Chris Redding: Shy...sort of

Please help me welcome author Chris Redding to the blog. Her newest release, Incendiary, just released.

I have a confession to make. I’m not shy. Not really.

You only have to meet me once to know that. I can sometimes be the loudest person in the room. I’m only 5 feet 2 inches, but there are men much taller than me who are afraid of me. I will go toe to toe with anyone if I feel it is necessary.

So why am I on a blog talking about shy writers?

Because what I am shy about, is promoting myself. Oh, I can Facebook and Twitter with the best of them. It’s easy sitting in my jam jams with my laptop and telling people to buy my books. I can even promote myself at conferences. I AM Chris Redding. Charming, witty, always smiling.

But get me in my real life, with my kids or husband or at the grocery store, I may not mention I am a writer. You may work with me for years before you ever find out that I am a published author. I was at my son’s taekwondo school a few weeks ago. A friend of mine brought in some of my books for me to sign for her. She told everyone in the room that I wrote those books. She’s a great friend and a great fan. I was like a deer in the headlights. I was speechless. Anyone who knows me knows speechless doesn’t happen often. People came up to me to ask questions. They brought their kids over to meet me and told them I was a writer. I stammered, though I hope not too badly.

Part of it is that I feel as if someone may read my book and say, “Ha, you can’t write.”
I would be devastated. You could call me fat, ugly, bitchy and I wouldn’t blink. Say I can’t write, oh cuh-rap. I want to run and hide. I think my Chris Redding persona is a much stronger person than I am in real life. She’s taken more slings and arrows in the form of rejection letters than I think I could in my other life. I guess every artist has some insecurity. Mine isn’t odd, but it is in a way since I’m okay with writing and being critiqued. I just can’t imagine if I had to sell myself, face to face. But since I have two books coming out in print this year, I guess I better learn.

About Chris: Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband and two kids and various animals. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works part time for her local hospital.

Incendiary came out electronically December of 2010 and will be out in print March of 2011. A firefighter must stop a serial arsonist who is framing him for the fires. He enlists the help of his former lover. Will they track down the culprit before they both go up in flames?

You can find Chris Redding on the web here:
www.chrisreddingauthor.com
http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor
www.twitter.com/chrisredding