Author interview: R.P. Channing

Today I bring you an interview with R.P. Channing which is the author of Thirst. I shared an excerpt from this book on Saturday, you can check it out here. Rick is extremely nice and I've definitely enjoyed working with him! You can look forward to a guest post from him which is coming next month - it definitely made me think and may have inspired a couple of new posts. 

A bit about R.P. Channing 
Website ⎜Twitter ⎜Amazon

R P Channing started writing three years ago, but never published anything even after churning out over a million words of fiction. Thirst: Blood of my Blood is the first book he dared to publish. When asked why, he said, “Because it’s the first thing I wrote that my wife actually enjoyed reading.” When not hammering away (most literally) at his keyboard, he can be found buried in a book, reading anything from romance to horror to young adult to non-fiction to comedy.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

It wasn’t the first thing I came up with when I was listing “possible professions” as a kid. I don’t even think it made the list. I just started writing one day and then I wrote more and then I wrote more... Before I knew it, I started calling myself “A Writer.” 

How long does it take you to write a book?

It depends on the book and the story and how long it’s been since my last book. It’s so different from story to story that I have no fixed timeframe. Some stories are out of my head and onto paper before I can even blink, others take longer, much longer.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I try and set myself a target of words for the day and then make that target. Sometimes that takes only a few hours, sometimes I’m writing until the early hours of the morning.

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

Wow. They’re random. They come out of nowhere. Sometimes I don’t even have an idea. If I do have one, the writing is easy. if I don’t, I just pound away until the story takes me somewhere, and then I re-write. I try and take a professional attitude to my writing and not “wait for inspiration.”

Tell us something unusual about yourself.

The weirdest thing I like doing is jumping in my car and going for a drive with no place to go. Some people like walking, I love just getting on the highway, looking around, and then driving back home after an hour or two. I find it very relaxing.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

Well, I’ve written plenty of stories, but Thirst is the first one I published. I guess that makes it my favorite because I actually put it out there for people.

Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

Don’t listen to advice from new writers.

Do you like to create books for adults?

I’ve written all kinds of stories (unpublished), but I like YA as a genre. I like the crowd, I like the “innocence.” I don’t see myself publishing in any other genre. At least not for a while.

What do you think makes a good story?

Likable characters that take initiative.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to become an actor. Of course, that failed. :)