Hello. I'm Rebecca Scarberry (Scarberryfields on Twitter). Thank you for visiting my blog today. I have yet another great author interview for you. I have interviewed Chris G. Guest (chrisgguest on Twitter). Enjoy!

 

Scarberryfields: Can you tell us a little about your nationality?

Chris: I’m from the UK, which is pretty good. I live near Manchester, England, so there’s always plenty to do!

Scarberryfields: When you finished your debut novel, did you miss the characters?

Chris: I’ve not had chance really to miss them! Once I finished the drafts for Owen & The Sky Giants, I started straight away with the illustrations and then the website www.cgguest.com so the characters have been a big part of developing awareness of my writing. This is also the first book in a trilogy so I’ve already been plotting for the next books. I don’t have a chance to miss the characters even if I wanted to.

Scarberryfields: While writing, if you need help with punctuation, grammar, etc., where do you turn?

Chris: Spell check is my best friend! In all, seriousness though, I tend to constantly redraft and between drafts I share it with a select audience who notice stuff like punctuation. That way I can make any changes necessary. I will probably pay a proofreader in order to get it ready for a publisher. Even with my eagle eye, I don’t want to leave it to chance!

Scarberryfields: With the number of hours spent writing, do family members support you or complain about the time spent away from them?

Chris: I tend to jot ideas down when they come to me, but for the slog of getting my writing down in a meaningful way, I tend to frequent the unsocial hours of the day with a trusty mug of coffee! My family are pretty supportive and always offer advice, but my writing tends to be something I don’t share with others (even my family) until I’m at least half happy about showing it off!

Scarberryfields: Does writing benefit you in any way and if so, how?

Chris: Financially benefit me? No not unless you consider the 0.78p I’ve made on Amazon a beneficial sum of money! It does of course benefit me massively in other areas as I get to create stories and characters that I love. It’s great just to put pen to paper knowing that it has a larger purpose and that it will eventually be shared with others.

Scarberryfields: When you’re writing, do you shut-off all social networks?

Chris: Yes definitely. If I don’t respond to a tweet, post or email straight away, I’m usually writing! There are some people who can multi-task, but I’m not one of them so I definitely keep away from social networks when writing.

Scarberryfields: Do you feel social networking is a beneficial tool for marketing your book?

Chris: It is and it isn’t really. The great thing about social networks and your writing is that you can try to appeal straight to your audience and in that way, I use it as a marketing tool. I have the obligatory fan page, twitter and YouTube channels. I really try to have a voice on the platforms that readers, who might be interested in my work, may go.

The massive downside for a new writer is that you’re a bit like a needle in a haystack, venturing onto social networks for the first time.  No one knows you in the beginning. The only way your work will be discovered is by entering into the spirit of social networking.

More often than not, I use it to post about new work and chat with people who have similar interests and can offer advice for new writers.

Scarberryfields: What is the last book called that you completed and published?

Chris: I have published two collections of poetry, Words Strung Together and Melody of Chaos. These two books have been quite successful, both reaching the top 10 in their genre charts. You can find them on the Kindle store.

(Please go to Amazon to look inside these 2 books)

I released them as a way to get my writing out without releasing my main work Owen & The Sky Giants. I’m still looking for a literary agent and publisher for that one so I wanted to gather a bit of a following before that narrative got released. Both the poetry collections have had a warm reception so I’m quite pleased with the progress so far.

 

Scarberryfields: Where can readers go to find your books?

Chris:  They can find my poetry collections here on kindle: http://t.co/ubNjtu9 and http://t.co/OGgu3E1 They are both on US & UK Amazon. The best way to find out about my bigger projects is to follow me at http://www.cgguest.com  & Twitter @chrisgguest, or Facebook.

Scarberryfields:  Thank you, Chris for answering my questions. I'm certain all your fans enjoyed getting to know you better, as I have. I loved Melody of Chaos and look forward to reading all of your other books.