Story time

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Noblesville author makes entry into fiction writing

By Mark Ambrogi

Chris Clouser’s love of writing has led him to be a published author.

However, his latest book is quite different. The Noblesville resident’s first three books are non-fiction while this is one is in the adventure genre.

“The original reason I wanted to do something along these lines is I wanted to publish a book my son might like or my daughter might like as opposed to non-fiction, which they don’t really read,” said Clouser, a finance director for Anthem.

“My son, in particular, likes the genre, it’s an action adventure type novel.”

The book “Rojo” is set in a fantasy world in a Roman-type city with a military presence. The book, which was self-published in May, is the first of what Clouser plans as a three- to four-book series, called “The Protectors of Austeria.” He says isn’t sure about the length of the last book and whether he needs to make it into two.

“It’s taking a well-known type setting and constructing the story around that,” he said.

Clouser said it has taken about two years to produce the series, and he still needs to do edits, but the writing is basically completed.

His son, Jason, who will be a Noblesville High School junior in the fall, did a project on the book for his English class.

Clouser started writing about 15 years with his first book coming out in 2004. His previous books were “The Midwest Associate: The Life and Work of Perry Duke Maxwell,” which is about a golf course architect. He followed with “A Month of Saturdays: A Guide to Indiana’s Public Golf Courses,” and “Trophies and Traditions: The History of the Big Ten Conference.”

Golf was once a passion for Clouser, who played on his Frankton High School golf team.

“I had an injury a couple of years ago, and I just haven’t been back out,” Clouser said. “I got tied up with life with two kids and a wife.”

And any free time has gone to writing, where he spends about five to 10 hours a week.

Clouser said writing the fiction series has been enjoyable because it has been a change of pace for him.

“Non-fiction is a little easier because it’s all facts and figures,” he said. “It’s just establishing a story. With this you have to come up with the ideas and embellish on those and develop a storyline without, hopefully, any holes in it. The original intent was to build a big enough story to span over several books.”

Clouser said while his books have been profitable, he’s not been writing for a huge financial gain.

“If I haven’t felt like I could put some sort of passion into it, I just couldn’t do it,” Clouser said. “I’ve tried to do other books, and I get past the early stages, and they don’t pan out because I don’t have an attachment to it somehow. The books I’ve done, it seems like I have something personal in there.”

Book signing

Clouser will have a book signing at The Wild Bookstore, 884 Logan St., Noblesville, on July 3from 5 to 9 p.m. The book also can be purchased at The Wild, Amazon.com or by emailing [email protected].

Get to know Chris Clouser

Personal: Turns 45 on Dec. 14. Grew up in Elwood, Ind. He and his wife, Danielle, have two children Emily, a 2015 Noblesville High School graduate, and Jason, who will be Noblesville junior in the fall.

Hobbies: “Writing, if I’m not spending time with my wife or family, that’s probably what I’m doing.”

Education: Frankton High School graduate. Graduated from Ball State in 1993 with degree in accounting.

Favorite vacations: “We’ve gone to a lot of different places the last few years for spring break. We went to the beach in Florida this spring. We’ve gone to New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., a lot of places on the East Coast. We’ve done the historical things and the tourist trap stuff.”

Favorite author: “A couple things that really influenced this book in particular is (J.R.R.) Tolkien and the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter series.”

Favorite Noblesville restaurant: Rio Grande Fresh Mexican Grill.

Favorite Italian restaurants: Iaria’s and Bravo (in Indianapolis).

Favorite sports: College basketball (Indiana University fan) and major league baseball.


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