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Chris Bell
425 ratings | 34 reviews | avg rating:3.84

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Chris Bell

Goodreads Author


Born
in Holyhead, The United Kingdom
Website

Genre
Fiction, Short Story, Fantasy

Influences
Russell Hoban, Richard Price, Richard Brautigan, J.P. Donleavy, Russel ...more

Member Since
September 2017


Chris Bell

The author was born in Wales in 1960. In 1976 he was the youngest poet ever to be published in former Poetry Society chairman Norman Hidden’s magazine Workshop New Poetry (UK). In January 2006 his poem about the writer Richard Brautigan, ‘The Graves Have Turned to Powdered Wind’, won the Edit Red Writers Choice Award. His poetry has been published in Axiom (Wales); Scree (England); Sivullinen (Finland); foam:e and Snorkel (Australia).

His fiction has appeared in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror (Tenth Annual Edition) (US), in which his short story collection The Bumper Book of Lies received an honourable mention; The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #21; and This Is The Summer of Love (New Writers Special) (UK); Not One of Us (US); ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Can you tell us a two-sentence horror story?
Chris Bell "My husband gave his life for his country. Our president said he had it coming to him."…more"My husband gave his life for his country. Our president said he had it coming to him."(less)
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How do you deal with writer’s block?
Chris Bell I work from a single-page outline, nothing more; if I knew in advance exactly what was going to happen in a book I wouldn't bother writing it. Wheneve…moreI work from a single-page outline, nothing more; if I knew in advance exactly what was going to happen in a book I wouldn't bother writing it. Whenever I'm working on a book I set myself a 1000-words-per-day target. The evening before, I'll make largely unstructured pencil notes on about two sides of A4. These notes cover as much as possible of the scene I'll be working on the following morning. Typing up these ideas, putting them in order and improving on the ideas, expressions used and structure will usually exceed my 1000-word target. (less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.89 · 551 ratings · 65 reviews · 31 distinct works
Redfox, Book II: The Demon ...
by
3.60 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1988
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Liquidambar
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4.20 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2004 — 3 editions
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Songshifting
4.20 avg rating — 5 ratings — 4 editions
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The Concentrated Essence of...
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2012
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Memories of Manzi's
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2012
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Shem-el-Nessim: An Inspirat...
4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011
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The Vale of Health
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011
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A Shelterless Man
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011
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Port After Stormy Seas
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011
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Detox Mansion
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2015
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More books by Chris Bell…

2 posts
Chris Bell's Blog

Songshifting, the complete trilogy - paperback out now

The Songshifting Trilogy










This morning I pressed publish on the paperback edition of my Songshifting trilogy. The Kindle e-book is available to pre-order on Amazon and goes on sale tomorrow (15 July). The paperback has more than 800 pages and is available from CreateSpace, and soon from the Amazon websites. Help me spread the word - and in the meantime check out the Songshifting website.

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Published on July 13, 2018 19:04
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Chris is Currently Reading

The Dylan Thomas ...
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Feb 03, 2018 02:10PM
Granta 97: Best o...
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Jul 22, 2018 03:07AM
Charlie Parker: H...
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bookshelves: currently-reading
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Aug 25, 2018 04:00PM

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Chris’s Recent Updates

Chris has read
Schultz by J.P. Donleavy
Schultz (Schultz, #1)
by J.P. Donleavy
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Sep 20, 2025 10:52AM  ·   ·  preview book
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Chris’s Quotes

Quentin Crisp
“If you describe things as better than they are, you are considered to be a romantic; if you describe things as worse than they are, you will be called a realist, and if you describe things exactly as they are, you will be thought of as a satirist.”
― Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant
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Orhan Pamuk
“In my view most authors do not write to reflect reality but to invent a second world with a complicated set of rules - the more complicated the better. Though this second world is derived from the first, it is somehow more meaningful, more satisfying than the real world.”
― Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red
tags: writing, writing-life, writing-process
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Chris’s Groups

220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 338957 members — last activity 2 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
31471 THE Group for Authors! — 13087 members — last activity 6 hours, 6 min ago
This is a group for authors to discuss their craft, as well as publishing and book marketing.

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