BOOKS
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS When I’m interviewed or do a book event, I tend to get asked the same questions over and over. As a service to everyone, here are the answers that I usually give. (Of course, my answers may vary based on how much caffeine I have that day.) 1) How do you pronounce
“Kuzneski”? My
name is a lot easier than it looks. The best way to remember the
pronunciation is to make it rhyme with “was pesky.” Kuzneski was pesky….
Yeah, I know it’s not the most flattering mnemonic in the world, but it seems
to be memorable. 2) When are you going to
release your next novel in America? Jove (Berkley) will release a revised, mass-market edition of The Plantation in Spring 2009. It will include the first few chapters of The Lost Throne, my next Payne/Jones novel. That book will be released in hardcover by Putnam in June 2009. 3) When are you going to
release your next novel in the United
Kingdom? Penguin UK will be releasing The Lost Throne in October 2008, eight months before it’s available in America. This is due to two factors: My success in the British market, and the fact that mass-market version of The Plantation will not be released in the UK. (Trust me, I hope that changes some day. I’d love for every Payne/Jones book to be available overseas.) 4) I want to read your
books in the order they were written. Do you remember the order? Of course I remember the order. What, do I look like a moron? ... Wait! Don’t answer that. 3) Sword of God 4) The Lost Throne (not yet available) 5) OK, now I’m really confused. Ariane Walker was
Payne’s girlfriend in The Plantation,
but I don’t remember her being mentioned in any of your other novels. Did
Payne kill her? Don’t be an idiot. Of course Payne didn’t kill her…. But my agent did. Let me explain: The Plantation was my first novel. It was published by a small publisher, but it did so well I signed a three-book deal with Penguin. When I wrote Sign of the Cross, Ariane appeared in the first draft. Payne called her when he was jailed in Spain, and she popped up in a few other chapters. However, when my agent read it, he felt the book needed to be shortened. (It was really long.) The easiest sections to eliminate were with Ariane because she was nothing more than a supporting character. So that's what I snipped ― all the parts with Ariane…. Once the book was released, my agent and editor loved the formula. Payne & Jones were single, giving them freedom in future novels. And I have to admit, I kind of liked it, too. Will Ariane ever reappear? Possibly. But for the time being, Payne and Jones will be free to roam. 6) I heard the British
version of Sword of God
is different than the American. Is that true? Yes, that is true. Penguin UK contracted me to write an additional 10,000 words for their version. That’s roughly 50 extra pages. My main focus was fleshing out the character of Shari Shasmeen and the members of her archaeological team. In addition, I extended the conclusion of the story, adding a twist that fans of Sign of the Cross will enjoy. 7) Sign of the Cross is a religious thriller. Were you trying to cash in on
The Da Vinci Code? I
finished the first draft of SOTC before I’d ever heard of Dan Brown. I
came up with my plot in the late 90s but didn’t feel comfortable writing it
until I had a chance to do all the background research that was necessary. In
the meantime, I ended up writing The Plantation, which turned out to
be a great decision for a number of reasons . . . Oh, and if you still don’t
believe me about the timeline, check out the first edition of The
Plantation, which was released a year before The Da
Vinci Code. In the back of the book, there’s an advertisement for SOTC. 8) I’m fascinated by the
history in SOTC. Can you recommend any books on religion? I came across several
non-fiction titles when I conducted my research. I didn’t read all of them
from cover to cover, but I saw them mentioned enough that they’d be a great
place to start. Non-fiction: ·
Holy Blood, Holy
Grail
by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry
Lincoln ·
Rosslyn: Guardians of
the Secret of the Holy Grail by Tim
Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins ·
Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the
Original Christians by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy 8A) And if you’re looking for
religious thrillers, here are a few recent bestsellers. Fiction: ·
Map of Bones by James Rollins ·
The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury ·
The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan ·
Daughter of God by Lewis Perdue ·
The Templar
Legacy by Steve Berry 9) How long have you been a
writer? I
wrote my first book as a fourth grader and can remember entering several
writing competitions in junior high school ― even though I never won
any of them. In senior high, I entered a Writer’s Digest contest that
was open to writers of all ages and somehow took second place. Not bad for an
acne-faced teenager, especially since I was competing against thousands of
professional writers. But do you know what’s weird? I didn’t care about the
recognition. Heck, I didn’t even tell my parents or friends about it. The
only thing that mattered was the writing. The judges read my entry and liked
what I had to say ― they actually liked my words. That’s when I
knew I could be a writer . . . Of course, I went
into a severe slump after that. My next work wasn’t published until I started
working for my college newspaper, The Pitt News. 10) Are you dating anybody?
Which is usually followed by, “Are you gay?” The answer to both questions is
“NO!” I’m single and definitely looking. 11) How long did it take you
to write The Plantation? The first draft took roughly nine months to complete, but it was way too long to hold a reader’s interest ― coming in at 220,000 words. I ended up cutting a few characters, one major plotline, and over 100,000 words during the next few months. All told, I’d say the book was done in about a year. 12)
How did you come up with the concept for The Plantation? It seems so
different . . . I’ve always been interested in the concept of revenge. You know, what motivates people to seek retribution. Sometimes it’s a hatred that’s been festering for years; other times, it’s a quick, violent reaction (i.e. a crime of passion.) Anyway, I was pondering the concept of revenge while I was driving from Pittsburgh to Hilton Head, SC. If you’ve ever been to South Carolina, you know the state is filled with plantations, some bigger than Rhode Island. Eventually, something clicked in my mind. I realized a plantation would be a great place to get revenge. Not only because of the isolation but also because of the violent history of the South. 13) If you came up with the
idea in South Carolina, why does your story take place in Louisiana? The biggest reason was New Orleans. I wanted Jonathon Payne & D.J. Jones to look for clues in a major city, and South Carolina doesn’t have anything the size of New Orleans. Besides, the history of Louisiana is so different than any other state that I felt it would make an interesting backdrop for The Plantation. 14) Did you REALLY play
football at Pitt? You look kind of scrawny. Thanks. But the truth is I was an offensive lineman for
a very good Pitt team in the late-80s. Unfortunately, my career got cut short
due to a freak foot injury, which contributed to my massive weight loss. (I
was around 270 pounds in college; now I’m closer to 190.) At the time, it was
pretty devastating ― to me, NOT the team. But looking back it was
probably the best thing that could’ve happened. Instead of spending all of my
time in the weight room, I was able to focus all of my attention on writing
and sleeping past 15) How did you get an
agent? First
of all, it was a painstaking process that took several years. I did what all
writers are supposed to do: I wrote a query letter to every agent who was
looking for new clients. Unfortunately, that got me nowhere. After that, I
decided to take a different approach. I wrote letters to many of my favorite
writers, asking them to read an unpublished version of The Plantation.
Amazingly, most of them agreed to do it, and before I knew it, the
endorsements started rolling in. Before long, I decided to self-publish my
book, hoping it would get me enough money to pay my rent. Remarkably, it did
more than that . . . Scott Miller, an agent at Trident Media, bought one of those self-published copies in a Philadelphia bookstore and liked it enough to e-mail me. At the time, I had a folder with over 100 rejection letters, yet the best young agent in the business bought my book (at full price) and contacted me. Not only did I get a royalty from his book sale, but I also got the perfect agent. 16) Are you sure you’re
not gay? Yes,
I’m sure I’m NOT gay . . . Damn! Will you drop it already??? This section is frequently updated. Please stop back for
more Q & A. |
CHRIS
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