I n t e r v i e w

James Christen currently lives in California, but was raised in the Wisconsin setting of this novel. A guitarist since the seventh grade, he's still playing today. His blues/jazz ensemble, The Jimmy C. Trio, can be heard in and around Santa Barbara.
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Interview by Jim Stanley of Stanley & Company.
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Jim Stanley: Long Journey, Short Steps is your first novel, is that right?
James Christen: Yes, that's true.

JS: What made you decide to take on such a task?
JC: Having been a songwriter most of my life, I thoroughly enjoy the process of combining words that convey something meaningful or loving or thought provoking. Writing song lyrics is not dissimilar to writing poetry. There's a cadence and sometimes a rhyme. There can also be a beginning, middle, and an end to the story.

JS: How's that tie into a full-length novel?
JC: After having written so many songs, at some point I saw the next logical step as being a longer song. A more involved story of sorts. So the next step had to be a full-length novel. It just seemed like the right thing to do at this stage in my development as a writer.

JS: So you just sat down and started writing a longer song?
JC: Well, it wasn't quite that easy, let me tell you, but that was the basic concept. To make sure I was approaching it correctly, I took a couple of classes on the subject of fiction writing, and read as many books about it as I could find. Once I'd digested enough information and felt comfortable with the plan, I worked the plan, as they say.

JS: The five main characters are in a band called Snowblind, but you tell the story through the eyes of Duncan Dupree, the band's guitarist and songwriter. Are you Duncan?
JC: That's an interesting question. I think a lot of writers who write in the first person are presumed to be the main character. But no, I'm not Duncan.

JS: Are you any of the characters?
JC: If anything, pieces of my own philosophies filter in different ways through each one of the band members, and several other characters in the story as well. The process of creating characters is a real joy, I must say. By giving them distinct personalities and making them come to life, an author has to take on the personality of each character. It's probably not unlike what an actor goes through in the transformation process to fit a roll. An actor becomes a character—a novelist becomes several.

JS: Does that relate to the story line as well?
JC: In a way it does. The goal was to have all of the reader's senses somehow be affected as the story was being told. For them to see a room described as if standing in it, to feel the wind as it was on the face of one of the characters, to hear rumblings and clatter, to be frightened and surprised and full of anxiety. Something told me if I could do that, then readers would stick with the book, and read it quickly because it drew them in. I hope that's the case.

JS: Did the adventures of Snowblind come from your own experiences?
JC: Yes and no. I truly believe that any good writer, be it songs, poetry, novels or whatever, has to be able to make up stories. I've always believed that if you wait around for inspiration to clunk you on the head, you're not going to be very prolific. Several songs I've written, for example, have come simply from a title or a single line sometimes. From that starting point, a story evolves. That concept holds true for this book, too. The joy of embellishment is a huge buzz.

JS: One of the things I personally enjoyed was how Duncan, at certain spots throughout the book, actually writes lyrics. That's something I've never seen before, at least not as often as it appears in your book. They were almost like summations, in a sense.
JC: Yeah, that's exactly right. There are many twists and turns along the band's journey. At several points along the way, Duncan writes his feelings down as lyrics and, like you said, summarizes a poignant moment in the story. I took extra effort in making sure each of his lyrics accentuated either what was going on right then, or foreshadowed something that might lie ahead.

JS: Did you have an audience in mind before writing this novel?
JC: Yes, I did, actually. My goal was to write a story that many people would enjoy; from those who don't read very much because a certain type of fiction turned them off at some point in their lives, to those who read constantly and are familiar with the subtle nuances of particular writers and writing styles. In order to do that, I felt the story would need to get the reader involved in the characters and their surroundings right away, but continue to build and change and surprise all the way through.

JS: Some writers have everything worked out ahead of time, others simply start writing and let the story come out on its own. Where do you fall in that regard?
JC: I'd fall on both sides of that fence. I approached the project as if it were a work of music. In a music score, some parts are written, like a melody for example, while other parts are ad-libbed, like when taking a solo. With the book, there was a concept and a story line worked out. A melody, so to speak. But I also ad-libbed at times.

JS: Can you give me an example of that?
JC: Sure. One time I sent Snowblind out on the road to a predetermined spot, but somewhere along the way they ran into things I hadn't considered before. So I just let the story tell itself while trying not to lose focus of the path the band was on or where they'd eventually end up. It made the writing process a lot of fun because, while ad-libbing, I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

JS: Back to the buzz of embellishment. There's what I would call a deviant subplot that eventually laces through the story. That was obviously not taken from real life, or real experiences, so where'd it come from?
JC: From my original plan, really. I mentioned approaching the story as if it were a music score. The deviant subplot, as you called it, relates this way: Songs will generally have a verse and a chorus, but sometimes they'll also incorporate what's called a bridge. The bridge splits off from the verse and chorus, surprising the listener by taking them in a different direction before eventually returning to the verse and chorus. It creates more interest to the ear, and it works the same way in novels.

JS: Are there more novels in your future?
JC: Because there's at least one more book in the saga of Snowblind, maybe two, I have started a sequel to Long Journey, Short Steps. At this point I'm only a few chapters into it, however, but if this first book finds an audience, I'm sure my pace will pick up. Until then, I'm working on a series of short stories as well as some instrumental acoustic guitar music.