Chris Bostic is the author of exciting adventure thrillers. From his home in suburban St. Louis, he turns family vacations and Boy Scout trips into gripping survival novels. The Northwoods Trilogy was his first series, with the setting chosen thanks to a BSA High Adventure trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Then came his SciFi series The Savage Horde, as well as a trio of standalone novels. He’s now rolled out a new series set in the Smoky Mountains.
Chris continues to build on his brand of epic adventure books. This year featured a three book set – The Bushwhackers Series – set in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The books are: Prepper Mountain, Shadow Warriors, and Jailbreak.
Then came another three book set, The Bourbon Country Series, to close out the year. Whiskey Thief, Kentucky Hug, and Barrel Strength mark a departure from teen fiction into a mature audience blend of psychological thriller and romantic suspense.
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Whiskey Thief (The Bourbon Country Series Book 1) by Chris Bostic ~ Genre: Psychological Thriller, Romantic Suspense
When their Kentucky bourbon tour takes a turn for the worse, two engaged couples join up with strangers to seek shelter in the ruins of an old distillery. Grace encounters more than abandoned spirits on the decaying property, bringing her semi-comfortable world crashing down.
Tensions pull at the group, splintering the couples into teams. Only it’s hard for Grace to know what side to be on when bonds are tested, and opposites no longer attract. Questions abound. Who really are the strangers they paired up with? Should she break convenient bonds for a risky one? Then again, does it even matter if they don’t make it out alive?
Please be advised – The Bourbon Country Series features fast-paced adult psychological thrillers where sexual assault, PTSD, self-blame, and functional alcoholism combine to form a potent blend. Recommended for mature audiences, ages 18+
Kentucky Hug (The Bourbon Country Series Book 2)
It’s been six long months since Grace’s world turned upside down. She unexpectedly finds herself back in bourbon country with Vince, dredging up memories barely concealed. Anxiety builds when a mysterious stranger shadows them, but it’s her own indecisiveness that first leads to misadventure.
Just like a flight of unfamiliar bourbons, Grace can only wonder if each of her trials will unleash a rot gut burn or a warm Kentucky Hug. More likely a mixture of both.
Please be advised – The Bourbon Country Series features fast-paced adult psychological thrillers where sexual assault, PTSD, self-blame, and functional alcoholism combine to form a potent blend. Recommended for mature audiences, ages 18+
Barrel Strength (The Bourbon Country Series Book 3)
After another nine solid months, things couldn’t be going much better for Grace. Life has settled into a comfortable routine. So, of course, she’s headed back to bourbon country with Vince. Maybe not the destination wedding she’d been dreaming about more recently, but the venue couldn’t be any more perfect. Or so they thought.
Wedding day should be a joyous occasion for the couple, but nothing is ever easy for them—especially when a manhunt locks down the venue and spirits flow from sleeping barrels.
Please be advised – The Bourbon Country Series features fast-paced adult psychological thrillers where sexual assault, PTSD, self-blame, and functional alcoholism combine to form a potent blend. Recommended for mature audiences, ages 18+
How long have you been writing?
Over 8 years now. I am up to 18 published books, all self-published. Five of those books were originally Indie published, but I have the rights back to all of them now.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
I generally try to flesh out every character all the way down to names and characteristics before I am through the first chapter. Sometimes they change a little bit as the story progresses, but I like to have an idea of quirks, flaws, appearance, etc… ready to go on page one.
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
Most all of my books are based on places I have been—often as family vacations. I’m the planning type of vacationer, so I spend hours on the ‘things to do’ part of a vacation. That all comes in handy when it’s time to write.
Do you see writing as a career?
Not for me. I wish, but not yet. After 18 books it feels a whole lot less like a hobby, but it’s just not to where I can support a family. Maybe a retirement job. I can definitely see that.
Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?
I used to read a whole lot more, but after I started writing I found myself not wanting to spend the time reading when I could be working on my own books. I’ve always been a fan of military history, dystopian societies, and the occasional SciFi. But less SciFi these days. That was more of a childhood thing.
Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
I tend to like background noise. My music choice varies with the scenes I write too, with harder rock music when I get into some conflict scenes. It’s funny, but sometimes I find song lyrics blended into my rough drafts. It’s some kind of weird subliminal thing I do.
Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I have never worked on more than one book at a time. I don’t know how well I could do two. I get in the writing zone and obsessed with completion, so I don’t know that I could focus on one book if I was trying to wrap up another. About the only thing I will do is write down is ideas for other books while I’m working on a different one.
Pen or type writer or computer?
Definitely computer. Sometimes I will put some notes on my phone if an idea strikes me while I am out, but I do 100% of my writing in Microsoft Word on my laptop. I don’t even pencil down notes if I can avoid it.
A day in the life of the author?
I only write about half the months out of a year, or less. I won’t start a new book unless I know I have at least a couple weeks of free time to where I can write from start to finish on a draft. When writing, weekend days look a lot like: wake up early, write until breakfast, work in a few hours of writing time in the am and pm around chores and family fun time, then several hours later in the evening. Weekdays meaning writing for an hour on lunch break, and then a few more hours that evening after supper.
Describe your writing style.
Pretty linear. I’m not big on jumping from one scene to somewhere totally different. I like to take a small group of characters and develop them through the challenges they encounter. Typically it’s a normal day that turns into a real adventure. Most of my books span the events of a single day, maybe two.
What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
I like to start writing with a general idea where I’d like to end up. I’ve tried to outline stories, but it hasn’t always worked out the best for me. Once I had three pages of what I thought were great notes. I was so sure it had the makings of a great story, but by the time I started writing I was through all the notes by about page 35. Needless to say, the story took off and evolved from there. Now I outline a few chapters ahead, writing down ideas and scenes for what could happen, then filling in the details.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
I’ve been told that I’m actually rather good at it. I don’t know how exactly, but several of my recent books have a female lead, and I’ve not once had a negative reaction. In fact, several reviewers have commented that they would never know it was written by a man. Not sure what that says about me….
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
About two months or less of actual writing/editing time. I try not to start anything until I can devote enough time to finish the draft. So I tend to rough it the whole story in 10-20 days (generally 2 weekends and the nights in between). Then I take a little time off. Editing is another full week, or more if it needs extra work. Then another week of editing and proofreading after that.
Nina Soden 