Interview with Christina Feindel
This month, I am interviewing Christina Feindel, author of The Revenant. We'll focus on the writing process, its challenges, and how to get motivated.
With its advanced weaponry, the ghost ship Revenant was supposed to turn the tide of the war… but went missing instead. Ten years later, the Federation’s hold on the three suns is firmly cemented and corrupt in every way, and any Separatist hopes or dreams seem to have gone the way of Old Earth and its dinosaurs.
Grayson Delamere was still a child when the war ended and she doesn’t much care why it was fought in the first place. In the cold, dark vac of space, most lives are short and brutal with or without the Federation’s interference. She’s worked hard and kept her head down, making her living as a mechanic on any ship that’d have her. If she’s broken a few laws and made a few enemies along the way, well, that’s just the way life is on the fringe of the Trisolar System.But now, someone has discovered all of her dirty little secrets... and will hold them hostage to ensure Grayson’s help in the most dangerous job of her life: To recover the Revenant and rekindle the fires of rebellion.
Tell us about your writing process and the way you brainstorm ideas. For years, I only wrote when inspiration struck. I hated everything I wrote when I wasn't “in the mood”. Eventually I realized that I hated not writing even more. Now, I try to write something every day, even if it's only an outline or a bit of editing. And when I’m not writing, I’m thinking about the characters. What other problems can I throw at them? What if this happened instead of this? I’m always asking ‘what if’. It keeps me engaged and it makes sitting down to write a little easier. Of course, on days when inspiration does strike, I try to get as much work done as possible! Wow, that is impressive. I probably think about my characters and plot ideas every day, but actually sitting down to write only happens when all my other work is finished.
Did you come across any specific challenges in writing The Revenant? What would you do differently the next time? I have a bad habit of finishing a section of a book–for the Revenant, it was the first half–and then going back to perfect it before moving on to the next section. I justified it with the logic that if I was going to make any major changes to the first half, they’d probably impact the second half, so I’d better make those changes before I wrote the second half. But editing is very different from writing, and by the time I was satisfied with the first half, I’d lost my momentum for putting words on a blank page. I’ll try to write the next one all the way through before I start editing to see if that’s any easier. I can't leave things unedited. Even at the sentence level, I keep going back to correct things. Otherwise it nags at my mind and I can't concentrate. I guess it is why I find dictation things so horrible, even for text messages!
So, where do you see publishing going in the future? Self-publishing has certainly become more respected than it was ten years ago. A lot of these are great stories that traditional publishers just didn’t want to take a chance on, so it’s fantastic that there’s now a way to make them available to readers, bookstores, and even libraries. With more and more talented designers and editors freelancing, you might even turn out a higher-quality product than you would by going through a publisher who expects four out of five books to fail and is just trying to churn out as many as possible. I think we’re only going to see more and more successful self-publishers as time wears on. Without the contacts and finances of a publishing house, getting people to see your book is hard. What’s your marketing philosophy? Marketing has never been my strong suite. I just put my work out there in as many different ways and places I can, then I talk to the people who find it. What are they looking for, what do they want? Maybe I’ve got it, maybe I don’t, but I’d like to help them if I can. Good marketing is and always has been about connecting with people, but on social media, you’ve really got to compete for their attention. I just try to keep my online presence honest and open, and put most of my effort into generating more content for the readers I already have.
Finally, what inspires you to get out of bed each day? I’m very task-oriented. I need to know what I’m going to be doing that day and it needs to be something attainable that still feels like an accomplishment. If I wake up and say, “Today’s the day I finish edits on part three,” I’m going to be able to do that and I’m going to feel great when I finish. If I say, “Today I figure out that major writer’s block with chapter seven,” on the other hand, I could work at it all day and be no nearer an answer. That’s frustrating and off-putting and not something I want to get out of bed for. (Those are the days getting out of bed has more to do with breakfast than the work I love.) I’ve had a lot of days like that with The Revenant, so I try to always make realistic goals for myself and to remember that yes, it’s a long, difficult process, but every day makes the book just a little bit better than it was the day before.
Thank you very much for taking the time to chat to me. I wish you luck with the Halcyon Reach series.
Christina Feindel resides in central Texas with her multi-talented husband, Noah. While traversing academia, civil service, and chronic illness in early adulthood, she founded the whole-foods blog ACleanPlate.com and now works as a cook, photographer, and educator. She pens fiction in her spare time, with a particular passion for character development and genre-blending. More info about her and her debut novel The Revenant can be found at CLFeindel.com.
