
Where does the inspiration for you main character and story come from?
I meant to write from Michael’s point of view. He was originally my hero. But the way I wrote him at first was boring and two-dimensional. Then I wrote an interview between Lucifer and me, just trying to get a handle on his voice and motivations. He was fun and mean and wicked and a lot of fun to write! I couldn’t resist. Not many have tried to write from his perspective. I thought it would have much more impact describing his fall from his point of view. Plus I got to be mean—really mean. What could be better than that?
Well, when you put it that way, why not? 
As far as inspiration goes, a very close family member provides Lucifer’s mannerisms and his cadence of speech. His wickedness, well, that’s all me. In the end, I just wanted to find a way to make the story plausible, to tell it in a way that you could understand how he ended up where he did.
 
 
What is the message behind the story? Was it something you specifically wrote a story around or did it develop as your characters came to life?
There are a couple of messages. At first, I really just wanted readers to think about the cost of our lives. To think about what it must have cost God and the angels for us to be where we are and hopefully make everyone pause and think about how we live our lives. As I was writing though and really getting into Lucifer’s point of view, I really got stuck in the gray of it all. No one is wholly evil or wholly good. Not even the Devil. It ended up being a real struggle for me—I couldn’t paint him as all evil: Lucifer started out as one the most beloved of the angels. There was a good side to him. I had to reconcile those two sides, his good and bad sides.
That's a good point, and I can imagine your struggle.
 
 
Do you work from an outline or just go with the flow?
I actually work from a screenplay. I used Viki King’s How to Write a Movie in 21 Days. Dialogue is generally my weakest area and this helps me with that. Not only that, I can work on pacing and make sure the plot is tight enough. That said, when I got into writing the book from the screenplay, Lucifer threw me a number of curve balls and really threw out my plot. I was a little mad at him for that. He laughed at me.
 
What is the time span in your novel, weeks, months, years? How much research went into it?
My novel actually spans eons. Like billions of years. Angels are immortal and time is no factor for them. They exist in milestones instead, following edicts and commands. I tried to thread the needle on this idea, working with both creationist ideas and evolution. The closest thing I could say is I took an intelligent design approach but I think it hits on all beliefs.
 
Could you tell us how you go about your research, how you ‘catalogue’ information to make it all work?
This is an intensely personal story in the end. We all have connotations of what angels, what they do, what God looks or sounds like. How He might act. Probably the biggest challenge was to omit things. It was really important that this book be accessible. I’m already flying in the face of people’s beliefs with my portrayals of Heaven and angels and God. I didn’t want to beat anyone over the head with my own convictions; I really wanted the story to pull you along, the characters to make their choices and explain their rationale and for you, the reader, to make your own decisions.
 
How does this book differ from what you have written in the past?
I’ve generally written science-fiction and everything I’ve written in the past has been from the 3rd person POV. This is the first time I’ve tried to write from the 1st person. I’m kinda hooked now.
 
How have the changes in present day publishing impacted your schedule as a writer?
It’s easier to get anything on the market these days. As a result, anything ends up on the market. I made the mistake of thinking I could just dive into this business and figure it out. It’s a business though and should be treated accordingly.
We like to focus on the writing side for the schedule but this is really a production business. I have to set deadlines for writing so I can hit my scheduled release date. Effectively, I have to act as a publisher. Specifically, for my schedule, I have to build in time to get the draft done, complete two round of edits (one for plot and continuity and depth—I expand my draft; and one for very brutal cutting), send it to an editor, get a cover designed, get the booked laid out and converted into an ebook, work on marketing blurbs, send out ARCs for reviews…I treat this like a project and have very real deadlines to hit.
 
How do you handle marketing? Do you have a plan, a publicist or just take one day at a time?
Aside from what I’ve learned in getting this book published, I got some professional help on the marketing front. Just to establish a plan really. I’m trying to be more judicious with my team and decide where I really have to be. Indie authors are conditioned to believe we have to be on all social media all the time to be effective. That’s awfully hard if you want to write anything. I’m choosing what I focus on: I have a blog that I love where I explore villains, a Twitter account (and only one), and a Facebook fan page to manage discussions on the Heaven Falls series.
That said, I’m still figuring it all out and I do often take it one day at a time. I’m not at the point where I can say, “I’m going to do these 4 activities to achieve this result.” Not yet. Hopefully on the next book.
 
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Do it! Write it and write your heart out. But do it right. Don’t jump in because you can. Put your best foot forward and realize you are a business the moment you put your book on sale.
 
Could you tell us what you’re working on now?
I am in the throes of Book Two in the Heaven Falls series, Come Hell or High Water. This is the story of beginning of mankind on Earth and Lucifer’s attempts to make God abandon humanity. He does a pretty good job too: this book covers the period of time from the temptation in the Garden of Eden to the Great Flood. Not a good time for humanity. I’m really excited about it. It releases on December 21—same day the world is supposed to end.
Well hopefully it will be the dawn of a new era and we will be able to enjoy your novel.
 
 
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. I really enjoyed the experience and I hope my readers do as well. Good luck with your writing.
 
