Chris Mullen
Texas Terror
Deep within Texas’s power grid lies a hidden cyber weapon, poised to bring the Lone Star State to its knees, and only Cass Callahan can stop it.
The Writer’s Dossier 11/25/2024 – The Chris Mullen interview
DOSSIER: You’ve won like a bazillion writing awards. Tell everyone here how that works … do you track down all the different writing contests out there and send in your book, or does your personal staff take care of that stuff so you can keep writing novel after novel?
GUEST: In 2020, I was new on the writing scene, publishing as an indie author, so it was up to me to find, research, submit, and pay for every awards consideration. I learned quickly to avoid the ‘pay to win’ contests where every entrant seemed to be handed out what I consider a participation trophy. I wanted to know when my book was compared to others, whether I was a winner, or not.
With that goal in mind, I searched for awards and recognitions that seemed legit and fitted my budget. My author’s circle was tight, but I felt the need to reach beyond family and friends to get a realistic review of how my writing was received. Fortunately, since 2020, I have been honored with numerous awards and recognition, all of which led me to meet new people, make new contacts, and most importantly, build a resume that would attract readers. Being able to add “Award-Winning Author” with my name has been a positive boost for marketing, especially at the beginning of my career.
Since signing with Wolfpack Publishing in 2021, and after releasing nine books over the past three years with them, I have narrowed down my awards entrees to a select few. Wolfpack Publishing helped me become a 2023 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite and a Will Rogers Medallion winner (’23, ’24). I submitted and won the American Fiction Awards (Westerns) in 2020 and 2023 and was recognized in a few other contests over the years. Looking to the future, my focus will be to enter novels in the Thriller Awards (ThrillerFest) The Spur Awards, the American Fiction Awards, the Will Rogers Awards, and will hopefully earn a nomination for my novel, DEAD LAND, in the 2025 Anthony Awards (Bouchercon).
Books 4 the Brave
DOSSIER: When we spent time in Nashville during Bouchercon, I was impressed with the story behind how you started Books 4 The Brave. (I still need to get you some books!) Please tell everyone how it got started and how they can help.
GUEST: Books 4 the Brave is an organization I started with one mission in mind: to provide new books to our troops serving away from their families. Over the past eighteen months, I have completed three distributions. In 2023, over fifty author-signed and dedicated books were sent via the Texas State Guard to troops along the Texas/Mexico border. In January 2024, I joined a VFW BBQ event at Camp Charlie in Eagle Pass and personally handed out over two hundred books to the troops. I followed that up in March with a quick visit to Fort Bliss in El Paso, where soldiers selected more books from our table.
I cannot begin to express the pride I felt as each man and woman walked up to the Books 4 the Brave table and chose something to read. They were pleased to know they were free, but their elation was evident when they opened their new books to find them signed, personalized, or dedicated to their service. My hope is to provide them with a much-needed break from their daily routine. It is because of the many donating authors across the country that I have been able to make this happen. While I plan to return to the Texas border region soon, I also hope to branch out to other locations around the United States where our troops are stationed.
I currently run Books 4 the Brave on my own and plan two distributions a year. I accept books from authors at any time but have mainly collected books at events I have attended. If you are an author that would like to contribute, please feel free to contact me directly at books4thebrave@gmail.com. You can also follow and message me on Facebook or Instagram, @books4thbrave.
The cozy attic
DOSSIER: When and where do you like to write and what environment works best? Is there a view, a plain wall, or the windows of a John Deere combine with country music playing?
GUEST: To answer this, let me take you on along with me on a typical day. I usually get up and am in the car between 6:30 and 7:00 AM, driving to a local coffee shop or restaurant that I have selected as a favorite writing spot. I eat breakfast, read another author’s book, post to social media, and begin writing. I wear noise canceling headphones, so yes, I am the weird guy in the corner focused on a computer screen who looks like he could be planning something sinister, or simply looks like the geek who just can’t turn ‘it’ off. Luckily, most people around my small town know I am a writer, not an instigator 😊. Two hours or so later, I pack up, pay, leave a hefty tip that covers my meal plus extended time at my table, and head off for the local bookstore, LIT Bookbar, to sit and write some more.
Depending on the day, and my mood, I might return home and sit in the attic for most of the afternoon—I should mention that I have built a writing room up there and don’t just sit in the dark with the Christmas decorations plotting out the next gruesome scene or action-packed sequence. It’s a cozy space, and I enjoy disappearing “upstairs” to get some creative work done. In the evenings I have been known to write at a brewery or Mexican restaurant and have been dubbed “the Queso King” at my favorite local spot, La Cocina. As an added this-dude-writes-in-weird-places note, I have created good pages at 24 Hour Fitness, working out my fingers while my son lifts weights, been found at my local grocery store pounding keys for hours on end, and even been productive during halftime at a high school football game. The writing never ends. Routine is good, but sometimes I can’t help when an idea pops into my head, which is why I carry my laptop everywhere I go. I wonder where I’ll turn up next?
Staring out the window is totally normal
DOSSIER: You’ve wanted to be a writer for a long time, and you talk about being a dreamer, too. So now that your novels are starting to take off, where do you see yourself next? Does your writing take on a different form like screenplays or do you want to go into a different genre? Cozy? Historical romance? What?
GUEST: I was, and still am, that kid who stares out the window, lost in imagination. I have been blessed with opportunity over the past few years to begin building a list of titles to my name, but am always looking ahead and wondering, what’s next? Should I seek representation? Do I try my hand at Children’s Lit again? Do I continue on my same path? All good questions. Here’s what I know…I have plans to write a screenplay based on my award-winning ROWDY YA Western series in 2025, more for the practice and experience of learning the process than anything else, but time and writing may alter that trajectory. I am in the middle of a Disaster Fiction novel that is part one of a duology, and for the past few months have had a vigilante character chipping away inside my head pressing me for a new series. Since writing and publishing the Cass Callahan novels, DEAD LAND, KILL ORDER, & HUNTING EL DESPIADADO, I have really enjoyed creating thrilling, suspense-filled action stories, though my mother worries that I may have kept a dark side of myself from her all these years. Read my short story HARD TO KILL, releasing this December, for a better understanding of her concerns. I’ll just say she has a hard time walking past the butcher block in her kitchen since I read it aloud to her and my dad.
My main dream is that I can still afford the time and opportunity to push forward. Hard work, persistence, and patience have always been my blueprint. I feel that if I continue on the same path, taking reasonable risks when necessary, good things will present themselves.
Breaking News!
DOSSIER: Do you have any breaking news or special announcement you’d like to disclose in your Dossier?
GUEST: There’s a lot going on!
Chris Mullen was just named a double silver medalist in the 2024 Will Rogers Medallion Awards for his titles ROWDY~Rescue and ROWDY~Return
Chris Mullen will release…
Hard to Kill, an El Despiadado short story in the upcoming anthology, Ridin’ with the Pack: vol. 2 on December 17, 2024 (Wolfpack Publishing) Darkness Rising (Cass Callahan, book 4) is set to release on January 7, 2025 (Wolfpack Publishing). Be on the lookout for more Cass, Rowdy, and a secret project by Chris with Wolfpack Publishing in Spring 2025
Be sure to follow @chrismullenwrites and @books4thebrave across social media
Discover more about Chris on Facebook | Instagram | X | Website and Amazon Author Page