Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Chris Wright
Book Title: The Daemon’s Wish
Released: 04/28/21
Genre: Scifi/Suspense/Detective Fiction
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “The Daemon’s Wish”?
Wright: I read a lot of books investing the paranormal and 'fringe' psychology which delve into numerous theories of life, death and consciousness. Having that interest and a wealth of different viewpoints it gave me the idea to mix the paranormal with my usual genres, which is Science-Fiction and Horror. The story quickly evolved into a Mystery/Suspense, but just set in the future, where I could use my imagination as to how mankind would be living.
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Wright: I had decided on the physical characteristics of each character, so that gave me the direction to look into names that are popular and appropriate to the ethnicity of each character. As the book is set in 2410, I imagined that migration to other planets would have been from all walks of life, and so the characters and hence their names follow that diversity.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?
Wright: I think the main thing is that I am always striving to write something that hasn't quite been written before. Which is why my stories blend genres so much as there is so many more directions things can go if you don't confine yourself to one area. This latest book is classed as Science-Fiction, but at its heart it's a suspense/thriller/mystery. I need to write something that seems different and that challenges me while I am crafting it. My earlier trilogy was the same. I enjoyed writing the original installment 'Survival', but I knew there was potential to go much deeper (and weirder). By the time the trilogy ended it had morphed from a Sci-Fi/Techno-Horror to include Paranormal and Fantasy elements while not taking itself entirely seriously.
If "The Daemon’s Wish” were adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Wright: I could see Jared Leto playing the main character Noah quite easily and Rosario Dawson could pull off Alicia well. Tess could be played by someone like Ana De Armas perhaps (although the character has more of a Mediterranean olive skinned complexion in the book). I can see maybe Laurence Fishburne as Don, that character needs to be a little older than the others.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Wright: I normally try and write the following chapter. I generally know where my story is heading (as I always have the ending decided before I sit down and start writing it), but the journey to get to the interesting parts is where I slow down. The little details about what will happen between one crucial plot point to the next is where I have to take a step back sometimes. If I go to the next section it often lets ideas pop into my head about what should have come before. I don't get writer's block too often thankfully.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Wright: Get a professional editor to go over your work. I learnt that the hard way. It doesn't matter how many times you read a page, you will always miss something, always. That has been the best thing to learn, that I'm fallible and won't spot everything. I would also say that writing the book is the easy part. Getting people to buy a novel is the hard bit. With so many authors and books clambering for attention and the high costs of advertising and promotion there must be hundreds of wonderful books that people never get to see or read. So be prepared for a hard slog once the release date comes.
What is your favorite book, genre, and/or author?
Wright: Well definitely my favorite genre is Sci-fi and Horror, as it allows for more imaginative ideas to break through. Having said that though, I rarely read fiction, even though I write it. I tend to read more investigative and speculative works, such as America Before by Graham Hancock. I don't have a favorite author really, I'm open minded about what I read.
What are you working on next?
Wright: I have drafted an idea for a sequel to 'The Daemon's Wish', but I won't be starting that just yet. Instead I'm concentrating on a different stand alone novel, set in the same time period as 'Daemon', but instead of it being based on Europa, it's back on Earth. The best way I can describe it is that it's a futuristic ghost story, at least the first half is!
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