Author Christopher Swann is set to visit Hudson Library on Sept. 25, at 12:30 p.m. to talk about his new book, A Fire in the Night.
Atlanta-based high school English teacher and author Christopher Swann has set his newest novel right here on the Plateau.
Swann is a graduate of Woodberry Forest School in Virginia and earned his Ph.D. in creative writing from Georgia State University. He has been a Townsend Prize finalist, longlisted for the Southern Book Prize, and twice been a finalist for a Georgia Author of the Year award. He lives with his wife and two sons in Atlanta, where he is the English department chair at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School.
Swann’s first book was published when he was 47. He said the feeling of publishing a third book is still surreal.
“I always wanted to be a writer since I was 13,” Swann said. “Never take no for a definitive answer. It is still pleasantly sur
real to see an actual physical book with my name in the title.”
When finishing his second book, Swann knew that he had another one up his sleeve for his publisher; a book set in the North Carolina mountains.
“I wanted to make it this old-fashioned thriller, where you have a character that you think is one way, but it turns out he’s not all what he seemed,” Swann said. “I also like writing strong female characters, but my first book was set in an all-boys boarding school. So, there weren’t that many female characters. I wanted to expand on that in the new book.”
Swann got the inspiration for setting the book in Highlands because his grandparents owned a gift shop in the area.
“My grandparents owned one of the first giftshops in Cashiers, the Carolina Mountain Shop,” Swann said. “They ran that for 50 years. My mom and uncle grew up there. So, I would go visit every summer. I was very close to my grandparents and actually worked in the shop growing up. As I got older, I would visit friends in the area and see it grow. With my first book, I did a tour that summer and we kicked it off at the Hudson Library.”
One fight scene in the book takes place in the Hudson Library.
“I had to find a way to get the main character out of his house,” Swann said. “Well, the reason he stayed in the house was to get away from everybody. He wanted to be secluded, so he didn’t have a cell phone or laptop. When he had to research something, he had to go to Hudson Library. I remember being at the Hudson Library and thinking how cool of a building it was. I thought that it would be a fun thing to do to set a fight in the library.”
While being head of the English Department at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, Swann used his time outside of school to write.
“I’m lucky enough to work in a school where they have been completely supportive of me, not only in my teaching career, but helping me realize my writing career,” Swann said. “Because I don’t have huge class sizes or other duties, I am able to work at work and then when I get off, I spend that time with my family and writing. I usually get a big chunk of writing done in the summers.”
When writing his main character, Nick, a retired professor, Swann said he had to think about what would be the worst thing that could happen in his life.
“People always say, ‘write what you know,’” Swann said. “With Nick, he is closer to my age, and I put myself in his shoes. Basically, I had to think about what would be one of the worst things that could happen to me. I imagined if I was him and my wife died, which is not a comfortable idea, but it made a lot of sense dramatically for a novel.”
Since Swann didn’t publish a book until he was 47 years old, he advises other aspiring authors not to give up.
“The only reason that I ended up getting published is that I didn’t quit,” Swann said. “Getting published was a dream I always had, and I worked on it more diligently sometimes than others. There were a lot of moments when it would have been really easy and acceptable for me to quit. For whatever reason, I was stubborn and kept at it. There is talent and skill involved, but there is also a considerable amount of luck in it. I think if you’ve had any positive feedback that isn’t from a relative or a spouse, keep doing it.”
Swann said he hopes people that come to the Books and Bites event at the Hudson Library walk away with a feeling of wanting to follow his characters to the very end.
“I hope that I did the setting justice,” Swann said. “I hope people connect with the characters and find out what happens to them until the very end. I hope when they finish the book, when they close it, they say that they want to read more.”
Swann will be at the Hudson Library on Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m., to talk about A Fire in the Night.
Below is the blurb for his new book:
“Nick Anthony has retreated to the North Carolina mountains to mourn the untimely death of his wife. Once a popular professor, Nick just wants to be left alone with his grief. But when his estranged brother and sister-in-law die in a house fire, a stunned Nick learns he has a niece who is missing…and may be a suspect in her parents’ deaths.
By the time the call came, her parents’ fate was sealed, but sixteen-year-old Annalise escaped the deadly fire with her life—and information someone is willing to kill for. At the scene of the crime, the men who set the fire spotted Annalise, and are now in a desperate search to find her. Feverish and exhausted, Annalise stumbles onto her uncle’s porch. Now Nick must protect her and unravel the mystery of his brother’s death.
Hired to retrieve stolen information at any price, private military contractor Cole and his team track down and kill the thief and his wife. But their daughter has vanished, along with the one thing Cole needs. When his search leads him to Nick’s cabin, Cole figures a retired professor will be easy enough to handle. But Nick has a hidden past of his own—and more than a few deadly tricks up his sleeve.”
For more information on Swann or any of his books, visit christopherswann.com.
- By Christopher Smith