I am so happy that Christie is back with me today to answer a few burning questions!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi writers and readers! I’m the author of the Victorian psychological suspense books Anatomy of a Darkened Heart and Locke and Keye, the first two books in the Dark Victoriana Collection. I write more than novels and dark fiction, though. I’ve had short stories and poetry published in Ginosko Literary Journal, Andromedae Review, 99Fiction, and various anthologies, plus I have a couple of very short stories on Wattpad. I’m also a YouTuber and a full-time editor with my own business, Proof Positive.
Thanks for the invite to your blog, Kelly!
Your books look so up my alley! Gothic Victorian is so much fun. The best ambiance. Did you watch and love Crimson Peak?
I haven’t seen that one! Mostly because it’s horror, and I can’t handle too much horror anymore, after I over-watched it in my teens. I do love Downton Abbey, The Forsyte Saga, and really anything about that general time period. Whichever character is the most psychologically complicated is usually my favorite!
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? How did you start?
I have always wanted to be a writer, and I’ve been writing ever since I was capable. I started out with poetry when I was very young, then I wrote a novel in middle school and another in high school. Writing has always been a natural part of me, and I’ve found that when I go without it, I have a distinct feeling of emptiness and feel purposeless. Even if I don’t have time to write, I’ll at least put a haiku up on Instagram!
You’ve published two novels in the Dark Victoriana Collection, as well as numerous short stories. Many people believe that writing short stories is more difficult than a novel. Since you’ve written both, which do you find more difficult and what do you like about each?
What I find most challenging is microfiction, which is one of the reasons I love it. I’m not talking about 1,000 words, I’m talking about 100 words or less. If you ever want to truly test your mettle as a writer, work on a challenge that short or shorter. I think it’s an excellent exercise in getting your point across without a single wasted word. I write my novels that way too.
Since I tend to underwrite in general, short works are actually easier for me. So when I went to write my first novel, Anatomy of a Darkened Heart, I was worried that I wouldn’t include enough details. I prefer to be sparing, but you can only spare so much without your reader losing interest! What I like most about long-form writing is that you can really dig into a character’s psychology and development, and being that my books are character-driven and don’t rely on plot, it’s essential to have enough space to carve out each character.
What genre(s) do you primarily write in? What is it that you love about them? Would you ever write anything other than your genre?
I mostly write psychological suspense, historical fiction, dark fiction in general, and all combinations of these three. I always thought historical fiction would be too hard to write because of the possibility of getting facts wrong, but I found myself writing it anyway and discovered that having references to facts was actually very helpful. When I try to write fiction as opposed to historical fiction, I end up looking up so many facts anyway to make the story as believable and realistic as possible. Well, historical fiction isn’t a far cry from that!
As I said before, psychology is something I find completely fascinating and engrossing. I read biographies to learn about people’s minds, why they develop the way they do, and why they make the choices they do. For that reason, I particularly enjoy Golden Age Hollywood celebrity biographies. You can learn an awful lot about psychology by reading these biographies and autobiographies, comparing them against other accounts of the same person’s life, and putting all the patterns of their lives and behaviors together.
If you put all of this together with suspense and dark fiction, it’s the ultimate dramatic combination to me! On the side of all this heavy stuff, I also write motivational haikus based in positivity. Because all that darkness should really stay on the page, not in your life!
Can you tell us about your path to publication?
I didn’t try to find an agent or get traditionally published or even get published by a small press. I found that my options were so great with self-publishing by the time I’d started writing Anatomy of a Darkened Heart (what I consider my first serious novel) that I didn’t have an interest in finding an agent. I really wanted to put my work out there as it was with no one but an editor to tell me their opinion. I didn’t want to change my book to fit whatever was popular at the time, whether that would have been a higher page count or changing the overall message of the book or fleshing out details I didn’t find necessary. That’s not to say I would never try for an agent—I’m considering it for my next book. But at the time, I wanted my work put out my way. It took a lot of learning, but I had great support from my author friends, who answered my relentless questions without a single complaint!
What are some of your go-to genres when reading and who are some of your favorite authors? What is it you love about them?
Literary fiction and contemporary fiction are my favorite genres, although I read everything. My taste ranges from Margaret Atwood to Brandon Sanderson to Shakespeare, and I’m always looking for more authors I haven’t read, both traditional and indie, modern and ancient. What I look for is depth, psychology, and realism that reveals a truth or a unique point. I also love reading about other cultures, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction.
Is there anything you admire about your favorite author’s work that you wish to aspire to?
The first author to inspire me to write psychological fiction was none other than Shakespeare! Hamlet and Julius Caesar really got me into the idea of delving into the subconscious mind as well as the consequences of each and every action, while mixing in metaphors and adding further layers. And then when Henry IV parts 1, 2, and Henry V came along, forget it! I was sold on those pieces inspiring my writing and trying to recreate the feelings I had reading them.
