Author: Chris Jansmann
-
Getting Festival Ready
It’s probably a bit too early to be excited, but I just can’t help it! I’m less than a month out now from my appearance at the Tucson Festival of Books, so naturally I am deep in to my preparations. This year, I’ll have hardcover and paperback editions of Reflection in the Shadows, something I’ve…
-
Podcast: Reflection in the Shadows
With the Tucson Festival of Books just around the corner, it seems appropriate to release the podcast I recently recorded for the novel that will be featured there this year: Reflection in the Shadows. Although my trade-in-stock is character-driven mysteries, I was inspired to see what I create if I dusted a little magic across…
-
Plausibility and Perspective
One of the most interesting creative challenges I face when writing is remaining true to the spirit of my characters. It’s not just ensuring they sound consistent to the reader from book to book; I mean, that’s important, obviously, especially since I bounce back and forth between Sean Colbeth and Vasily Korsokovach. Those two have…
-
Aftermath Completed
I’m just back from an amazing long weekend in Southern California, visiting with friends while taking part in what will be the last Disneyland Half Marathon weekend for a bit; with all of the upcoming park construction, runDisney is pausing events in Anaheim, though they will still take place out in Orlando. As much as…
-
Podcast: Baubles
Since his introduction in the novel Ditched as Vasily’s love interest, Alejandro Ortega-Cortez has blossomed into a full-fledged main character who shares a lot of screen time with my detective. He’s a fun character to write, and has a far more complicated backstory than I’ve been able to reveal in the main Korsokovach series, so it felt fitting to craft…
-
New Year, New Books
Not to give out too many of my secrets here, but I usually try to write for my website fairly early in the week on what I like to call “Marketing Monday.” As a (very) small independent author, I wear many hats when it comes to getting the word out about my novels; from crafting…
-
Life Imitating Art
“I’m the last person to tell you to tone down your workout,” I said as I pulled into traffic. “But I love you too much not to worry you might be doing real damage to that muscle. Did you see that sports medicine doctor I recommended?”Alex shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat.Despite the heavy traffic…
-
Special Moments
December always feels like the busiest month of the year, almost as though I’ve avoided eleven months of work so I can try to squeeze them the four paltry weeks we have left before the calendar changes to the new year. It happens to me every cycle, and in most cases, it’s just a psychological…
-
Wintry Feelings
There’s a bit of a nip in the air these days in Arizona, a reminder that the seasons do, in fact, change here in the desert. A beanie and lightweight thermal gear have come out of the cupboard for my early morning runs, and more often than not, the water in my bottle is well…
-
Website Blues
There aren’t a ton of overlaps between my day job and my secret life as an author, but the one that seems to tie them inexorably to each other is the work that goes into maintaining my website. I’ve probably selected a path that is atypical for most authors in that the solution I chose…