Meet our latest Writer of the Week. He's a fellow podcaster, music nerd, and all-around indie author from England. His story is about his main characters struggle with expectations versus circumstances. If you're a fantasy lover, you will want to check out Charles X. Cross' latest novel.
Man-Butcher Prize Cover Art
The Man-Butcher Prize is about an assassin who is exiled from his guild for a failed assassination attempt. For this, he is ostracized and unable to move forward in his profession. The twist? Main character William must gamble with his own life competing for the title of Man-Butcher in this tale of debauchery and vengeance.
Charles X. Cross is from South Yorkshire, England. He is 29-years-old writing fantasy, although he said, "I am open to writing other genre fiction such as horror/sci-fi and have a particular craving to write some Lovecraftian."
The Writing Wall Blog asked Charles what got him starting on the path to writing. "I have always had a wild imagination. First, it was drawing, then it was playing tabletop RPGs with my friends as a teen. I was never a particularly good reader as a child and for a writer, I probably still don’t do as much reading as I should. I met my partner nine years ago and at the time she was writing a story with a friend from university. Following her lead, I decided to give it a go myself."
He also admitted that like most of us indie-authors he has some WIPs laying around that are not yet published. "Once I am done with my current series I may return to some of these in the hopes of polishing them and publishing."
Charles said he was currently listening to an audio-book titled Red Dwarf by Doug Naylor and Rob Grant, narrated by Chris Barrie. "I had this audiobook on cassette as a child and I'm enjoying listening through it again." Aside from Red Dwarf, Charles also has listened to the Empire of Salt by Conn Iggulden "which is a superb fantasy story by an author who usually writes historical fiction."
Make no mistake like most of us readers there is always one author in our genre that we both love and hate for various reasons. Charles said he has a love-hate relationship with Joe Abercrombie, a fantasy writer.
"For me, the stories are amazing on a first read, but I find I have little to no interest in rereading any of them. I'm not sure why that is." Charles did praise Abercrombie's newest book A Little Hatred, saying he's looking forward to the next one. These books too are enjoyable on audiobook, Charles had great praise for Steven Pacey's narration calling it "exceptional."
For some writers having a designated area to write, or somewhere they feel comfortable allowing their inner muse to take hold of their pen or fingertips (if you're typing), is essential. Charles said his favorite place was at his desk at the back of his dining room. "It faces a window that looks out onto the back garden. I like looking out at nature any time I get stuck on what to write next, and it allows me to keep an eye on both of my cats who are more often than not up to no good."
If four-legged friends are not inspiration enough for a writer, Charles says he wings-it a lot with his stories. "I sort of just make them up as I go really. I make a general skeleton of a good story, which is mostly just kept in my head until I write a bare-bones bullet point list. Then I just have at it and don’t stress."
It's during this process that he says certain characters, storylines, and plot twists seem to just come to him. Although the results can be rather "Frankenstein" like by the end of the first draft it is nothing he told The Writing Wall Blog that could not be fixed.
Man-Butcher Prize is the first book in Charles' planned trilogy. "I currently have a serial on Wattpad and in audiobook form as a podcast set on the southern continent of this world. It’s called Blood and Crystal, and it follows a thief called Song who’s alone and penniless, far away from home."
Because every writer has their favorite and least favorite part of the writing process, we asked Charles what his favorite part was. "I love it when my partner reads each new chapter for the first time because I am able to experience the story from a reader's perspective. She also does the most amazing voices for the characters. I am going to ask her to produce an audiobook for this series so everyone else will get to experience this too." Photo of Author, Charles X. Cross
Support is always a plus whenever one undertakes a task like writing or publishing for the first time. Maybe superpowers could make the publishing process easier. Speaking of superpowers, Charles said he would like to have invisibility as his. "I could turn it on and off, but I would become a supervillain. It would probably only take me two hours before I decided to rob a bank or something. Then it might be easier to write full time." Of course, he's joking about the bank part (I think)!
From superpowers to movies, Charles was asked which book to movie adaptation he enjoyed. "I love the Green Mile and all the Lord of the Rings films, and I particularly enjoyed the recent BBC adaptation of Dracula."
In his spare time, aside from writing Charles enjoy a walk across the local countryside and playing the odd video game or two. "I love Elder Scrolls games and any From Software."
Charles offered this advice for writers thinking or planning to self-publish in the future. "I suppose my best advice is don’t give up. For me, my opinion of myself varies wildly between “I am the best writer who ever lived!” and – more often than not – “I am the worst writer who ever lived!” I think (hope) these feelings are normal. It is just part of the whole learning to be a writer process. It is SLOW, and you will get fed up. Keep at it, keep moving on, and you will keep getting better. Eventually, the wild swings of self-praise and damnation should pass."
Read an official excerpt from The Man-Butcher Prize by Charles X. Cross below.
Despite the countless revellers, William located his patron in record time; it wasn’t difficult to spot her two-foot red wig studded with strawberries and a meringue fascinator.
Even amongst the motley collection of masked gentry in their finest and most outlandish, she was unmissable.
In contrast, William had opted for the more sober shades of his profession – plain brown and black linens to more easily cling to the shadows.
Sheltered in a conveniently placed arbour, close as lovers, she pressed him against her excessive hooped skirts, whispering with murderous intent.
‘That’s him.’ The patron, who William only knew as The Daughter, held out a slender finger, her excitement barely restrained. Strange, given that he would be killing a man in less than half an hour, and even more unusual because he could only assume the target was her own father. ‘The one with the pig mask.’
Follow Charles X. Cross on Twitter @CharlesXCross, or purchase your copy of this first in the trilogy series by visiting Amazon.com at the link(s) below:
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