Author Spotlight

ChristopherMarcus

About the Author

Q: As the author of the Shade of the Morning Sun series, you've written many stories both long and short. Do you have a favorite or one you would recommend?

A: Out of about 100 stories on my website, I guess you could say some of my favs are the ones I picked to go on Wattpad :) (Oh, and thanks for having a small fish like me for an interview - I really appreciate it!)

Anyway ... if you're a younger Wattpadian I hope you'd like "Boats Against the Current" and the ongoing "Winter's Heart". The first is a story about being a teen and thinking you're all wrong but eventually getting the courage to overcome that. The second is an ongoing slow-burn high school love story with lots of 1990s music and video clips - so if you are in a nostalgic mood then maybe it's the one for you!

Older Wattpadians might get more out of the stories about my main characters when they have settled down with a family - and all the trouble that brings! For the moment, there are only two 'family stories' on Wattpad, one of which you also mention later on in this interview, but ... there's a bunch more on my website: shadeofthemorningsun.com. (Shameless plug, I know :-)

Q: What was your inspiration for your series?

A: This might be a tongue-in-cheek answer but ... music. Everything I've listened to when I was young, and whatever new stuff I pick up on now and then. All - almost all - stories have a title lifted from the lyrics of a piece of pop or rock music.

Q: Do you plan out your stories? If so, what's your process?

A: No plans, haha. I write into the dark and see what happens. It's a process that works well for me (and for shorter stories) but it took me a while to realize that. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, though!

Q: Is there something you hope your readers take away from your stories?

A: Hmmm ... I guess I like to think of my stories as little pieces of, well, music you can enjoy depending on your mood - and then feel a bit better off, despite all the sh*t that may have happened to you. That would be my best hope - for readers to have that experience as well!

Q: Who would you say is your favorite author on Wattpad?

A: I don't have a particular favorite - yet, but I obviously like the works of the people I follow. Many of them are just as crazy - I mean, just as creatively courageous as me - and write stuff that's a little different from what you can mostly find on Wattpad.

From the Author

Okay, dear reader ... if you made it this far in the interview, I have an offer for you:

If you like short stories that deal with the mess of life and how to power through it, and which you can digest in one sitting - kind of like when you listen to a certain kind of music, depending on what mood you are in ... well, then a Shade of the Morning Sun story might be for you!

You will meet characters from the same family in three generations so you can choose male and female characters, young and old, and follow them through life, depending on who you like most - and what time period you like the most. This all happens through linked short stories so each story can be read independently. Or you can connect several stories to a little series. Some of the best stories I have done are published here on Wattpad with gorgeous new covers, so you can start here and see if you like the characters and general feel of my 'universe', before you dive in deeper.

By the way, if you'd like me to read some of your stuff - if you feel we are a fit - please, write to me via the Conversations tab on my profile or in the comments below this interview. And hey, also do let me know if you have some suggestions for music I should use as inspiration for a new story!

About the Story

Jonathan Reese is a survivor of the Iraq war, where he served 15 years ago. He's been living with his survivor's guilt all this time - which is only made worse when he tries and fails to save a boy from drowning. Find out how he copes in His Last and First Breath, a short story in the Shade of the Morning Sun series, in our Featured reading list.

Q: What do you like most about Jonathan Reese?

A: He is a deeply loyal guy. No matter how rotten he feels he would never abandon his wife or their kids. And I hope that shows in the story you have chosen to feature in this section - "His Last and First Breath".

Q: This story features the topic of survivor's guilt. What inspired you to write about that?

A: Again, I'm not really sure - except that it's about the music again. I was listening to an older folk-rock song called "In Fortune's Hand" (by the Irish band Clannad) and I just kept thinking about this particular situation of a man that has tried to save a boy who could have been one of his own kids, but failed, and then wonders why ...

Q: Do you base any of your characters off of people you know in real life?

A: Sort of. One of my characters - Goth wanna-be-writer Lin Christakis, whom we first meet in the story "Boats Against the Current" - is partially based on a friend of mine who is no longer with us. However, my late friend is also very different from Lin - they are not the same. I like to think though, that my friend - wherever she is now - will appreciate the character she inspired me to create. She was a writer as well, so you can always hope ... :)

Also, Jonathan's son, Michael, is on the autism spectrum like my own son. There's a single new story about Michael as a child on Wattpad but I also have stories where he is a young man in the 2020s and much later an older man in the 2050s (on the website). The latter stories are probably rooted in my attempts to imagine what my own son will be like in the future. Writing them has helped me focus on all my son's gifts and strengths, as opposed to the problems he has right now, when he is just a kid. That's also one of the many beautiful things writing can do for you.