Local Author Spotlight: E. Chris Ambrose
Local Author Spotlight
E. Chris Ambrose
Please describe your writing routine. Is there a time of day or place that is most productive for you?
I’m usually most productive in the mornings, after walking the dog. I have a loft office, with a corner desk–bright and full of light, with not too many distractions! I aim for a chapter a day when I’m drafting new work.
Is there anything in Lowell or in the surrounding area that has inspired your work? Such a place to take nice walks or a piece of artwork?
I love the mill buildings and the way that the city has remade itself since its early industrial roots. One of my favorite sources of inspiration is the Merrimack Repertory Theater, where their great productions give me a burst of creative energy.
What do you believe are the most important elements of writing? How do you incorporate it into your own work?
I work hard to embody the scenes for my reader, so they can really experience the action through all of their senses, using those details to convey and enhance emotion. While I write adventure novels, I know that it’s the characters and their experiences that will draw the readers close and make them care about the conflict–I think investing in the physical reality of tense moments is what makes it real to the reader.
What advice would you give to a young writer and/or a writer starting their first creative work? Think about the experience of the reader as you build your scenes–what will they see, hear, feel? What impact do you want the scene to have? You probably don’t need as much exposition as you think (especially internal monologue), and don’t skimp on dialog as a way to reveal character.
What were your favorite books when you were a child?
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak; The Thirteen Clocks, by James Thurber; Illusions: the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach
Do you have any reading recommendations?
Read all the things!! But if I have to pick just one, Touch, by Claire North. This is an extraordinary thriller. It has a single supernatural element, but uses that element to really develop a remarkable character and world. Pulse-pounding, as well as heart-stirring.
E. C. Ambrose writes knowledge-inspired adventure fiction including epic historical fantasy novel Drakemaster, the Bone Guard archaeological thrillers starting with The Mongol’s Coffin, as well as The Dark Apostle historical fantasy series about medieval surgery. In the process of researching her books, Chris learned how to hunt with a falcon, clear a building of possible assailants, and pull traction on a broken limb. A former adventure guide, Chris lives and writes in New Hampshire.
More information about her books can be found on Bone Guard Books and on her Facebook page.