Interview With Author Christopher Campbell
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a writer for a long time, but this is my first book. I’ve mostly written privately, or for a small groups of people, because I wasn’t really doing it for anything other than self expression. Now that I see I have a chance at professional writing, I wanted to try to do what I’ve always done, just in a bigger presentation. That doesn’t mean I threw everything I ever wrote in this book, by any stretch of the imagination. I selected a few things while writing new things, and then I threw it all together into organized chaos. And so my book was born.
As far as who I am as a person, I like to remain a little mysterious, but I’ve always been drawn to self expression, and I’ve always been drawn to the strange and unusual. I try to be an understanding person, and I think that my ability to empathize and sympathize with people helps me to be a better writer. If I know what I’m going through is what other people are going through, then when i write about it I know people can relate. At the same time, i try not to get so hung up about my feelings that I don’t write about anything else. If I’m writing about aliens, or ghosts, or even history, that can make people think. If i get people thinking, that can tap inti other levels of emotion that often get neglected in poetry. I want to be diverse. I want people to get interested in things I’m interested in. To me thats refreshing. I like the strange and unusual. Where I’m from, being a writer is strange and unusual!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is titled A Web of Ghosts. I came up with the title first because as I looked through my older stuff, I realized that a lot of the people I was inspired by in the past aren’t even a part of my life anymore. It wasn’t even an intentional thing, people just go off in different directions, get new jobs, move away, any number of things. Some people have died, and perhaps become real ghosts. If so I hope they watched over me writing about them for my book…
Also while considering that as a title, a friend of mine swore she seen a person walk down my hallway. I’ll admit, something passed by my door and dimmed the light from the hall, and I looked up and caught what looked like the tail end of something. When I got up and rushed to see what it was, there was nothing. Perhaps it was ghost. Perhaps it made an appearance because it liked my title… and maybe not, but I think that left an impression on me too, and it got me think about some of the strange things I’ve seen in the past. With that, I knew I wanted to keep the title. Since I do love strangeness, I wanted that to be reflected in my title too. It’s part of who I am.
As for the web, that’s kind of a metaphor for my ambition that was created by the people who’ve passed through my life. Also it serves as an explanation as to why I put such a variety of topics in a book that is based around a central theme. The people who passed through my life are the ghosts who strung up my ambitions to write, and the inspirations that got caught in that web are the other topics, but if there were no people to inspire me, to be that Web, then there wouldn’t be poems about anything else either.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being a writer is an unusual habit!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite poet and author of all time will probably always be Edgar Alan Poe, not to sound cliché. I love H.p. Lovecraft almost as much, but he’s not really known for poetry. As far as other poets, Emily Dickinson was surprisingly relatable and thought provoking. I feel like if we were alive at the same time, she might have been my soul mate! Plus, with her, I admire the fact that she never wrote for fame. Most of her poetry was only published after she died. I like a lot of the older poets really, because they’ve withstood the test of time. That’s the kind of poetry I want to be known for.
What are you working on now?
For my next project I want to incorporate some short stories and poetry together. I want it to come out like something close to a book I had when I was a teenager. It was a book that had short stories and poetry by Edgar Alan Poe. I left my first book strictly poetry, because it was my first book, I was at a point where I was ready to get stuff out there, and I just figured it would be easier to format while I was getting the hang of everything. I knew I could put out a great poetry book, and that would help me become known as a writer. So that way as I move into more difficult things, I will have the eyes on me to make it worth it.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I hate to sound like an amateur, but I’m still learning about all that stuff. As far as the format, so far, this one. It’s really giving me a chance to dive deeper into things I want to say about my book. I hope I get equally powerful results.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Stick with it. Don’t get discouraged. Do it for yourself and keep zero expectations. My book hasn’t become a bestseller in a couple of days. People don’t even know who I am. Right now I’m putting myself out there, and trying to build a following. Hopefully I can circle back around in a few months and say see, it works. I really believe it will though. If there’s one thing I finally realized, it’s that no one is going to make my dreams come true but me. I mean, I might get lucky and get my stuff published after I die by some mourning friend, much like Emily Dickinson… or the clean up crew might mistake all my old notebooks for trash and through them all away! So to be sure, I just keep telling myself no one will do it but me. I would advise others to keep that same mindset.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just be yourself was great advice for me, but it might not work for everyone!
What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading a book with the stories of H.P. Lovecraft in it. I read a lot of different poetry too, I just finished a book that had a bunch of poems by Emily Dickinson in it.
What’s next for you as a writer?
That almost feels like the same question about what am I working on now. Which I do want to make progress with my next book, but I also want to spend some time getting this first one out there, so I’m working on getting it promoted and hopefully the people that read it will like it and want to see what else I can do.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would want to bring something that featured h.p. Lovecraft, and something that featured h.p. Lovecraft, for sure. I’d love to bring some Stephen King with me. If I could add another it would be a book on how to survive on a desert island, but let’s make sure we have some classics first!
Author Websites and Profiles
Christopher Campbell Amazon Profile
Christopher Campbell’s Social Media Links