Christopher J. Ferguson is an associate professor of
psychology at Stetson University where he studies violent behavior and the
effects of media violence. His research
has generally questioned whether media such as video game violence contributes
meaningfully to societal violence and his work has been cited by the US Supreme
Court. He lives in Winter Springs,
Florida with his wife and son.
Do you travel to do
research or for inspiration? Can you share some special places with us?
I love to travel and have often been inspired by places I’ve
been. Suicide Kings came about due to a trip to Florence. I had gone there for an academic conference
and went myself for that trip without my wife and son. Homesickness set in pretty quick and I found
myself unusually despondent despite basically being on vacation. Florence as a city is both very beautiful and
very imposing, still having many tall Renaissance buildings that loom over you
and cut out a view of the horizon. I
remember thinking to myself, “This would be an excellent city to die in.” And
thus was Suicide Kings born. I wrote what would become chapters 2 and 3
there in Florence or in the airports on the way home.
Give a short synop of
your most recently published book.
As a young woman in Florence, Diana Savrano’s life is a
privileged one of elegant balls, handsome suitors and frivolity. But the sudden death of her mother leaves her
adrift and abandoned. As she sobs over
her mother's casket, another member of the procession reveals the awful truth:
that before her last days, Diana's mother had joined a Luciferian cult. Despite knowing little beyond her pampered
world, Diana determines to unmask those responsible for her mother’s
death. But someone does not want such
secrets revealed, and they are willing to send assassins to keep her
silent. Paranoia and loneliness set in as even her closest friends reveal
hidden agendas. Worst of all, the
further she follows the intertwined threads, the closer they appear to lead to
her own father.
How much of yourself
is hidden in the characters in the book?
That’s a particularly interesting question since the lead
characters are mainly female! I’ll let
readers psychoanalyze me if they wish!
But I think, of course, as writers, some of ourselves ends up in
characters, particularly characters we identify with. And for a character like Diana Savrano, I
drew as well from the strong women in my life, particularly my wife and my
mother. That’s one element of myself as
well that was crucial to this book, and a lot of my writing really: I am most
interested in strong women characters.
I’ve written some stories with male leads but, overall, don’t find them
to be quite as interesting. And I think
there is a need for more books (and movies and television shows) with strong
women (and girl) characters.
What challenges did
you face while writing this book?
The biggest challenges for me are time and energy. I have a full-time “day job” and a family
that likes attention, so with that, finding a few hours here or there to write
can be tricky. And I’ll be honest, that
time also competes with things like compelling television! Given the enormous amount of hours that go
into writing a book, maintaining some degree of diligence to get it done is
always the tricky part. It’s easy to
come up with a great idea, harder to write it down!
What do you think is
the greatest lesson you’ve learned about writing so far? What advice can you
give new writers?
Persistence, I’d say, is the greatest virtue of the writers,
whether writing fiction, non-fiction or academic publishing, it’s all the
same. Rejection is our lot in life, and
being able to persist and believe in what we’re doing in the face of that rejection. That may sound bleak, but it’s the way of
things. People who are able to
persevere, to improve their craft, to remain sure of what they’re doing in the
face of early rejection will be the ones to ultimately succeed. If you let fear of rejection stop you, it
will be impossible to advance in any kind of career in writing.
Where do you store
ideas for later use: in your head, in a notebook, or on a spreadsheet?
It’s all in my head!
I’ve tried other approaches before, particularly notes and outlines, but
ultimately I prefer to let things be a bit more free-form. I think that helps stories to develop a bit
more organically. Very often the way a
story comes out is quite different from what I’d originally envisioned.
Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
My web-page is www.Christopherjferguson.com. Suicide Kings can be found on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Suicide-Kings-Christopher-J-Ferguson/dp/1628300701/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388069487
