Guest Post: Christian Freed - A Writing Journey

I’ve been writing since I was a little kid. Goofy comic books to more elaborate ones. I won the student of the month award in 11th grade for writing a horror novel. (I’m still trying to figure out where my mother hid it so I can burn the horrid thing.) A 20 year career in the army kept me writing in those precious few spare moments but I never stopped. By 2010 I had more than 12 full length- I mean really full, like 170k words long- manuscripts. It wasn’t until 2011 that life smiled and I was starting to get published. Sales are slow, but what can you expect from a guy who doesn’t have a name yet?
 
I thought I’d be a horror writer but that bug died early. I have always hovered around traditional fantasy, but go light on the elves and such. There are better things to write about than pointy eared androgynous figures who live forever. The recent trend with vampires and silly teenage girls who fall in love with them certainly put a dent in my plans to conquer the literary world but the war continues. If I am to get to Valhalla by the end of this journey I need to keep fighting.
 
I've been able to use my military and combat experience to make my battle sequences more realistic. Nothing bugs me more than watching a movie or reading a book where the author/director clearly has no idea about tactics. The Lord of the Rings were great movies, but horrible from a professional soldier's perspective- especially on keeping soldiers alive. So I decided to change that and make things more realistic. That means that (gasp) sometimes the good guys die too. I'm not sure if my formula is perfect or not, but the audience seems to approve.
 
Right now I have four novels in print, four in the editing/ review process, four more under consideration for publication, participated in several anthologies, won an award from the L Ron Hubbard writers of the future contest and have a ton more work to get done before I can rest. My publisher and I are expecting to have nine novels for sale by the end of the year. So if you’re interested in a strange, full steam ride sit back, pick up a copy and buckle up. This train doesn’t stop.

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About Christian Freed

My name is Sergeant First Class (Retired) Christian W. Freed. I have been writing for a very long time. Years of toil are paying off. I currently have five books in paperback in May 2013(Armies of the Silver Mage and the first four books of my Northern Crusade series: Hammers in the Wind, Tides of Blood and Steel, Empire of Bones, and A Whisper After Midnight) and have written another ten full length sci-fi/ fantasy novels since finishing this. Most of my work centers on the epic quest in a twisted science fiction and fantasy world. I have also written my combat memoirs and a children’s book.

I spent 20 in the United States Army. I am a trained Field Artilleryman with almost 5 years of overseas experience. I spent two years in Korea along the DMZ and then deployed to Afghanistan in 02, Iraq in 03 for the invasion, and Iraq again in 05. I was deployed in combat for parts of 02-06. My last position was as an instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.

I am married with two children (son and daughter) and have a thirteen year old daughter from my first marriage. My wife and I have recently learned to love our newest editions, our two Bernese Mountain Dogs.

I have used my experiences to enhance the battle scenes and combat action in my stories. The overall goal is to make them as lifelike as possible, but still in a fantasy setting. A fan critiqued me by saying that he enjoyed how I was able to take modern military tactics and place them in a traditional fantasy setting. 

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