In this episode of Storyline Sessions, the author of the award-winning epic fantasy series The Beast Hunter of Ashbourn Christer Lende has an open talk about his writing process, inspirations as well as his challenges with former publishers. We discussed his passion for the craft, future of The Beast Hunter series, his upcoming Sci-Fi book Spectre, and we also touch upon the movie script he is currently working on.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Start

00:50 – Conversation start

01:37 – Christer’s publishing story – starting with a publisher

05:35 – First challenges with the publisher

07:15 – Big changes before the publication (light spoilers for The Beast Hunter book)

11:54 – First book published and new issues

15:50 – Thinking about self-publishing

18:20 – New issues and misunderstandings

22:46 – Going separate ways with the publisher

25:25 – Self-publishing success and awards

29:40 – Comparing his work to video games

30:42 – Planning out the story and making a trilogy out of a single book

33:00 – Spoilers for the book one ending and light spoilers for book two

33:58 – The Witcher and Supernatural influence

36:20 – Originality, creating new monsters and fantasy relying on tropes

40:12 – Talking about the antagonist (book two/three spoilers)

41:48 – Map, bestiary and worldbuilding

44:50 – Norse mythology in fantasy and why he didn’t want to do a viking story

47:36 – Writing different POVs – culture, gender, emotions

50:50 – Surprising yourself and emotions in writing

54:15 – His background and getting into writing with fan fiction

57:20 – His process and accountability

1:00:45 – Consistency, enjoying the process and thinking about your stories

1:09:30 – Teaser/hook for the new Ashbourn duology (spoilers for the first trilogy)

1:16:05 – Importance of being passionate about your work

1:20:06 – Getting into Sci-Fi – recreating feelings from childhood

1:22:06 – The plot and the world of his upcoming Sci-Fi book Spectre

1:28:58 – Potential for adaptations in his work

1:33:21 – Improving his craft (and light spoiler for book one)

1:36:15 – Getting into screenwriting and securing a deal for a movie script

1:42:42 – Different genres in European film and Norway’s focus on crime

1:43:41 – Troll (2022) and SFX capabilities

1:47:30 – Meg 2 (2023) and monster movies

1:51:10 – Scandinavian noir

1:54:35 – Christer’s podcast and plans for the future

1:57:36 – Outro

You can find Christer at https://www.instagram.com/christerlende/ and https://www.authorcalende.com/

Follow Storyline Sessions Podcast on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/storyline.sessions/

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