Interview with Charles D. Blanchard
I met Charles D. Blanchard a few years ago when I was sent his novel "Mourning Doves After The Fire" for review. I enjoyed the book and we have been online friends ever since.
When I heard that Charles had a new book out, I invited him here for a chat about his writing.
INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES D. BLANCHARD
Welcome to my blog, Charles. Please introduce yourself.
Hello. My name is Charles Blanchard. I am a writer living in Mt. Vernon NY. I am proud to be part of this interview series with Maria Savva. I have published two novels so far. Mourning Doves After the Fire (2010) and Kingdom's End (2016).
Tell us about your latest book.
Kingdom’s End is an adventure story for young adults and adults where the main characters are rodents. The setting is an abandoned motion picture palace from the 1920s that has been closed for thirty years and is set for demolition. It is here where the characters make their massive colony and fight to protect it.
The story deals with their struggle to survive in a dark urban landscape and the threats posed against them from both man and beast. It is exciting and complex and an easy read with strong characters and narrative that makes you feel their plight.
There are many conflicts. Among them, a plot within the colony to overthrow the aged blind leader by an ambitious ruthless soldier and a good deal of the story involves how he goes about it. Later, the plot is discovered as forces work against the perpetrator.
The rodent characters have names. The human characters interspersed in the story are nameless.
There is considerable adventure outside the colony as characters are introduced that play important roles such as the derelict rats that specialize in the placement of poison and even a fortune teller. The interaction with humans and other animals has an emotional pull that infuses the story to its conclusion as the blind leader of the entrapped colony facing the exterminators tells his subjects they must make their decision on life or death.
I love the idea of having rats as the main characters!
How long did it take you to write Kingdom's End?
Four years.
How much research do you do when writing a book?
A lot. It’s matter of reading a lot of material before I will start writing the novel. I create a scene in my mind that would be a natural next occurrence in the story and work through a narrative that makes sense in the progression of the story.
What are some of the pros/cons of being an indie author?
Pros: To have complete control over every aspect of the creation of the book to its conclusion. Cons: The self-publishing world is a difficult environment. You have to pay them to publish your work and in that process can be found sometimes a frustrating experience of dealing with the various departments of the publisher. Many times I wished not to continue. They get things wrong all the time no matter how specific are your instructions. The constant speaking over the phone and going over the same mistakes over and over again. Marketing a self-published book is a major challenge, perhaps more so than the actual writing of it. It is important to get a target audience. I feel that reading groups and blogs are essential in trying to convince the world to look at your work.
What genre do you write in?
I consider myself a literary novelist. I enjoy fiction of this kind.
Who does your cover design? Is there anyone you’d recommend?
The illustration for the cover of Kingdom’s End is "The Council Held by the Rats" by Gustave Dore, done in the year 1870, I believe. It’s dramatic. I love the way Dore uses light in this illustration, as the rafts of light shine on the encircled band of rats at a gathering of some kind.
It's a great choice for the book cover!
Do you do your own proofreading or use a professional?
Both. At first I thought I did not want to go through the expense of an editor. But given the multilayered narrative and the many references to past occurrences in Kingdom’s End, I am pleased that I had another pair of eyes to go through it all and indicate when something I referred to actually did not take place in that way, and I corrected it.
Where are your books on sale?
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Lulu.com. Many other book outlets online.
What was the last book you read? Was it any good?
Alien Land by Willard Savoy. It is a powerfully written novel about a young African American whose mother is white and father is black. The son passes for white. The title refers to living as an African American in the United States in the Jim Crow South during the thirties and forties when segregation and other hostilities were forced upon them as the feelings between blacks and whites surges dangerously high. Savoy pulls no punches in this book. It is both elegant and gritty, and graphic when it needs to be.
What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
The discovery of new things both during the research and in the creation of the narrative. Suddenly, an idea pops into your brain that somehow makes sense and you are glad that you thought of it and can now use it to move the story in a different direction.
Thank you so much for answering my questions, Charles. Best of luck with Kingdom's End. It sounds fascinating. I'm adding it to my to-read list!
