Age: 29
Location: Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Education: Bachelor’s English
The Writer
How long have you been writing?
Since I’ve been about fifteen or so, but with varying levels of sincerity between now and then.
Do you have a specific writing style?
As much as that’s possible. I feel my style has certainly evolved over the last few years, although there are always hiccups along the way.
The Work
Tell us about your work in Crack the Spine.
One Word Titles: Narrator, Alvin Jenkins, sets outs for a short-lived tour with a struggling singer-songwriter, Eddie Niesner, following a recent streak of bad luck from both parties. As the twenty-somethings interact with a barrage of passers-by, they slowly learn to loathe one another and the crueler portions of the road.
What inspired this work?
This piece is actually a sequel of sorts to a story I wrote entitled, Rebellion’s End, previously published in Mobius and the Madison Review. It picks up right where the previous narration left off, but I thought it’d be better to get an outsider’s perspective on the traveling songwriter mythos, whereby a fan can quickly butt heads with the artist they previously admired. Both will eventually come out along with others in a short story book entitled Double Feature.
Tell us about another project you have published or are currently working on.
Actually, my latest project will be a music release with my band Fine Wives. The six song EP entitled Thin Lives is a hodgepodge of garage pop with just enough lyrical bite.
What inspired this work?
Any number of unrealistic ideals.
Where/When can we find this work?
It should be up digitally on the My Idea of Fun Website sometime in the beginning of October.
The Methods
How often do you write?
I try to write or edit almost every day.
How many drafts do you generally go through before you consider a piece to be complete?
With short stories, it’s usually somewhere between four and five. A novel may be three or four just because it takes an insane amount of time to re-read and edit.
What is your usual starting point for a piece?
I usually have about a paragraph outline along with a list of characters for any shorter piece. Location is usually key, as I find great joy in torturing my protagonist, surrounding them with several undesirables at any given time.
What is your best piece of advice on how to stay sane as a writer?
It’s probably better to be as crazy as possible, take risks and let the heavier slings of life really sink in, before taking advantage of their meanings.
The Madness
If you could have dinner with one fictional character, who would it be and why?
Probably Enid Coleslaw from the graphic novel Ghost World. I feel we share similar view on most of life’s minor tragedies.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Michael Cera, but he’d have to grow some heavy facial hair by the end of it.
How many of your character have you ended up killing off?
More than I can keep track of at this point. Writing anything post-apocalyptic, it’s kind of a necessity.
Beach or Mountains?
Mountains
Cats or Dogs?
Dogs
Beer or Wine?
Beer
Additional Reading on Christopher