Christopher Coates

Please, introduce yourself. Tell us about your personal life, family, education.

My name is Christopher Coates. I was born in 1967 and grew up in Cape Cod Massachusetts. I had a small family with just my parents and a brother. Both my parents were only children, so we had no extended family. My father wrote advertising for a bank in Boston and spent his off-time working on a novel that was, unfortunately, never published. He was my inspiration for writing my first book. Unfortunately, he died before it was completed.

After graduating from high school, I got on the local Fire Department as a part-time firefighter in my home town of Bourne. They proceeded to send me to EMT school which I loved. While attending a local community college I got a job with a private ambulance service and decided to make EMS my career. In 1988, I moved to Grand Rapids Michigan to attend the paramedic program at Davenport University. While in college, I met the woman who three years later would become my wife.

Upon graduation from college, I decided to remain in Michigan and began working as a Paramedic in the city of Grand Rapids. After 10 years of full-time EMS, it was time for a change and I began working in Information Systems for a major West Michigan company where I have been for over 20 years. At that time, we moved to the small rural community of Kent City and I continued to do part-time Fire and EMS in our new town. I continued with that for 20 years before I had to give it up due to back problems in 2016.

In 1995 our Daughter was born and 5 years later our son. They kept us quite busy, both being very active in school athletics and marching band. Our daughter is a graduate of Cedarville University in Ohio and lives in Dayton. Our son is a student at Michigan State University.

Since getting married, my wife and I have always had 1-2 dogs at a time. They are great members of the family and bring much enjoyment.

If you are active in career fields other than writing, what do you hope for the future of that business? Describe your work or business activities in which you are presently active.

I work in Information Systems dealing with server hardware, operating systems, and virtualization. It is an ever-growing field that I hope to remain in until I retire. Because of the nature of my work, I can work from home most days and that is a great benefit I would never have had as a Paramedic.

Do you have hobbies? How did you get started in them?

My main hobby is writing. Since the kids are out of the house, I can devote more time to writing and enjoy spending my time developing stories. Interestingly, I never did any writing until my late thirties and the first thing I wrote was a full-length novel that is published. I also spend time researching genealogy. I find the connections to the past very interesting.

About the Writer

If you are a writer, are you an avid reader?

I have always enjoyed reading and try to always have a book that I am working through, but I do not consider myself an avid reader. One interesting thing is that I write action/ adventure / Sci-fi but seldom read Sci-fi.

What is your ultimate writing goal as you see it today?

My goal is to continue to improve myself as a writer so that when I retire from my full-time job in twelve years, I will be in a position to supplement my income with my books.

What inspired you to write your first book?

While I did not start writing until I was almost 40 years old, I have always had story ideas in my head, and finally one of them needed to come out. Those ideas ended up being my first novel, The Ark.

How do you decide on the title of a book?

Most of my books start with a silly temporary name like Project X. As the story develops something occurs that ends up being a good final title name. I am over 40K words into my current project and am debating a name change.

Have you developed a specific writing style and why?

Almost all my planning is done in my head with a few ideas saved in a document. When ready, I just start writing and let the story develop on its own. The fun of writing is seeing the story grow and change into something unexpected as I write it. I often start a day of writing with only a vague idea of where I want to go, and when done, have something I never expected. That is the fun of writing for me. If I had to draft an outline and plan it out ahead of time, I would not write. There would be no enjoyment.

In each of my books, each of my current and past dog’s names is used for a character. I currently have three published novels and am working on my fourth. I hope to complete it by the end of 2021.

The Inspiration

Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

I do not follow specific authors very often, but one that I do follow is Lee Child. I thoroughly enjoy his writing style and characters. I envision it would be fun to sit down for lunch with him and discuss our writing journeys.

Do you remember the first book you read?

When I was in first or second grade, I read the Tale of Peter Rabbit. I remember underlining in the book with a pen so I would know where I left off.

When you see new authors struggling, what single piece of advice could you give them on a moment’s notice?

Don’t start writing in hopes of making money. Write because you enjoy it. If you make a little, that’s great, but don’t let it be the reason you start or stop writing.

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