Biography:

"I know I probably shouldn't be bragging about this, " Christian says with a sheepish look. "But my resume is twelve pages long."

Not unusual for a guy who can only keep still while working on his numerous novels, or a short story, or planning something that requires his full attention. And what requires all that attention?

"There are so many stories in my head clamoring to get out that at times I feel as if I need more than one of me to keep up. There's a reason I have the largest head in the world, I think. Besides that, boredom is anathema to me. There's nothing worse than to not have anything to do. I never understood people who claim, 'I'm bored!' Really? I want to yell at them. Then get off your ass and DO something!"

Thank goodness Christian drives only himself that hard and doesn't expect those around him to try and maintain his breakneck pace. Well, most times. He does have a tendency to get frustrated if people can't keep up with his lightning-quick though process.

"My sister said to me the other day, 'You're the smartest person I know.' I disagree with her. I'm more clever than book smart, and make connections between things that others don't seem to see. That doesn't make me smart, just, um, weird."

Is it any wonder he identifies most with cartoon characters?

He laughs at that. "Yeah, it's funny. I used to have the biggest crush on Kimba the White Lion (for those of you who remember that show), and then when Jonny Quest came along, I thought I was related to him. This fantasy lasted for a long time...at least until Jessica Rabbit was created, then it was a full-fledged obsession. Now I most identify with Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes...even as an adult. Freakazoid is another favorite of mine, as are Pinky and the Brain, and the Animaniacs."

So, does he write comedy?

"Nope. Not at all. In fact, my friends who are subjected to reading my stuff are amazed at how completely and utterly DARK my writing is. It's not that I see the worst in human nature, but have experienced a lot of what people do to each other, purposely or not. A few of the more squeamish members of my critique group have actually said that I scare them because of how edgy and intense my work is. I don't blame them. Isn't that the idea behind the idea Tears of a Clown? My sense of humor in life masks a well of darkness that comes out when I sit down to write."

Christian's early life was not optimal. Coming from a broken home, that factor, more than anything else in his life, shaped his outlook on the world.

"I ran away from home many times before the age of fourteen. The early attempts were practice runs for the actual event that took place in late May of my fourteenth year. I had no real idea how to survive in the world, nor any plans on where I was headed. I just knew that I couldn't stay with my family any longer if I wanted to survive. So I fled."

Even then, he barely made it. A killer tornado in Grand Island, Nebraska, which took the lives of 150 people, spared him. Hitching rides cross-country is dangerous for an innocent, gullible kid like he was.

"There were some people who tried to get away with stuff with me. I learned quickly."

He landed in Boulder, Colorado, on the eve of his fifteenth birthday, tired, exhausted, and homeless. Though he had an aunt who lived there, he chose not to stay with her, feeling that he'd be caught or arrested for being a runaway. So he lived on the streets for the first few years, learning survival skills that have carried him into adulthood.

"Though much of the stuff I learned living on the streets is no longer usable by me now, it was an eye-opening period of my life that really shaped who I am. I found out that I could rely on my own intellect and cunning to get by. It has taken a lot of work to rid myself of those unnecessary ways of living, and I work at it every day. But isn't that the joy of becoming an adult?"

Currently at work on a couple novels and screenplays, he considers himself lucky.

"To have the ability and skill to give voice to my stories has been a saving grace. Without that outlet, my head would explode."

We hope that doesn't happen. Really.

Publishing

The Bark Magazine--Essays

"Paranoia"--Joseph Finder (Review)

New Yorker Magazine-- "Crazy" Poem

"Pull The Trigger"--Essay Anthology

Highlights For Children/magazine--Children's Fiction

On The Edge/Magazine--Articles/Essays

Babel Magazine--Essays

"Time And Tide"--Poetry chapbook

Boulder Weekly Magazine--articles

Boulder Daily Camera--Articles

Amazon.com--Reviews

Barnes and Noble.com--Reviews

Grants/Fellowships/Awards

2004--1st Place/Creative Non-Fiction Pikes Peak Writers for Digging Holes In A Lake--A Sort-of Memoir"

2004--Grant/Boulder Arts Commission "Digging Holes In A Lake--A Sort-of Memoir"

2003--Nominated for "Ploughshares: Emerging Writers" issue by author Catherine Ryan Hyde ("Pay It Forward", "Electric God", "Walter's Purple Heart") for short story, "Cold"

2003--Arts In Education Grant from Boulder Arts Commission for The Writers' Salon

2003--Finalist Colorado Gold Conference/General Fiction: "Canary In A Coalmine"

2002--Awarded the Cami Butler Memorial Scholarship for Writing

Screenplays

The Locksmith--Original Screenplay (collaboration with award-winning screenwriter Karen Albright Lin)

Red Ball--Screenplay Contributing Writer

The Twitch of an Eye--Original Screenplay/Romantic Comedy (collaboration with award-winning screenwriter Karen Albright Lin)

The Space Between Breaths--Original Screenplay/Supernatural Thriller (collaboration with award-winning screenwriter Karen Albright Lin)

The Universe At Night--Original Screenplay/Sci-fi Thriller

Novel-Length Fiction/Non-Fiction

Perpendicular--Fiction/Novel

Canary In A Coalmine--Fiction/Novel

Listen For The Color Of The Sky--Historical Fiction/Novel

Someday Never Comes--Fiction/Novel

Digging Holes In A Lake: A Sort-Of Memoir--Novel/Non-Fiction

Eternity, Tennessee (Book One)--Fiction/Novel Series

Stumbling Toward Eternity (Book Two)--Fiction/Novel Series

Throwing Rocks At God (Book Three)--Fiction/Novel Series

Dream of Eternity (Book Four)--Fiction/Novel Series

Forever and Ever, Amen (Book Five)--Fiction/Novel Series

Short Fiction/Novellas

The Present--Short Fiction

Concrete Broke Your Fall--Short Fiction

Vengeance--Short Fiction

Heaven For Sale--Novella

Mailbox Assassin--Short Fiction

Cold--Short Fiction

Symmetry--Short Fiction

The Memory of Inanimate Objects--Novella

Let's Start With The Dog--Short Fiction

Blame It On The World, Or What's Left Of It--Short Fiction

The Price of a Memory--Short Fiction

Educational

The Writers' Salon--1998-2004 - Founder/Facilitator

"Writing Fabulous Fiction!"--2004 - Facilitator

Pikes Peak Writer's Conference 2004 - Moderator