Are you a pantser, a plotter or somewhere in between?
I’m 100% pantser. I’d like to be a plotter, but I just can’t bring myself to stick with whatever outline I write. My characters always force me to veer off the path in such a different direction that 90% of the plan has to be thrown away. The one thing I do that’s as close to planning as I can get is informally writing down any scenes that develop themselves in my head. I want to get them down on paper even though there is such a high chance they will never be used because otherwise the creativity just builds up around the idea and the concept won’t leave me alone. I have one book that I haven’t officially started writing yet, but the ideas and scenes that I have jotted down go in all different directions and the word count is already in the thousands. I never delete anything just in case a completely unrelated idea happens to be useful in another way or even in another piece.
When you first get an idea, how long until you know you’re ready to begin writing and what does that progression look like?
It really depends. There are some ideas I have that have been mulling for months and there are others that have to be written right away. I can usually tell whether I’m ready to start writing a whole piece or whether I need to just write down some immediate scenes and keep mulling. It’s a little hard to describe how I can tell, but one way I know is if I feel an extreme need to buy a notebook that matches the ambiance of what I’m about to start writing. Then I usually start out in that notebook and keep writing down my ideas and lists, taping pictures into it, and at some point I feel the ideas have to be housed on the computer. It’s the same every time.
What does a typical writing day look like for you/what is your process?
It’s really rare I get a full writing day…it’s usually a max of a couple of hours, and that’s a lot for the most part. Much of the time I’m hurriedly taking notes during any spare time I can force into my day—so I usually have about 10-15 minutes. When I do magically come across a larger chunk of time, I try to pick up where I left off and just keep going. Many times a totally different scene comes to me, and I have to write that instead, and so when I look at my completed first draft, there is a lot of fixing to do. Often the idea has changed from when I first started it to when I wrote the end, so quite a lot of editing is required. But that’s okay because I’m a full-time editor anyway.
It is such a crazy and competitive market. How do you tackle the marketing and promotion of your books?
I haven’t done a whole lot up to now, except here and there holding a Goodreads giveaway (before such a high price got slapped on them) and Amazon giveaways. What I tend to do is whatever I have time for, and that’s mostly social media-based. Instagram, Facebook, my author YouTube, The Writer’s Edge YouTube panels, etc.—those are mainly the ways I get myself out there, and it’s really just by being myself. I’ve just recently started working with Creative Edge Publicity, and they’re getting me on radio shows, blogs, and more to come that I can’t mention yet! Exciting times!
Name your top three favorite movies and why they made the cut 😉
Almost impossible! I like a lot of different movies for entirely different reasons. But I’ll pick three just for this special occasion. You may notice I have a preference for black and white films.
Harriet Craig (1950) starring Joan Crawford and Wendell Corey, heavily because it’s a story I would write! Crawford plays an extremely manipulative wife who manages to wrap everyone in her house around her finger, controlling their every move and their relationships, for reasons I can’t disclose due to spoilers.
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), which stars Frank Sinatra playing the role of a heroin addict so extraordinarily well, it’s unbeatable in my opinion. It’s a very powerful movie about a reformed drug-addicted man who comes back to his old life and tries desperately to overcome his old ways, but everything, even his own wife, is holding him back. His struggle is palpable, a feeling that is crucial in order to write a great book.
The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with the incredible Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, which I can watch an unlimited amount of times and (1) never get sick of it and (2) discover more undercurrents and metaphors in it every time. Curtis’ constant fight to get to the top of the pack in his failing publicity career set against Lancaster’s overwhelming power is brilliant both as a delicate relationship and in everything their relationship affects. This is a “consequences” movie, which is another thing I write a lot of—just how far-reaching the consequences of every action can be.
You’re an old soul. I can relate 🙂
Thank you so much! Where can people find out more about you and your books?
Thanks for having me, Kelly!
Website: http://christiestratos.com (you can buy signed and gift-wrapped paperbacks from me directly!)
Anatomy of a Darkened Heart links:
Amazon: amzn.com/B015KYJXZ8
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anatomy-of-a-darkened-heart-christie-stratos/1122766074?ean=2940152392197
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/580327
Locke and Keye links:
Amazon: https://bookgoodies.com/a/B073YPBHST
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/locke-and-keye-christie-stratos/1126977290?ean=2940154506707
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/742458
Social media links:
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/2thw6Pn
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Christie-Stratos/e/B015L5FMTM/
Author YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/christiestratos
The Writer’s Edge YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thewritersedgeshow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christie_stratos/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/christiestratos
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christiestratosauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/christiestratos
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cstratoswrites