With its advanced weaponry, the ghost ship Revenant was supposed to turn the tide of the war… but went missing instead. Ten years later, the Federation’s hold on the three suns is firmly cemented and corrupt in every way, and any Separatist hopes or dreams seem to have gone the way of Old Earth and its dinosaurs.
Grayson Delamere was still a child when the war ended and she doesn’t much care why it was fought in the first place. In the cold, dark vac of space, most lives are short and brutal with or without the Federation’s interference. She’s worked hard and kept her head down, making her living as a mechanic on any ship that’d have her. If she’s broken a few laws and made a few enemies along the way, well, that’s just the way life is on the fringe of the Trisolar System.But now, someone has discovered all of her dirty little secrets... and will hold them hostage to ensure Grayson’s help in the most dangerous job of her life: To recover the Revenant and rekindle the fires of rebellion.
Tell us about your writing process and the way you brainstorm ideas. For years, I only wrote when inspiration struck. I hated everything I wrote when I wasn't “in the mood”. Eventually I realized that I hated not writing even more. Now, I try to write something every day, even if it's only an outline or a bit of editing. And when I’m not writing, I’m thinking about the characters. What other problems can I throw at them? What if this happened instead of this? I’m always asking ‘what if’. It keeps me engaged and it makes sitting down to write a little easier. Of course, on days when inspiration does strike, I try to get as much work done as possible! Wow, that is impressive. I probably think about my characters and plot ideas every day, but actually sitting down to write only happens when all my other work is finished.
Did you come across any specific challenges in writing The Revenant? What would you do differently the next time? I have a bad habit of finishing a section of a book–for the Revenant, it was the first half–and then going back to perfect it before moving on to the next section. I justified it with the logic that if I was going to make any major changes to the first half, they’d probably impact the second half, so I’d better make those changes before I wrote the second half. But editing is very different from writing, and by the time I was satisfied with the first half, I’d lost my momentum for putting words on a blank page. I’ll try to write the next one all the way through before I start editing to see if that’s any easier. I can't leave things unedited. Even at the sentence level, I keep going back to correct things. Otherwise it nags at my mind and I can't concentrate. I guess it is why I find dictation things so horrible, even for text messages!
So, where do you see publishing going in the future? Self-publishing has certainly become more respected than it was ten years ago. A lot of these are great stories that traditional publishers just didn’t want to take a chance on, so it’s fantastic that there’s now a way to make them available to readers, bookstores, and even libraries. With more and more talented designers and editors freelancing, you might even turn out a higher-quality product than you would by going through a publisher who expects four out of five books to fail and is just trying to churn out as many as possible. I think we’re only going to see more and more successful self-publishers as time wears on. Without the contacts and finances of a publishing house, getting people to see your book is hard. What’s your marketing philosophy? Marketing has never been my strong suite. I just put my work out there in as many different ways and places I can, then I talk to the people who find it. What are they looking for, what do they want? Maybe I’ve got it, maybe I don’t, but I’d like to help them if I can. Good marketing is and always has been about connecting with people, but on social media, you’ve really got to compete for their attention. I just try to keep my online presence honest and open, and put most of my effort into generating more content for the readers I already have.
Finally, what inspires you to get out of bed each day? I’m very task-oriented. I need to know what I’m going to be doing that day and it needs to be something attainable that still feels like an accomplishment. If I wake up and say, “Today’s the day I finish edits on part three,” I’m going to be able to do that and I’m going to feel great when I finish. If I say, “Today I figure out that major writer’s block with chapter seven,” on the other hand, I could work at it all day and be no nearer an answer. That’s frustrating and off-putting and not something I want to get out of bed for. (Those are the days getting out of bed has more to do with breakfast than the work I love.) I’ve had a lot of days like that with The Revenant, so I try to always make realistic goals for myself and to remember that yes, it’s a long, difficult process, but every day makes the book just a little bit better than it was the day before.
Thank you very much for taking the time to chat to me. I wish you luck with the Halcyon Reach series.
Christina Feindel resides in central Texas with her multi-talented husband, Noah. While traversing academia, civil service, and chronic illness in early adulthood, she founded the whole-foods blog ACleanPlate.com and now works as a cook, photographer, and educator. She pens fiction in her spare time, with a particular passion for character development and genre-blending. More info about her and her debut novel The Revenant can be found at CLFeindel.com.
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