***************************************
Author links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charles.blan...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cblanc10708
Book website: http://www.kingdomsendnovel.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
When I heard that Charles had a new book out, I invited him here for a chat about his writing.
INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES D. BLANCHARD
Welcome to my blog, Charles. Please introduce yourself.
Hello. My name is Charles Blanchard. I am a writer living in Mt. Vernon NY. I am proud to be part of this interview series with Maria Savva. I have published two novels so far. Mourning Doves After the Fire (2010) and Kingdom's End (2016).
Tell us about your latest book.
Kingdom’s End is an adventure story for young adults and adults where the main characters are rodents. The setting is an abandoned motion picture palace from the 1920s that has been closed for thirty years and is set for demolition. It is here where the characters make their massive colony and fight to protect it.
The story deals with their struggle to survive in a dark urban landscape and the threats posed against them from both man and beast. It is exciting and complex and an easy read with strong characters and narrative that makes you feel their plight.
There are many conflicts. Among them, a plot within the colony to overthrow the aged blind leader by an ambitious ruthless soldier and a good deal of the story involves how he goes about it. Later, the plot is discovered as forces work against the perpetrator.
The rodent characters have names. The human characters interspersed in the story are nameless.
There is considerable adventure outside the colony as characters are introduced that play important roles such as the derelict rats that specialize in the placement of poison and even a fortune teller. The interaction with humans and other animals has an emotional pull that infuses the story to its conclusion as the blind leader of the entrapped colony facing the exterminators tells his subjects they must make their decision on life or death.
I love the idea of having rats as the main characters!
How long did it take you to write Kingdom's End?
Four years.
How much research do you do when writing a book?
A lot. It’s matter of reading a lot of material before I will start writing the novel. I create a scene in my mind that would be a natural next occurrence in the story and work through a narrative that makes sense in the progression of the story.
What are some of the pros/cons of being an indie author?
Pros: To have complete control over every aspect of the creation of the book to its conclusion. Cons: The self-publishing world is a difficult environment. You have to pay them to publish your work and in that process can be found sometimes a frustrating experience of dealing with the various departments of the publisher. Many times I wished not to continue. They get things wrong all the time no matter how specific are your instructions. The constant speaking over the phone and going over the same mistakes over and over again. Marketing a self-published book is a major challenge, perhaps more so than the actual writing of it. It is important to get a target audience. I feel that reading groups and blogs are essential in trying to convince the world to look at your work.
What genre do you write in?
I consider myself a literary novelist. I enjoy fiction of this kind.
Who does your cover design? Is there anyone you’d recommend?
The illustration for the cover of Kingdom’s End is "The Council Held by the Rats" by Gustave Dore, done in the year 1870, I believe. It’s dramatic. I love the way Dore uses light in this illustration, as the rafts of light shine on the encircled band of rats at a gathering of some kind.
It's a great choice for the book cover!
Do you do your own proofreading or use a professional?
Both. At first I thought I did not want to go through the expense of an editor. But given the multilayered narrative and the many references to past occurrences in Kingdom’s End, I am pleased that I had another pair of eyes to go through it all and indicate when something I referred to actually did not take place in that way, and I corrected it.
Where are your books on sale?
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Lulu.com. Many other book outlets online.
What was the last book you read? Was it any good?
Alien Land by Willard Savoy. It is a powerfully written novel about a young African American whose mother is white and father is black. The son passes for white. The title refers to living as an African American in the United States in the Jim Crow South during the thirties and forties when segregation and other hostilities were forced upon them as the feelings between blacks and whites surges dangerously high. Savoy pulls no punches in this book. It is both elegant and gritty, and graphic when it needs to be.
What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
The discovery of new things both during the research and in the creation of the narrative. Suddenly, an idea pops into your brain that somehow makes sense and you are glad that you thought of it and can now use it to move the story in a different direction.
Thank you so much for answering my questions, Charles. Best of luck with Kingdom's End. It sounds fascinating. I'm adding it to my to-read list!
***************************************
Author links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charles.blan...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cblanc10708
Book website: http://www.kingdomsendnovel.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
No comments have been added yet.
