01 June, 2015

#SpecialFeature :: Introducing #Author Christopher Slater

Under "Special Feature" every month I feature a Special Author. 
During this month I put up 5 posts about the Author/Book, including Interview / Review / Excerpt / Guest Post / Author Bio / Fun Facts or whatever else we can come up with. Also on the first day of the month we will  launch the Giveaway contest along with the first post and will announce the winner on the last day of the month.
So be sure to check out my blog every 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of every month for something new :)

*** Special Feature - June 2015 ***


About the Author:
My name is Christopher Slater. Born and raised in Tennessee, I've been politely referred to as "imaginative" all of my life. It always depended on who was saying that as to whether or not it was meant as a complement. I was always very talkative, and that usually got me into some trouble at school. It took a while before I learned to pipe down. It isn't that I stopped thinking about all of the things I wanted to say, I just learned to stop saying them. Most of the time. 

I started reading a lot of novels in middle school. Some of the first novels that I read were required reading for one of my classes. These included classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Outsiders, and  Fahrenheit 451. All of those books had a big impact on me. I still have the copy of The Outsiders that I read in 7th grade. Yes, they had paperback books back then, not stone tablets. The first novel that I chose to read on my own was Day of the Cheetah by Dale Brown. I don't remember how I came across that particular novel, but it was pure action and excitement from beginning to end, and I was hooked. I spent the next few years reading any novel that fell into my area of interest. Unfortunately, that area of interest tended to be rather narrow and consisted of combat aircraft and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Still, there was plenty to read and I went after a lot of it.

Poor eyesight meant that I wouldn't be able to try and fly A-10s like I wanted to, so I made my plans for college. My Freshman English professor was the first to ever complement my creative writing. He said that I should take whatever opportunities I could to improve on my creativity. College gave me several more opportunities, though rarely as part of a class. Instead, I found myself writing short stories in one notebook while taking notes in another. I still don't understand how I kept that organized. I had some friends that would critique what I was doing, and I fed off of it. It was rather addictive.

Being a husband, father, and teacher takes up most of my time now, and I love it. I wouldn't change it. However, I still try to create as much free time as I can to split amongst my past-times. Those last-times are reenacting and airsoft. No, writing isn't a past-time. It is a part of everything that I do. I write as a teacher. I write as a husband and father. I even write as a reenactor and airsoft player. I stopped talking as much (believe it or not!) so now it gets written instead. A glimpse inside my writing is a glimpse inside my mind. Now tell me that isn't spooky!

5 Random Facts about the Author:

- I didn't write a full story until I was in college.
- I have reenacted the American Civil War, World War II, and the Vietnam War. I stopped reenacting the Civil War because the wool uniforms are too hot in the summer.
- I speak three languages: English, Bad English, and Sarcasm.
- I was an extra in an independent movie. I played an American soldier on D-Day and died near the end.
- I was shy and had stage fright before having to give an oral book report in 8th grade and earning a 100% on it.

Contact the Author:
Website I Facebook I Twitter

About the Book:

This is not the story of a hero.

So begins the story of one of the most distinctive heroes you'll ever meet. Drafted into a war he barely comprehends with no taste for combat, Pup will find himself thrust into the very center of the conflict. How he affects that conflict, and how this changes him and everyone around him, is the soul of this utterly unique war story.

Equal parts adventure and farce, tragedy and comedy, PUP introduces an unforgettable accidental hero to war literature, and announces Christopher Slater as a resonant new voice.





Giveaway:
1 Signed Copy of Pup by Christopher Slater (US Residents Only)
1 Signed Copy of Pup by Christopher Slater (Indian Residents Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 comments:

  1. How did you came up with the title of the book?

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  2. Pup is the nickname of the main character in the story. I've tried to be clever and pithy with titles in the past, and I've usually ended up sounding very cliche. This time I decided to keep it simple and to the point.

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    1. It is an unusual name indeed! Thanks for replying..

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  3. How does the cover design relate your story or title?

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    1. Pup gets drafted to become a soldier. Whether he likes it or not, he becomes an instrument of war. However, no matter how hard anyone else tries, they cannot take some of Pup's natural characteristics away. He is still awkward, polite, and even lovable in a goofy kind of way. The cover art demonstrate's the same idea. It is an instrument of war that manages to become a little comical, unusual, less threatening. I think that it gets the impression across a little bit better than just a person would have.

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