The Page Where I Talk About Myself

Hi there. I am CS Mitchell and I really love telling stories. Everything has a story. From Henry VIII, to the guy who made his least favorite pair of shoes, to the poor wall Henry probably threw those shoes at … all of them have a tale to tell. My skill is finding those tales and weaving them into a text full of humor and humanity. I write narrative nonfiction and historical fiction, with a bit of an obsession for adventure and exploration.

I was that kid — the kid who never grew out of the “why” phase. My parents vowed before I was born to answer every question asked by their future child, without invoking the “because” cheat. The fates intervened to test the strength of that vow, and in the age before Google, they had a kid who asked “why” every other sentence. Simple questions like “why is the sky blue?” cascaded into a series of “whys” so deep that only a physicist could answer. So instead of “because”, they found a physicist. My parents kept their vow, and I grew into a persistently questioning adult.

My writing is my questioning. For me, storytelling comes from the answers — big and small. Why did Henry VIII hate the shoes? Did they remind him of his rather dysfunctional childhood or his second wife or did they irritate his injuries? The quest for answers practically writes a book all by itself. I take all my research, filter it through a sense of humor born from endless reruns of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Blackadder, and voilà! A book!

Most of my life has been shaped by my curiosity. I once asked “how do you make a drawer” and now I am the proud owner of an entire wood shop. “How did they get those skirts so big” led to working as a theatrical seamstress. My wonderful family could complain about all the craft areas in our home, but they all collect hobbies with an almost equal ferocity. Our household of 4 shares space with one toddler, three dogs, woodworking, sewing, knitting, felting, weaving, a jeweler’s workshop, painting, drawing, sculpting, lamp making, metalwork, gardening, and over sixty houseplants. By the time I publish this, there will probably be a few more hobbies to add.

Thank you so very much for reading this far. My agent was insistent that my first draft for this page was too short. I tried to convince him that “Hi. Im CS Mitchell and I write books.” was a minimalist masterpiece, but I fully respected his argument that I write books for a living, not name tags. If you are a fan or supporter, please feel free to reach out on social media or through the contact page. I am open to collaboration with anyone with awesome ideas and solid research. If that’s you, please drop a note with the subject “collaboration” or “collab” even. Should you perchance belong to the venerable and most illustrious profession of publishing … hello, my liege and welcome! I would be honored if you would reach out to me in whatever manner is most convenient for your magnificence!

Thank you all,
CS Mitchell