Meet the Author… Chris Rush
I met Chris Rush at the Dublin Writers’ Conference last June. His talk was inspiring, down to earth, honest. I liked him before I got to talk to him. He’s not only a horror writer. He’s also a paranormal investigator. You don’t meet those every day! I bet he gets a lot of inspiration for his books from his investigations. Let’s find out more about Chris Rush and his books.
Biography
Chris lives in County Wicklow, Ireland, and has been writing horror and supernatural pieces for a number of years. Folklore, based on Irish lore, was his first release, and it quickly became an international best seller. Folklore was followed by his hugely successful second novel All Shall Suffer. Chris was also involved in a Horror Anthology, which published his short story Lambs to the Slaughter. Chris then released his third title The Legend of Loftus Hall, which also quickly reached the top 100 which was followed by his latest book 13 Dead.
What is your favorite genre and why?
Without question, horror is my favourite genre. I have been fascinated with it for years, I love the effects it can have on people, to me it’s a way of delving into people’s fears in a safe way to witness the outcome on their emotions.
Do you outline or just write?
Before I start any new story I will always have the main outline in my head and I will type out the main character features, attributes and other specific notes on the document. However that being said I just write, I let the story flow and develop its own path while including the main points I want to cover. It’s actually pretty cool to see the new, random ideas that pop into my head as I write, which can steer/flesh out the story while keeping focused of the original plot.
Do you have a specific number of words as a goal per day, or do you write when inspiration strikes?
I will only write if I feel what I am typing is good material if that makes sense? I don’t really set a word count per say, I set out a stage in the story I want to get covered in a sitting, however if I feel I am writing just for the sake of writing I will stop, because if I am not engaged in the story at that moment in time I think the reader will lose interest also.
What does literary success look like to you?
To me it’s seeing my name on the cover of a book and readers taking the time to read my story. When I read or hear that people have liked my work it makes it all worthwhile and it is what drives me to keep producing stories which people will read and hopefully enjoy.
What made you become a writer?
When I left College a few years ago, I actually wrote my first book, Folklore as a screenplay. Once finished it just became one of those saved files on my computer. Anyway some time later while in Orlando, Florida I got talking to a nice woman, Lisa V. Proulx. We talked about Ireland and I mentioned that I had wrote a screenplay on an Irish legend and she then said she was an author. She offered to help me and the rest is history. Something I will forever be thankful for is the help she gave me, because to me writing is a way I can express my love for the genre.
What are your books about? Why is your latest a must read?
My books have covered Irish folklore, demons, good vs evil, and I was also honoured to be asked to write the story surrounding the infamous Loftus Hall in Wexford, Ireland. My most recent book is 13 Dead and focuses on Aidan, an outcast who lives just outside a small village in dense woodland. He practises black magic for his own gain and soon the community began to blame him on certain events unfolding in the area. I specifically wrote it with the aim of disturbing the reader as much as possible and it is definitely my darkest work to date.
How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?
Very good question. I think this depends on the story I am trying to tell and the mood I am in per writing session. On average I try to get the first draft of any story completed within a couple of months and then develop it from there, but I do remember my first work taking quite some time as I was new to the process and I can be a perfectionist ha ha.
What have you put the most effort into regarding your writing?
I would have to say I put most of my effort into description. I want the reader to experience/visualise every little detail as much as possible when reading my work and I hope I do a good job achieving it.
Do your characters hijack the story, or do you have the reigns of the story firmly in hand?
Ha ha yeah sometimes they do, but I think that’s a good thing. As I said I will have the main story objective in mind but letting a character develop can actually help build a more interesting story in my opinion.
What is your writing style?
I would say descriptive/visual. The reason for this is because when I write a story I treat it like movie that I am personally watching on screen, I then try to transfer what I see in my head onto the keyboard.
I want to thank you so much for this opportunity for an interview, Jacky, and thanks to all my readers and supporters out there also.
The pleasure’s all mine, Chris. I love hearing what writing means to other writers, what they’re up to, and how they get their inspiration. I do hope we meet again next year in Dublin!
You can connect with Chris on the following websites:
www.facebook.com/ChrisRushHorrorWriter101/
https://twitter.com/ChrisRush101
All Chris’s books are available on Amazon:
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