Q & A With Author Charles Soto

Hello readers!
Today I want you all to give a warm welcome to author Charles Soto, who has graciously been interviewed for our pleasure. Please enjoy the interview, and don't forget to check out the websites included.


My review for Heartache & Sin: http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/2010/04/heartache-sin-charles-soto.html




1. Please tell readers about your current book.

Heartache & Sin is a very provocative, thought provoking and profound novel that carries an important and powerful theme, should a woman consider abortion if her pregnancy has a chance of placing her life endanger? This novel has mass appeal and touches on such other issues as religion, abuse, and the power a clergyman has over his faithful parishioners. Above all else Heartache & Sin is a powerful love story between a husband and wife, living in an area where people are still strongly linked to the land, family and church. It’s a story told through lots of dialect, where the clipped language of the characters speaks as much to their culture, as it does to their education and personalities. It will carry heavily, debatable discussions in book groups and family forums and will leave a part of it with you after reading. Heartache & Sin will bring out every emotion that even the most harden hearts can feel, on a rollercoaster of plot twists, where passion overrides opinion and opinion evokes passion and is online to read FREE @ http://www.freado.com/read/4486/heartache-sin
A couple finds themselves at the painful crossroad, debating to abort or deliver their child of miracles. Steven and Karen Wheaton are faithful churchgoers with a pointed sense of right and wrong. When Karen, who is severely diabetic, learns she is pregnant and later becomes deathly ill, Steven wants to go against her wishes and terminate her pregnancy in order to save his beloved’s life. A charismatic and manipulative clergyman soon uses Karen as a mortar to pursue his own anti-abortion agenda. As Steven sees questions of morality rise, he soon finds himself in a struggle to not only save Karen from the Preacher’s grip, but to save their marriage and her life as well. The final scenes of this novel are explosive and will keep readers on the edge of their seats and the ending will leave them shell-shocked.

2. Who or what inspires your writing?

No particular person inspires my writing. It’s my love for the written word that compels me to write a story. The feeling I get when a finish a manuscript is incomparable to any accomplishment I’ve ever achieved. My love and passion for life gives me my mind set to explore many topics and issues. But in the end, the theme of love is what always inspires me. And every day in this life I get to spend with my wife, Patty, only reminds me of this, how blessed I truly am to have her by my side.

3. When did you know you would be a writer?

I didn’t know I would be a writer, but it was at an early age I knew I loved the power of words. As
a young teen I was greatly impressed and influenced by drummer & lyricist, Neil Peart. The way he used words and the imagination they instilled opened up an entire new era and domain for me. Nothing was unreachable with the power of words and, when used correctly, can unleash every emotion within the human spirit. Soon I started writing poems, then lyrics and by the age of 20 I wrote my first manuscript. It has been a tough and very frustrating road, and now, here, two decades later I have my debut novel released.

4. How long did it take you to write your first novel?

I can’t remember how long it took me to write my first novel, but I do know how long it took me to write Heartache & Sin. I’ll be openly honest here, after years of failing to get published; the rejections were just too unbearable for me anymore. I don’t know if any of your readers realize what an author actually goes through, not only to write a novel, but to get it published as well, but at times it can be a tremendous feeling of doubt that leaves a hole in your heart you feel you may never be able to fill. I had and have other loves and passions in my life. To me, my greatest value, my most significant importance in my life is my family, to me, my true wealth indeed. My most cherished time on this earth is spending it with them and my friends. So I put my writing aside for a few years and concentrated solely on them. It was after a horrific accident at work when I fell 30 feet to a concrete slab did I decide to pursue my dreams of becoming an author again. What not only amazed me more than actually surviving a fall like that, was the fact that I recovered to nearly the status I was in before my accident. It was like I found a new inner piece, like God did have a plan for me, and I’ve been writing and doing my artwork ever since. It was during my recovery I wrote Heartache & Sin. It took me six months to complete, including the rewrite. I worked and perfected my manuscript for 10 to sometimes 14 hours every single day. And after about a month break, I wrote my second, soon to be released novel, Pride and a Prayer which only took me three months, including the rewrite, under all the same conditions.

5. What is the hardest part of writing for you?

I never know how or when I get an idea for a story; an idea just hits me, almost exploding inside my thoughts. I may sit on it for awhile, write a paragraph or two, but in the end I have to feel passionate and compelling enough to write the story. To me, the hardest thing for me to begin my writing is to actually sit down in front of my laptop and begin.

6. Do you have any writing rituals?

Writing is a very lonely world. I have to be completely alone and in an aspect, be in a dreamscape it seems. I envision a story playing to me like a movie. The characters and their voices, their looks and demeanor all come to life before my very eyes. I use what I call a word sheet. When I’m reading other novels and see a word I like, I add it to my many other word sources I keep in my own file along with their definitions. It helps to expand my vocabulary and subconsciously expands my memory. I can’t tell you how many times I’m looking for just the right word to use, when suddenly I just write down a word, not knowing its definition at all. But, when I look it up, It fits perfectly, like I used a thesaurus, though I hardly ever do. Sometimes after reading a novel, I might have two full pages of words and their definitions I like.

