I recently sent in an interview questionnaire to FeatureMe2 that does a ton of author-interviews and book-reviews. Below is an excerpt from it:

1. Tell us about (your current book title) in a few sentences.

My current book is part of a trilogy called “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble” – it’s a saga about an Israeli family as it goes through the End Times as described in the Bible. It was the first novel I wrote in 2008, but I decided to rewrite it after touring Israel in 2010. The trilogy heavily builds upon current trends in the Middle East and weaves in passages from various parts of the Bible (especially the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation). I also have another book in progress called “The Castors of Giza” which is an adventure story about how the Great Pyramid was built.

2. What qualities do you need to be a successful writer?

First and foremost, you need to have a good story to tell, one that hopefully can catch (and hold) your readers’ interest. Secondly, you need to be able to describe characters, settings, and scenes in such a way that the reader feels like they can ‘see’ what’s happening as though they were watching it in the theater or on television. Third, you need passion and a certain ‘flair’ for story-telling.

3. What is your working method?

Typically, I start with a handful of ideas for a story and weave in an underlying message I want to communicate, such as repentance, forgiveness, etc. From there, I begin adding in the main characters and secondary characters, along with some of the scenes I think would catch the readers’ attention. Then I begin plotting out the book in rough chapters and scenes, and then plug them into the writing software I use – iWriterPro. I developed this software specifically for writing novels in 2009, and it’s been one of the best investments of my time I’ve ever made.

The rest of the interview can be found here:
Author Interview with Chris Hambleton