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Robert Chansky

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Genre

Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult

Member Since

February 2012

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Mr. Chansky was born in the US, attended college at UC Santa Cruz and Edinburgh University, and now makes his home beneath the shadow of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs, CO. As his day job he works at modeling and simulation for the Naval War College. He can often be found writing in one of many fine cafes in the Springs.

He and his wife adopted their daughter from China, and from that emotional center comes this work.
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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Robert Chansky Writer's block nearly always (at least with me) means that I want two or more things that are incompatible. I come up with this great idea for a scene…moreWriter's block nearly always (at least with me) means that I want two or more things that are incompatible. I come up with this great idea for a scene--Don Quixote the robot wrestles an animal for entrance into the animal's tribe, gaining permission for him and Sam to live on the planet with the animals--and oh, I'm going to have it be narrated just like a wrestling match, with fourth-wall breaking and on and on! and I'm so enthused I'm writing it out already, in violation of first-draft rules. (Don't polish anything in your first draft until you've gotten to the end, because you may have to delete that scene).

So then I realize that I can't have Quixote wrestle the animal. it doesn't fit. I try to make it fit. I get despondent and petulant. I want that scene. That's the best scene I ever wrote. Why can't I have that scene? I go over the draft and see what I can change to make the scene fit. It doesn't. Petulance for me is like a force of nature, I have to let it run its course. Eventually I back up the draft, start at that point, and the writing keeps going. I'm sad to lose that scene, but there it is. That's what they mean by 'killing your darlings,' folks.

You know how people talk to themselves and it's supposedly okay? I mean, I think it is. I write to myself when I'm in this jam. I produce pages of notes, my thoughts slowing down to typing pace so that once thought, they are really thought, and I can move on. None of this shifting and circling like the wind as my thoughts normally do when I'm not writing them down.

So, when this goes on, I'm stuck in that the book isn't advancing, but I'm also not stuck, in that I'm writing notes. I'm never not writing.

I'd advise an aspiring writer to do a ton of writing this way. If you made notes and no book, let that be okay. That's still moving forward. When you've gone the wrong way, backtracking *is* progress. (less)

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What are you currently working on?

Robert Chansky The sequel, of course, to Hundred Ghost Soup. In Thousand Dream Thief, Meiren now works for the Bureau for Eternal Prosperity. But someone is stealing…moreThe sequel, of course, to Hundred Ghost Soup. In Thousand Dream Thief, Meiren now works for the Bureau for Eternal Prosperity. But someone is stealing the dreams of the Politburo, and it's up to him to find out who, and what the Dream Thief wants.

Also I'm working on a new novel, SF this time, called The Manchegan Candidate. Young Sam is shipwrecked on an empty planet with a few lifeboats containing injured passengers and crew. His only companion is a robot programmed to think he is Don Quixote. To Sam the robot seems programmed to drive Sam up the wall. The lifeboats' batteries are running out, the local animals are dangerous in ways Sam hasn't imagined, and the aliens that destroyed the ship are hunting them. And to make it worse, rescue may not be rescue at all, but doom. Going crazy seems like the only option available.(less)

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Robert Chansky’s books

Average rating: 4.06 · 62 ratings · 26 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Hundred Ghost Soup 4.05 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dead Worlds: Undead Stories by Anthony Giangregorio (Editor), Brendan P. Myers (Goodreads Author), Karen L. Newman (Goodreads Author) 3.93 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2009 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Edward Bryant's Sphere of Influence by Charles Eugene Anderson (Editor), Jim LeMay (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Mario Acevedo (Contributor) 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hundred Ghost Soup: Book 1 of the Bureau for Eternal Prosperity series 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Published on December 01, 2016 08:26

Series by Robert Chansky

Bureau for Eternal Prosperity (1 book)
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Robert Chansky (Goodreads Author)

4.05 avg rating — 44 ratings

Robert is Currently Reading

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Tremendous Trifles

by G.K. Chesterton

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Nov 06, 2018 07:22PM

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Wandering Spirits: Chen Shiyuan’s Encyclopedia of Dreams

by Richard E. Strassberg

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Jul 14, 2016 09:51AM

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The Adventures of Snow Fox & Sword Girl (Hoshimaruhon)

by Wena Poon (Goodreads Author)

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Mar 10, 2016 10:16AM

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Robert and 1 other person liked Featherfire's review of Hundred Ghost Soup: "I really don't know how to feel about this book. Did I like it? Not really. Did I dislike it? Not really. It wasn't bad, but there wasn't anything that really made it stand out, really made it pop in my mind. It just kind of floated along like dandel" Read more of this review »
Mar 10, 2026 11:10AM · see review
Robert liked Ron's review of Hundred Ghost Soup: "This is the tale of a Chinese orphan, the younger of twins, searching for a family and most importantly, a name. After some computer hacking, he receives an invite for an adoption which he accepts, not knowing that fox spirits have plans for him. Dur" Read more of this review »
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