7. Have you written any thing else?

Lots of manuscripts that will never see a press, they just weren’t good enough. However, my next soon to be released novel, Pride and a Prayer is truly a must read. It holds such issues as abortion laws, Plan B contraceptive, racism, and keeping faith in yourself and God even when the worst seems apparent. A suspense/Drama, in a love story theme with an ending you won’t soon forget. I just hate it when I put all my time and emotion into reading a book and the ending leaves you with no resolve or closure. Well not Pride and a Prayer, I put as much thought and passion into the ending as I did the entire novel. It’s a caring and wonderful ending that will bring elated tears to your eyes, it did mine and I wrote it.

8. Any advice to aspiring writers?

Never give up, believe in yourself. Always work on perfecting your craft and write the best story you can possibly write. Don’t take criticism to heart, but use it as a tool to help guide you. Research everything you do, invest in yourself, and get the critique and editing that you need before you ever seek out a publisher or agent.

9. Who is your favorite Author?

I’m a hopeless romantic at heart. There are many times when I have a surprise for my wife or when she comes home I have rose peddles lining her path inside, waiting for her a romantic dinner. I just can’t help it. I love being in love, it’s a wonderful, uplifting feeling. I think our most wonderful times is when we’re riding our Harleys together, spending the day with each other just hitting the open road. So, picking my favorite author is easy, I absolutely love Carly Phillips; she seems to inspire that feeling of being in love. And I believe the way she writes; she’s a hopeless romantic too.

10. What is your favorite book?

I have been greatly influenced by my wife’s native heritage; she’s an Ojibwe native who carries a pride, respect for nature and all living creatures that reflects in her daily life. In fact, we live on an Indian reservation in Minnesota and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Keeping that in mind, there’s always one book that always stays with me and that’s Dances With Wolves.

11. What are you currently reading?

Right now I’m reading Faces of the Gone, by debut author, Brad Parks. I love John Grisham novels and I find Brad Parks just as intriguing.

12. How do readers find out more about you?

I’m going to get personal here, openly honest, and other than the obvious of reading about me on my author website @ http://www.AuthorCharlesSoto.com I’m going to share with your readers about whom I am as a person.
I’m a proud Mexican American, proud of my heritage, who I am and how I got here. I was born in Las Vegas NV. My parents divorced when I was 5 yrs. old and we soon moved to the Bay Area in northern California. I had a fantastic life there, a caring and wonderful step father who treated me like I was his own birth son. It was when I was a freshman in high school did I discover my love for the arts. I was greatly influenced by my mentor, Bernard Seagul and fell in love with the art of ceramics from the moment my fingers touched the clay. I’ve had some great success as a ceramicist/sculptor through the years. I create works in fantasy, renaissance, modern, realistic and Native American art. My work is posted on different sites and can be viewed @ http://www.socurio.com/myloft/charlesmsoto/ or at my artist website @ http://www.charzarts.com
After graduating high school I moved back to Las Vegas. My father was a painting and decorating contractor and got me into the trades. I excelled in my love for the decorating field and just like everything else that I carry a passion for, there was no end to the imagination and creativity that such an area as Las Vegas instills. I have supervised such projects as the painting and decorating of the MGM Grand, Caesar’s Palace Luxury Suites, Pantageous Theatre in down town Minneapolis MN., and the East Grand Forks City Hall in MN.
It was in Las Vegas when I met my beautiful and wonderful wife, Patty. It was absolutely love at first site for the both of us. I just never met anyone like her. So open, caring and honest with a heart of gold, yet strong minded and will to speak out. I’m proud to say we just celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary and I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. After the birth of our youngest daughter we decided to move to her home town in MN. After visiting there on vacation, and how her family took me in as their own, I absolutely fell in love with the people and the area. We didn’t want our daughters growing up in such a fast paced life like Las Vegas, and felt this would be a much better area to raise our family.
It was in November in 2004 when I suffered a horrific accident, like I said before, I fell 30 feet. It’s still hard for me to believe I survived it. I broke my left tibia and needed three surgeries to correct that injury from my fall. The worst was my Post concussion Syndrome, Vestibular Syndrome was the diagnosis. Every thing made me dizzy. My world would literary spin, causing me to fall, get nauseous and severe migraines. It was a long hard road to recover and took me years of Vestibular Therapy to retrain my body and brain to get through it. I still have the symptoms and have to keep up on my therapy at home, but it was during this time I decided to pursue my writing once again. It was like it took me over, and I truly believe this was God’s plan for me. I’ve been doing my artwork and writing ever since and there is no turning back for me now.
I hope this tells you and your readers a little bit about myself and I can’t thank you enough Freda for allowing me to share this. I am always open to meeting new people, discussions and for those of you who like you can always find me on Facebook and on twitter  http://twitter.com/charlessoto

Peace be with you all, Charles Soto




Thank you to Charles for this great post! All the best in the future!