Friday, January 7, 2011

Guest Blogger: Paul Christopher

Please join me in welcoming author Paul Christopher as the special guest blogger here at Thoughts in Progress today.

Paul’s latest release is (978-0-451-23190-1), the fourth book in the New York Times Bestselling Templar series. Here’s a brief synopsis of the book: THE TEMPLAR CONSPIRACY“In this suspenseful thriller, only former army ranger John Holliday has the ability to solve a modern Templar conspiracy. In Rome, a pope is assassinated by an unknown sniper on Christmas day which unleashes a massive investigation and Holliday’s skills are put to test when he uncovers the real motif behind the pontiff’s murder. When a private confession leads to the discovery of a grisly murder under a D.C. parkway, Holliday must unravel the Templar’s deadly plot to extend their influence to the highest power.”

Thanks to Paul and Alexandra with Berkley, I have one copy of THE TEMPLAR CONSPIRACY to giveaway to a lucky visitor to this post. The giveaway, however, is only open to U.S. residents. Be sure to include your e-mail in your comment, if it’s not included in your profile. The deadline for the giveaway is 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Now, Paul has stopped by today to talk about his writing.

I have a confession to make—I’m an older type geezer with a ten-year-old grandson who knows more about computers than I do and a thirty-something son who has a block about classic vinyl with the dubious name of She Likes Eight Inches. Com ( the size of an old LP record album) so in an effort to get a grip on what a guest ‘blogger’ was supposed to do I typed in Mason’s site and  Alakazam-Shazam! I was reading all about Talli Roland, her debut novel and her efforts to somehow ‘fool’ the Amazon bestseller list into thinking she was the heiress to Dan Brown. Now, admittedly, Talli is way, way, way, prettier than I am; in fact she’s a knockout but in the end I’m not quite sure if her ideas about marketing and sales have much to do with people who read a lot of books.

Having written and published thirty-odd novels and produced slightly more than seventy five really bad exploitation movies in my time I’ve learned that the one thing that people want in a book, e-book or otherwise is a good story. Period A REALLY  BIG PERIOD.

My latest novel, THE TEMPLAR CONSPIRACY is number 5 in a series about the adventures and misadventures  of an aging ex-soldier, West Point professor and adventurer named Doc Holliday. I could write about Doc forever—he’s got an interesting past and he and his photographer cousin, Peggy Blackstock have a real knack for getting themselves involved in adventures that hopefully take the armchair  adventurer out of his or her armchair and into a world of suspense and derring-do.

Stephen King—a fellow flying phobic just like yours truly said once that he writes what’s he’s afraid of. In the same way I write about the kind of things I’d never have the courage to do myself, sine when you get right down to it, all writers are cowards—a good thing or we never would have all those books and movies about gung ho adventurous heroes.

Anyway, I’m rattling on here; but my advice to anyone out there interested in writing and selling books  it to concentrate on telling a good story, and as soon as your finished  that one, starting another.

Paul, thanks so much for guest blogging here today. Good advice.


13 comments:

  1. Paul, thanks for guest blogging here today. THE TEMPLAR CONSPIRACY sounds very intriguing. Best of luck.

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  2. Hi, Paul, I find myself writing about those things I fear the most, but didn't realize until now. Good luck with your book!

    Thanks, Mason!

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  3. This sounds like I book I would enjoy but my husband would LOVE. So if I'm not lucky enough to win a copy, I see a quick trip to the bookstore ahead.

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  4. I must admit that I haven't read the series, but it sounds great. I'll need to start at the beginning...

    Mason... great post.

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  5. Hi Paul! Thank you for your very kind comments. :)

    I completely agree. If you don't have a good product, then you won't be able to 'fool' readers no matter how much effort you put into marketing. In fact, one of the great things about Kindle is the ability for readers to sample your work before purchasing. If readers don't like what they see, they're not going to spend their hard-earned money.

    In my opinion, marketing is the step you should think about last, once all the other hard work -- outlining, writing, revising etc -- is completed. But it's still a necessary part of the process, and even more for any author whose publisher doesn't have mega money for publicity.

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  6. I'm still learning to tell a great story so that I actually HAVE a product to market. Great post. And sounds like a great book, too.

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  7. Sounds like good advice from someone who knows what he’s talking about. I’ve added this book to my want-to-read list.

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  8. That's really great advice. I like to put my characters in situations I hate to be in. The chapters are hard to write but they're scary because I'm scared.
    CD

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  9. I enjoyed this interesting interview and The Templar Conspiracy sounds captivating and thrilling. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  10. Congratulations on the release of The Templar Conspiracy. This novel is thrilling and enthralling. Great interview. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  11. Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Fridays are my crazy deadline days and it's difficult to check in during the day with everyone. THE TEMPLAR CONSPIRACY sounds quite intriguing. Wishing you much success Paul.

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  12. It's true, I like a good story no matter what it's about and this one looks pretty interesting.
    mce1011 AT aol DOT com

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's post. Thanks for dropping by.