I am delighted to welcome Chris Carter to acrimereadersblog today. Although I had of course heard of Chris, for some reason I hadn’t actually read any of his books. Therefore when I was invited onto his blog tour I jumped at the chance to discover someone new to me, and I can’t believe it has taken me so long. Gallery of the Dead is a chilling read about a serial killer who seemingly kills people at random. Each scene is played out in all it’s gruesome glory with some truly disturbing images. Yet there are also elements of humour and social interaction between the FBI and the local police that provide some welcome distraction from the murders. This is an excellent read that I would thoroughly recommend to those of you who like your crime fiction definitely hard boiled.
Welcome Chris and thank you for joining me. Gallery of the Dead is your 9th novel I believe all featuring Robert Hunter. Where did you get the inspiration for Robert?
Well, since I was writing a crime thriller, it was obvious that I needed a detective, so I just created one out of the blue. At first, there wasn’t much thought put into his character. I just created a detective that I thought would work.
Most people don’t know this, but my first novel – The Crucifix Killer – was supposed to be a stand-alone. The original story didn’t end very well for Hunter and Garcia. It was my agent who suggested that I made Hunter into a series character. In our first meeting he told that he loved my story, but my ending didn’t work. We discussed a whole spectrum of possibilities and I ended up re-writing the last twelve chapters of the book to move Hunter from a one-off character to a series one.
Do you still like your main character or ever think about killing him off so you can write about someone else?
I actually really enjoy writing Hunter stories, so much so that I actually miss the character when I an in between books.
Did you always want to be a writer?
No, not ever. The truth is that I had never planned on writing a book. I never thought about a career in writing and I never spent any time thinking up stories or developing characters in my head that I would one day want to write about. My submersion into the world of books – writing books that is – came out of a dream I had back in 2007. I didn’t exactly leave music to become a writer. I had stopped being a professional musician many years before I had the dream that led me to write my first book.
I believe you have had a few varied jobs in your time, other than being a writer obviously, what was your favourite?
Hands down I would have to say being a musician. I absolutely loved being on stage with a band
Can you tell us what a typical working day looks like for you?
My typical working day is quite boring, I would say. I always start my days by reading what I wrote the day before and editing as much as I can. I will then work all day until I reach my desired target (usually a certain number of words). Some days I will get there quite quickly, others I will write all the way into the evening before reaching that target. Some days I spend the entire day just researching something that I would like to include in the novel.
How would you spend a perfect afternoon away from work?
Easy – partying.
Are you an avid reader yourself? If so what are some of your favourite authors?
I know that this will sound quite sad, but for an Author, I read very, very little – around two books a year, if that. I also don’t have a favourite writer. Not now. Way before I decided to write my first novel, I used to love reading Frederick Forsyth. I guess I still do, he just doesn’t release as many books anymore.
Finally what are you working on next?
I am already working on my next novel. I usually only take around one month off between books
Well I shall look forward to that, in the meantime I will definitely try and catch up on the previous adventures of Robert Hunter. Thanks very much for joining me Chris.
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