Ask the Author: Craig C. Charles
Answered Questions (11)
Craig C. Charles
Luck is when preparedness encounters opportunity. Opportunity has yet to arrive.
Craig C. Charles
Another fabulous and interesting question! There are many different fictional book places I would love to go, but upon reflection, I would choose to go to the Devon School in New Hampshire from John Knowles' book A Separate Peace.
This book was one of the first novels to make a huge impact on my love of reading. My 8th grade English teacher suggested that I read it due to my interest in WWII. It is set at a fictional prep school during the war. The students are all eager to enlist and youthful competitiveness and jealousy fill their heads. As an educator and writer, I would love to be Gene and Finny's teacher. The ability to advise them and help them work through their rivalry and Gene's guilt would be so satisfying for me. Also the seriousness of what awaits them after graduation, would inspire me to do my best to teach them all of the life lessons that they will need to learn to help them survive the challenges of war and life. It would be amazing. Thank you for the question!
This book was one of the first novels to make a huge impact on my love of reading. My 8th grade English teacher suggested that I read it due to my interest in WWII. It is set at a fictional prep school during the war. The students are all eager to enlist and youthful competitiveness and jealousy fill their heads. As an educator and writer, I would love to be Gene and Finny's teacher. The ability to advise them and help them work through their rivalry and Gene's guilt would be so satisfying for me. Also the seriousness of what awaits them after graduation, would inspire me to do my best to teach them all of the life lessons that they will need to learn to help them survive the challenges of war and life. It would be amazing. Thank you for the question!
Craig C. Charles
Hi. Thanks for the question! My summer reading is an eclectic mix of styles. As a writer of mysteries and historical fiction, I do extensive research on the places and people that I center my books around so I tend to read a lot of non-fiction. I also have some fiction that I read to stay current in the genres I write in and /or guilty pleasures. I am currently reading or have slated to read this summer the following books:
The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov by Peter Pringle
Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine by Gary Paul Nabhan
Colonial Mexico: A Guide to Historic Districts and Towns by Chicki Mallan
The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo by Paul Andrew Hutton
Texas by James Michener
The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov by Peter Pringle
Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine by Gary Paul Nabhan
Colonial Mexico: A Guide to Historic Districts and Towns by Chicki Mallan
The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo by Paul Andrew Hutton
Texas by James Michener
The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Craig C. Charles
What a great question! Thank you for asking. Two fictional couples come immediately to my mind for significantly different reasons.
Westley and Buttercup from William Goldman's The Princess Bride are one couple that I find irresistible. I'm a secret romantic who believes in true love. This couple's remarkable love story laced with improbable adventures and ridiculous humor keeps me laughing throughout the novel. If all love could only be like theirs. A second literary couple that has always intrigued me, although they are not really a couple in the traditional sense, are Pip and Estella from Great Expectations. The 'reality vs appearance' theme is a favorite of mine that I also enjoyed in The Great Gatsby with Daisy and Gatsby. Pip's one sided fascination with Estella is based on faulty 'expectations' or aspirations. Estella warns him that she has no heart, but Pip cannot help himself. "...the air of inaccessibility which her beauty and her manner gave her, tormented me in the midst of my delight." This dark side of desire or the thrill of the pursuit, is captivating to me as a reader. Pip remains hopeful despite all evidence that Estella will not reciprocate his affection for her. Haven't we all loved something at one time in our lives that we could not have? They are such a fascinating 'couple' to me.
Westley and Buttercup from William Goldman's The Princess Bride are one couple that I find irresistible. I'm a secret romantic who believes in true love. This couple's remarkable love story laced with improbable adventures and ridiculous humor keeps me laughing throughout the novel. If all love could only be like theirs. A second literary couple that has always intrigued me, although they are not really a couple in the traditional sense, are Pip and Estella from Great Expectations. The 'reality vs appearance' theme is a favorite of mine that I also enjoyed in The Great Gatsby with Daisy and Gatsby. Pip's one sided fascination with Estella is based on faulty 'expectations' or aspirations. Estella warns him that she has no heart, but Pip cannot help himself. "...the air of inaccessibility which her beauty and her manner gave her, tormented me in the midst of my delight." This dark side of desire or the thrill of the pursuit, is captivating to me as a reader. Pip remains hopeful despite all evidence that Estella will not reciprocate his affection for her. Haven't we all loved something at one time in our lives that we could not have? They are such a fascinating 'couple' to me.
Craig C. Charles
I'm my harshest critic. I did more individual editing and slashing before I sent it out for others to review. My editor was actually very supportive and insightful about what worked and what I needed to revisit when I sent it to her. Most of the suggested changes related to POV slips and basic sentence structure changes. Having a "critical friend" editor with eagle eyes and no emotional attachment is invaluable. If you want to be a writer, you need a thick skin and the ability to let others improve on your creations. It takes a village.
Craig C. Charles
The best thing about being a writer is that I can go anywhere that my mind can image or explore any place that I have visited or want to visit without ever leaving my desk. Human beings yearn to be creative. Writing is how I satisfy that creative urge. I need to write.
Craig C. Charles
Again I will say that you need to set either a daily or weekly word count goal. Write every day if even to just develop a daily habit. It's not so much what you write, but that you write. The gems will come, the ideas will flow. Just write.
Craig C. Charles
Write about something or someplace that interests you and don't be so rigid about technique or following an outline. The great singer-songwriter Tom Waits once wrote, "when you are writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room."
Craig C. Charles
I don't know if I would call it inspiration. Writing is a chore sometimes. When I am actively working on a novel, I set a weekly word count goal (somewhere between 3,000 - 4,000 words) and typically shoot for at least 500 words a day minimum. I need to create a daily writing habit. Inspiration is all around you. As a writer, you just need to be tuned into your environment and open to receiving whatever is being sent your way.
Craig C. Charles
I live in New Hampshire and frequently visit the White Mountains. I fell in love with The Mount Washington Hotel the first time I saw it. It was like a fairy tale set at the foot of the Presidential Range. I knew I wanted to write a mystery set at this location and help people discover the beauty of the North Country.
Craig C. Charles
I'm currently working on my second book. It will be a prequel involving one or more of the characters from The North Country Confessional set many decades earlier in Europe. Fun stuff!
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