An Interview with M Christian

How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was a early dreamer but a late bloomer: I remember discovering that not only being a writer could be a career but was a career I wanted to REALLY do around the 4th grade. But I didn't begin to seriously write until high school … and I mean SERIOUSLY: I wrote, or tried to write, a story a week. I did that for about, oh, ten or so years off and on (mostly on). Didn't sell one of them, but I didn't stop. I'm not too sure if that was dedication or insanity but it paid off.

What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

Sometime in my late 20's I played with the idea of writing erotica – more than anything because it seemed like a way of, well, meeting women.

On a whim I took a class in erotica writing from Lisa Palac and passed her one of my early attempts. Shock! Surprise! She bought it. That same story was also taken by Susie Bright for Best American Erotica 1994 and my smut writing career sort of took off from there.

15 or so years later and lots of books plus 300 plus other anthologies and magazines, have edited 20 anthologies of my own and have seven collections of stories in print, plus seven novels. Making up for lost time, I guess you could say.

How did you finally get published? When were you able to write on a full time basis? Please explain your success story?

I don't make a living writing, if that's what you mean. Frankly, I think the number of writers who can do that is ridiculously small. While, sure, I'd like to make a good living I prefer to consider myself a noble hack: I'm a working writer always looking for new opportunities and venues. That's kind of my philosophy right there: writers need to write, and they need to constantly be trying to expand not only their markets but their own pool of ability as well.

I like to tell budding writers that they should be always looking for a door they haven't tried before because who knows what might be beyond it: if there's nothing then you tried, at least, something new but occasionally that door opens onto a world you didn't know existed – and that can serve you very well. Like erotica with me.

How do you stay motivated to finish a novel? How do you stay focused?

I'm a very hard working guy. I don't believe in having a muse: I just work out what has to happen in the book, or the story, and work to try and make the final match as much as possible my initial plan. Sometimes it works out but other times it's much more work. But I do enjoy the process – which is good because, let's face it, writers don't get paid much and they don't get a lot of respect to if you're not enjoying the writing itself … well, find a new line of work.

What is your writing schedule like? Do you write in the mornings, evenings, and for how long?

I actually work when I have time, without much of a set schedule. Besides, right now my life is a bit nutty so I simply do it when I can. I usually work in spurts, rarely for more than a few hours. Typically it takes me about two days to do a story or a week to do the chapter of a book. Rarely I've managed to write a lot more in a lot shorter time … but it's exhausting. It's weird but I always work with a video playing. I can't stand silence and I use the show or movie to draw a pit of 'pacing' and style for what I'm working on. Every writer is different, though; so what I do is just what I do.

How do you get your ideas? What is your method for remembering them?

My imagination is mighty! I'm always thinking of ideas – even when I'm not really thinking of anything at all. It's a habit I got into a long time ago: when I watch a movie or read a book I imagine a sequel or halfway though either I create my own ending – and if mine is better then that might turn into a brand new book or story. I play games with myself like taking two genres that don't work well together and try to create a book that combines the two, or write (in my head) an episode of my favorite show, or take a book I'd just read and try and imagine the same story told from a different character's point of view.

I guess the point to all this is to always be playing, having fun with story and plot and character and setting and all that – so when you sit down to a blank screen your imagination is already working.

Hey, it works for me. Now I just have to figure out how to write books that make money. One step at a time, I suppose ….

If you get writer’s block, how do you get over it?

I actually don't get writer's block: I work too damned hard. I do get stressed out about not having a lot of time, in which case I take a deep breath and try and plan out my time a bit better, or put projects on the back burner.

It is hard to write, though, when you face some of the cold, hard facts about being a writer: the low pay, the lack of respect, catty reviewers, indifferent publishers, and all the rest. That's when it gets hard.

But I keep going because I have this maxim: "The only time a writer fails is when they stop writing."

Sure, it might be hard right now but who knows what tomorrow might bring: someone reads this interview, buys one of my books, tells their friend, who tells another friend and – viola – I sell bunches of books. Hey, if could happen … but if I stop writing it won't. So, despite it all, I keep going.

What are your thoughts on self publishing?

It's no secret that the publishing world is imploding. The big houses are going bye-bye and they are being replaced by thousands of, often very specific, publishers. I think this is actually a good thing as it means that if you write a book you can sell that book – unlike how things were only a few years ago. The bad news is that since anyone can sell a book the trick now is to get your book seen. That can be a real headache, what with review blogs and sites and such being overwhelmed by new authors.

I'm actually getting to self-publishing. I think, yes, it’s going to be a great option but for new writers I suggest they try a house or three or five as they will pick up some of the promotion slack. Once you get a readership – if you get a readership – then you might want to try self-publishing. But, in the end, that's up to each of us: it could be good for you but also not for me, or vice-versa.

The world is changing and it's important to stay flexible and open-minded about a lot of things. It's like with the writing: if an author sticks with one thing and one thing only they may cut themselves out of something new and wonderful.

What piece of advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a writer? What is a good starting point for them?

Try to get rid of your illusions: you will never be famous, rich, or have your books made into movies. You will get rejected – a lot – and other writers with less ability will always be more 'successful' than you are. Publishers and agents will be a trial, and your friends won't understand what you're trying to do. But, if you stay focused, work hard, do some serious self-exploration, you may – just may – stay at it long enough to get noticed.

Okay, that sounds a bit bleak but think of it this way, the way that keeps me going: when I finish a story or a book I am doing something, by putting my words down in my special order, that no one else in the entire history of mankind has done. And if I do my job well, and if I get a bit of luck, that story I created will be sent out into the world – and there it will be read by someone, or maybe a lot of someones, and my story will then live in their minds, part of their consciousness.

And if I do my job REALLY well then my story may last for years, decades, maybe even centuries. Writers are true magicians: one person, pretty much all by their lonesome, can transport millions of people to a world that has never existed before. If that's not magic then I don't know what is.

To find out more about M. Christian and his work, check out M. Christian's website.