 
EXCERPT
 
Lucifer heard me: as soon as my feet touched the glass surface of his platform, he laughed aloud and doused all the light in Heaven.
“I know why you’re here, Raphael,” Lucifer said in the darkness. “You’re afraid.”
I was afraid but I wasn’t willing to admit it. Instead I said, “Why should I be afraid? The Father is with me.”
“You sure about that?” And I could see Lucifer’s teeth glinting in the light wafting from my body. He was smiling. “You think he’ll still back you up now that you’re failing him?”
His face was the color of fire, deep and red, and a haze made him seem like a mirage. Even in the darkness, in the heat of his rage, Lucifer was still beautiful. His thin face, the angular cheekbones, his wide, open eyes, his halo of shimmering hair—all presented a portrait of absolute perfection. Even in this dark hour, I envied the crude formation of my own round face, my pudgy nose, the softness of my jawline. 
I tried to sound as sure of myself, as certain as he was but my voice cracked, “I’m not failing—”
He pounced on me, laid long, thin fingers on my shoulders, pushed that gleaming grin into my face. “Sure you are! Why else would you be here, Peace Keeper? Angels are dead, Raphael. It’s slipping through your fingers. Sounds like failure to me.”
“This is your doing!” I pressed him back.
“Raphael, you insult me; finger pointing seems so…beneath you. Besides, I’m bound, remember?” He fondled the chains streaming from his wrists and ankles, smiled at me again. “You chained me up so I couldn’t cause any problems for the others. Weren’t those your words?”
He was right. And I hated him for it. “Yes,” was all I said.
“So you failed them or you failed him. Either way, you’re a failure, kiddo.”
“I want to talk about what we do next.”
He was walking around me now. I could hear the chains scraping the surface of the glass.
“And I want to talk about your fears,” he said and his voice sounded like velvet in my ears.
 “This doesn’t help us, Lucifer. It doesn’t help us end this nonsense. ”
“Maybe I don’t want to end it. Maybe this is exactly what we need.”  He got louder, bolder. Closer. “Does that scare you, Raphael, that you won’t be able to keep it together? Is that why you tremble in the darkness? Because when it’s just you and the Father and all the light and noise is gone, you know you’re going to have to tell him you failed?”
He had me. I understood in that moment how Lucifer could enflame the deepest of emotions. His words touched the very root of me; spoke directly to the futility flexing in my palms. It was out of my hands—I knew that much. Lucifer knew it too. By virtue of the fact that I was there, standing before him while he taunted me, it was out of my hands.
I tried to turn it back on him, “What about your fears? What about what you’re afraid of?”
“I’m scared,” he whispered, “that the Father won’t want me back once I’m finished.” The smile was gone.

Christopher was kind enough to provide a Guest Post

SCREW GOOD INTENTIONS, THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH CHOICE

It is said, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but Heaven is full of good works.” And the biggest difference between the two is choice. That’s what this book, The Road to Hell, is all about.

The cost of choice. The consequence of choice. The power of choice. These were the themes I played with in the book and Lucifer gets the ball rolling early. He starts it all with a simple choice, with a want for something greater. He wants something for himself. He sees what he is and what he can and can’t do and wants something that belongs to him. Something just for him. It’s a small thing, really, and, as I was writing the story, it was the most personal of the choices I wrote about. Who doesn’t want something for themselves?

And it’s an intensely human want. We all want to feel and be special. Unique. In this way, Lucifer represents us. His intention is both good and understandable. But it isn’t the want that gets him in trouble; it’s how he chooses to react to the answer. Lucifer doesn’t take “no” very well and responds poorly. Very poorly. Could he have taken that response and just accepted it? Sure. He doesn’t. He’s not a “suck it up” kind of guy. A poor response becomes disobedience, punishment turns into defiance, petulance becomes anger and soon we have the makings of a rebellion. These choices propel him down a path he can never turn from but they also increase his power. They make him strong and destructive when all he wanted was to create.

Lucifer’s isn’t the only choice I wanted to examine. Michael the Archangel presented a different kind of challenge. My relationship with Michael is very personal and comes from a place of strength and admiration. Michael does what he has to do because it has to be done. This is the difference between Michael and Lucifer: Michael chooses to do what he must. Remember, Lucifer persuaded 30% of the angels to fall with him—what’s to say Michael wouldn’t have been one of them.

More than choosing to simply be obedient, Michael chooses to believe. We see the beginnings of this in The Road to Hell and it becomes a challenge that we’ll explore in the second book in the series, Come Hell or High Water (releasing December 2012). This book finds Michael is a very different place with newer, more difficult choices to make. You know how this goes: it starts with a temptation in the Garden of Eden and it ends with a flood. It rains a lot; everybody dies. Michael has to choose to believe this is right.
 
BUY THE BOOK:
The Road to Hell is available at:
Barnes & Noble: (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-road-to-hell-christopher-c-starr/1105811341?ean=2940013240544&itm=3&usri=the+road+to+hell)
 
COME FIND ME:
Blog: www.christophercstarr.net
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/christophercstarr
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/christophercstarr
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SuperStarr73
 
 

3 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me, Debbie! The interview was amazing! I really appreciate it.

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    Replies
    1. Loved having you here Christopher, it was great! Thanks and do come again :o)

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  2. I thought that face look familiar. Seen you round the 'sphere. Hope it's going well. More positive energy sent your direction. Have a great day. :-)

    ReplyDelete