Outside of writing, I’m a huge fan of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and mixed martial arts (MMA). I trained in BJJ for ten years, earning the rank of brown belt, and went 2-0 in amateur MMA fights. In my free time, I volunteer for a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program for feral cats.
Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?
I’m constantly planning the story in my head, but I usually don’t capture these thoughts on paper. By the time I start typing the actual novel, I usually have the entire story completed in my mind.
Do your characters ever want to take over the story?
Definitely not. If anything, my stories and the situations in them want to take over the characters.
What is your favourite food?
Chocolate milkshakes and quesadillas.
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I used to be a complete night owl and did most of my writing at night, but now I’m the complete opposite.
Where do you dream of travelling to and why?
Tibet. It seems like the perfect combination of beautiful landscapes, many of which have been unchanged by man, and a culture of peace and understanding.
Do distant places feature in your books?
Definitely. In THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE WORLD END, the protagonist is recounting what it was like watching each aspect of society fade away as there were fewer people. To do that well, I had to add in accounts of how other countries and other peoples around the world reacted to the events told in the novel.
Do you listen to music while writing?
I love listening to moody music that puts me in the mindset I want to be in when I write. Music by people like Max Richter and Damien Rice is perfect.
Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE WORLD END is a story about the human population gradually dying out over the course of a man’s life.
What have you learned about writing and publishing since you first started?
Just about every writing cliché is true! Case in point: writing the novel really is the easy part—marketing it is the brutal part.
Is there anything you would do differently?
I would have edited my query letter two or three more times before I started sending it out. I thought it was perfect, but as the weeks went by, I noticed little things I could do to improve it. Of course, that’s usually how those things work.
Who, or what, if anything has influenced your writing?
I’m a firm believer in learning to write by understanding what you like about other writers’ books and then using their style to build your own voice. To that end, John Steinbeck, J.M. Coetzee, and Richard Ford have both been huge influences on me.
Anything you would say to those just starting out in the craft?
Be patient. Every step of the process, if done properly, takes a hundred times longer than you think it should. And never give up if this is important to you.
What are three words that describe you?
Determined, creative, optimistic
What's your favourite book or who is your favourite writer?
Everything by Coetzee and Richard Ford, but for me, Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ is as close to perfect as a book can get.
Any websites/places readers can find you on the web.
http://www.watchtheworldend.com
https://www.facebook.com/TheManWhoWatchedTheWorldEnd?ref=stream
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7048334.Chris_Dietzel
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by Chris Dietzel
Fiction
The end of man was not signaled by marauding gangs or explosions, but with silence. People simply grew older knowing a younger generation would not be there to replace them. The final two residents in the neighborhood of Camelot, an old man and his invalid brother, are trapped in their house by forests full of cats and dogs battling with the bears and wolves to eat anything they can find.
As the man struggles to survive, he recounts all the ways society changed as the human population continued to shrink—the last movie Hollywood ever made, the last World Series that was played, how governments around the world slowly disbanded.
THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE WORLD END is the haunting account of a man who has witnessed the world fade away. It is also a story about the power of family.
Available from amazon in paperback and ebook
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