About

Sup? My name is Chris(tian) Saunders, I come from New Tredegar, an old mining village in rural south Wales. I know you’ve never heard of it. I write both fiction and non-fiction, to distinguish between the two forms I write fiction as C.M. Saunders. Why? Because grandad! I began writing in 1997, my early fiction appearing in several anthologies and small-press luminaries  like Roadworks, Raw Nerve and the Asphalt Jungle. My first book, Into the Dragon’s Lair – A Supernatural History of Wales was published in 2003. I worked in a factory at the time, but soon left with the help of a scholarship from the Welsh Arts Council and ran off to Southampton to study journalism at university. Then, the factory where I used to work blew up and everyone got compensation except me. How’s your luck, eh?

After graduating with a degree in journalism, I moved away from fiction for a while and worked extensively in the freelance market, contributing to numerous international publications including Fortean Times, Chat, Its Fate! Bizarre, Urban Ink, Enigma, Record Collector, Nuts, Maxim, and a regular column to the Western Mail newspaper. Then I got bored and moved to China to teach English. I still wrote the occasional article, usually about music, travel, or the paranormal, and regular reviews for several outlets including Morpheus Tales (UK), Hellnotes and Phantasmagoria. Finding myself with more time on my hands and less distractions, apart from the snakes and bugs, I inevitably returned to the dark fiction fold and had stories published in Screams of Terror, Shallow Graves, Dark Valentine, Fantastic Horror, Unbroken Waters, Gore magazine, Siren’s Call, the Literary Hatchet, Crimson Streets, and numerous anthologies. You can view a near-complete list of my published work here.

In January 2013 I came back to the UK to write for Nuts magazine and later that year my book, From the Ashes: The Real Story of Cardiff City FC, the result of ten year’s work, was published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. I was laid off from Nuts (they were closing, nothing to do with the book. At least, I don’t think it was) but landed a job on another magazine called Forever Sport at a different publishing company. A couple of years after joining FS I was headhunted by a rival publishing company and put to work on a new launch. It didn’t work out, for anyone. In fact, that launch was about as successful as the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Probably cost about the same, too. Shortly afterwards, FS also went under to complete the circle. These days I write for specialist magazine titles at a company called Archant. And no, not THAT kind of ‘specialist.’ I also do some editing, copywriting, ghost writing and media consultancy work when the opportunities arise. It isn’t easy. Whoever said being a professional writer is glamorous is full of shit. But I make it work, and it’s better than the factory.

My interview credits to date include Michael Bisping, Conor McGregor, Paul Daley, John McEnroe, Phil Taylor, Jonathan Trott, Judd Trump, George North, Chris Robshaw, Danny Cipriani, Joe Calzaghe, Carl Froch, Kevin Sinfield, Sergio Aguero, Ian Wright, Nathan Redmond, Luol Deng, Jason Statham, Paddy McGuinness, Lucy Pinder, Rosie Jones, Simple Plan, Moby, The Script, Don Broco, Busted, both Brownlee brothers and Derek Riggs, the artist who designed Iron Maiden’s Eddie. Other career highlights include sparring with Brad Pickett, Colin ‘Freakshow’ Fletcher, and Michael ‘Venom’ Page, though not all at the same time (luckily), getting ritually humiliated on court by Roger Federer, and once being in the same room as Scarlett Johansson. I know she was checking me out.

On the fiction front, February 2014 saw the start of a new, ahem, chapter, when I decided to ‘go indie’ and released X: A Collection of Horror, the first in a series of compilations gathering together some previously-published short stories and essays. A novella called Out of Time followed that September, and in February 2015 I released X2. A year later I released my first full-length novel, Sker House, which is a fictionalized tale set in a real location and incorporating some less attractive aspects of Welsh history. We all have them. The novellas No Man’s Land: Horror in the Trenches, Human Waste and Tethered followed, as did revised versions of Apartment 14F and Dead of Night. My latest release is a collection of xombie-themed fiction called Back from the Dead and my X series is now up to number five.

All I ever wanted to do was write. It’s the only thing I was ever any good at. That and ruining romantic relationships, and believe me, there’s no money in that. Like I said, it isn’t always easy but every day I thank my lucky stars that I am in a position to live the dream. So that’s what I do. Please take the time to browse the site. Feel free to comment, like, or share posts at your discretion (not copyrighted material though, which is clearly marked as such). And don’t forget to check out my Amazon Author pages:

UK

US

Yeah, they’re different. I don’t know why, either. If you’re so inclined, please give my Facebook author page a ‘like’ and sign up for notifications. Not only does it make me feel popular and all warm inside, but it guarantees you’ll be first in line to recieve news, updates and special offers. If you’re feeling especially brave, you can follow me on Twitter. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, though. The place is a battlefield.

Finally, if you have any questions about writing, publishing, marketing, life, the universe, or anything, you’d probably be better off asking someone else.

Thanks for reading, you glorious bastard.