Chris Simms
As some of you know, having read my article back in June, “Chris Simms Comes To Sale“, I have met this great crime author, and it was great excitement I received news that he had agreed to participate in one of my infamous interviews for this site and it’s members!! The Killer Thriller Club I belong to at Coppice Avenue Library, Sale, came up with some excellent questions to ask 
This Manchester based author is an awesome writer with the latest series being centered near where I live. Now crime near where I live is bad enough, but Chris has some lovely gruesome bits in his books which makes the shivers all more more pronounced. After reading one of his books I tend to make sure the door is double locked!
He told the Manchester Confidential, when awaiting the arrival of his last novel, Hell’s Fire, that he sees his copywriting career, which he still pursues part-time, as being the perfect preparation for a crime writer: “You have to employ economy with words and the novel becomes a sort of elongated ad with an image and a headline that provides the momentum. No one can write crime fiction successfully unless you charge up that momentum.”
I mentioned his books, including Hell’s Fire, in the last article but they bear mentioning again here…I have also included links to his own write ups and some tit-bits about each one….
and now we have another book that I havent had the opportunity to read yet as it doesnt come out until next May, called ‘The Edge’.
His book Savage Moon is out in Paperback on the 5th September.. thats a couple of days time from the date of this post 
As it is mentioned in the interview, along with a large snippet from it, I will shuttup now and let the interview commence!
When did you first become interested in writing?
From a very young age – as long as I can remember, in fact.
Do you read crime fiction yourself ?
I read the odd crime novel if it’s highly recommended, so generally they’re books I feel myself learning from in one way or another.
Has your style changed from when you first began as an author?
Yes, as I’ve become more confident. I think I’ve always plotted well, but my descriptions and dialogue has improved, I’m sure.
Why is your work so grisly?
I fear a dark streak runs through the imagination of my family. My two brothers and I used to spend hours drawing cartoons that involved horrific disasters befalling each other.
Where do you get your ideas from?
In the wee small hours, dead people whisper the ideas they never got round to writing in my ear. Sometimes, I half-believe this explanation as I have no better way of explaining it!
Do you role play your characters in your head or on paper or do you trust they will come to life as you write?
Mostly I trust they’ll come to life – but I often have to rework my dialogue.
Do you write in order, or can you do a chapter here and there and then put them together?
After getting in a complete muddle during my first novel, I now complete a loose chapter-plan and write in order.
As mentioned in my previous article, when you gave our talk you used actors to show a scene from your book. Marvellous idea! Was it yours?
Yes – it came as a result of scripting some passages for a friend to use in auditions for her casting company.
In what way do you usually put down your ideas first? Do you map out a story?
Longhand, in pencil on a lined A4 pad, with the facing page left blank for later amends. Each story is mapped out in advance.
How many ‘takes’ until you get a book right?
Each one goes through 5 or 6 drafts. and I aim for between 80,000 and 100,000.
You said, when we met, that you have set days to work…Are you a disciplined person normally?
Yes – I always handed essays in on time as a student. I’m more disciplined now I have four kids to help organise!
Do you eat and drink while writing or is that all forgotten?
I only write in the morning, pausing at around 11 for a snack and a brew.
Who is your favourite author?
Cormac McCarthy or Graham Greene.
Have you met any other authors?
Plenty – just by going along to the Harrogate Crime Festival.
What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
A tough one, but this passage from my next novel, The Edge, took ages to get right.
The bird cried again, its call answered this time. Jon lifted his head and, staring ahead, was just able to make out the faintest smear of grey in the blackness before him.
As the minutes slid by, lighter hints joined it to reveal a fraction of dark horizon.
He realised the few stars away to his right had lost their lustre and his eyes returned to the smudge, watching as a gossamer-like loop of yellow slowly stretched itself across a dip in the distant hills.
The bright thread began to widen and sunlight started to flood in. Night had ended.
Soon, he could see mist clinging to the lower valleys, dry-stone walls emerging from the gloom. The birds cried again and now Jon was able to spot one of them.
A hawk by the look of it, wheeling round and round the dim silhouette of pine trees peeping over the crest of the next hill.
How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
Just under a year – otherwise I miss my publisher’s deadline!
How well do you take criticism?
I hope I take it well – I’ve usually bounced back after a day or two.
What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?
Fingers crossed, I’ve yet to experience one.
How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
As James Lee Burke says; when you shake the book, nothing rattles. Walking away is easy – after five drafts I’m usually sick of the thing.
Would you like to be doing something different than you are now?
No – but I’d like more time to have a crack at a screenplay.
What are your plans for the future?
Well, the paperback for Savage Moon is just out and my next one, ‘The Edge’ is al but signed off. So that means it’s time to start bringing
thoughts together for Spicer novel number 6.
What advice would you give new authors?
Treat it as a hobby. If you’re in a rush to get published, you’re in for a frustrating time.
Good advice Chris. Thank you for coming to 1stAngel and giving us great answers
Read more about Chris and his works, at his own site, http://chrissimms.info
