Indie Author Spotlight: Spring 2019 - C.H. Knyght - Part 3

 Welcome back for part three of my interview with C.H. Knyght, author of the fantasy series "The Mother's Realm" and creator of a wonderful Character Development Workbook series. It's the latter we'll be talking about today and believe me, fellow authors, you do not want to miss this one!

Book Review: Character Development Workbook (Tri-Series book 4) by C.H. Knyght

 

(Normally I share my reviews from Goodreads, but they don't share workbooks on their site. So this is my Amazon review. The link to the product page is below, in the review. As always, I'm not getting any pay for doing this, sharing the link, or the interview.)

***** So helpful and comprehensive!
I write YA fantasy and asked for this book in my wish list. I got it for Christmas. I'm so happy with this workbook, I want to add two or three more to my shelf. Fleshing out characters can be a daunting task without a guide. Some folks need more help than others. I promise you, if you're in that group, you'll definitely want to add this to your writer's tool kit. Filling in the blanks for my characters is always fun for me and the Tri-Series gives me plenty to think about. My favorite page is blank and gives you space to add your own doodles, art, inspiration photos, and more. My second favorite page is the first page of each profile where you have the option to draw, tape or glue your character's picture (or character inspiration picture/model picture). The blanks on that page help you fill in all the most basic things for your character. The next page has a section which I also love - an either/or section. I simply highlight each trait that fits my character best. And best of all, you don't have to fill in any blanks you aren't sure about. Well done, C.H. Knyght! Thank you so much for this extremely helpful tool!

 Indie Author Spotlight: Interview With C.H. Knyght - Part 3

 Me: Last week, we talked about the second book in your series. This week, I want to focus on your workbook series, which I'm loving! But first, I have a few more questions about what the writers life is for you. Authors usually have some kind of theme or idea they hope their readers will come away with once they finish a book. What's the one thing you'd like readers to take away from reading the Nightvision series? Why's that important to you?

C.H.: Strength to overcome, getting up to try again even when it’s hard, striving to do everything you can to protect the ones you love. I also grew up on anime and this is a recurring theme that has integrated into my own life. I hope that I uphold half as well as the characters in the end.

Me: I didn't discover the beauty of anime with any kind of depth until I was well into my adult years. You're right. There's often a strong feeling of protecting your loved ones with all your might, doing your best, and overcoming odds with determination. I love that about anime! I can also see this in your work. Perhaps it's been part of the draw for me. :D Of all the characters you've written, which is your favorite? Which one do you hate most?

C.H.: I see a lot of Dante in myself. But Keer is probably my favorite little book nerd. XD Well, Lox from Midnight Sands is a douche, so he’s probably bottom of the totem pole for the moment.

Me: I have to agree with you about Lox. <shudders> Well done on the writing for him! We've talked a little about some of the things that inspire you in general, but what inspired you to write the Nightvision series in particular?

C.H.: One thing people keep saying is write what you want to read. So I did.

Me: That's great and a great lead in for today's topic, too. You've written an excellent series of character profiling workbooks. What prompted that? What's your favorite part of those workbooks?

C.H.: Well, really, I wanted a book to keep track of my own characters in cause I kept having pieces of them scribbled out here and there and everywhere. And it just kind of grew into a project where I gathered all the character development ideas I could find out there and remixed them into the levels of intensity.

Me: Well, it's fabulous. I'm so happy with my Tri-Series workbook. I know what's inside my workbook but could you tell us a little more about what your workbooks include that no other workbook on the market currently offers?

C.H.: Well, I’ve not actually seen other full books for just a character bible. They’re almost certainly out there, but I haven’t run into them. I’ve see printable pages for it, but then you’re still not having all your characters in once place.

Me: I'm a huge fan of efficiency. Loose pages and multiple notebooks are sure to be put "somewhere safe" in my house. Beside that, notebooks don't have an identifiable spine. Fans of organization take note! My favorite part of the Tri-series workbook (the only one I own so far) is the place to add in artwork and inspiration photos, fabrics, or other bits and pieces that relate to my characters. Do you have a favorite section? Why's it special to you?

C.H.: Honestly the one I find the most important is injury tracking. By the time you run through however many drafts, and into the next book, if they are still suffering from or scarred from [an injury] (and they probably should be) then it gets really hard to remember how and where each character was abused. I have magic healing in my books but it is not a wand-wavey fix all, there are limits and scars. Alexion and Raphael’s injuries were grievous at the end of book one and when they rejoin us in book three, we will be seeing complications remaining from them.

Me: Yes! If you're writing an intensive piece of work, keeping track of those types of things is very hard. Can you briefly tell us what sets each of your workbooks apart from the others in your Character Development Workbook series?

C.H.: Well, really they are quite similar, only they get progressively more intense with the questions to fill in. Foundational has the basics, appearance, general personality, the trials we’re setting before them and what they need to do to get to end. Intermediate adds a few more questions to expand on it, histories and relationships. Complex is as intense as I could make it at the time, there’s a whole spectrum of questions to fill in and personality oppositions to sort through. The Tri-series has sections of all three. When I started designing it I saw it as levels from minor characters to secondary, and main. But, really they all work for any characters, it just depends on how stubborn your characters are or how much you enjoy expanding on them.

This concludes the third portion of this season's Indie Author Spotlight Interview. Thanks for joining us today. Please come back again next Wednesday, April 24th, for the final portion of the interview! All links in this interview series go to either the author's website, social media, or the product page on Amazon.

I was not paid by any person or entity to promote this author or any of the products this author creates. I will not earn anything from any clicks on this post. I'm simply sharing my reviews on the work of indie authors and trying to encourage more readers to give indies a try.