Sailor, SF and fantasy fan, career biologist, gamer, and author. Chris has a diverse bibliography of science thrillers, nautical fantasy, epic fantasy, science fiction, horror, and RPG tie-in novels and short stories. His game tie-in work includes Pathfinder, Iron Kingdoms, Shadowrun, Arkham Horror, and Traveller RPGs. He has over 30 novels in print, and has won numerous awards, including the 2020 Scribe Award for besttie-in short story, and three consecutive gold medals for best indie-press fantasy novel from Foreword Reviews. His most recent works from Falstaff Books include the Dragons of Boston science thriller trilogy, and the War of Souls post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy. His Weapon of Flesh high fantasy series broke the Amazon top 100 in fantasy three times for the six-book series. He has published through several small presses, gaming publishers, and his own imprint, Jaxbooks. New stories coming out all the time!
If you had to choose one of your books to be turned into a cheesy made-for-TV movie, which one would it be and who would you want to play the lead roles?
You got me at “Cheesy. ”I would LOVE to see the “Cheese Runners” series turned into a TV/streaming series! It would be like “The Orvil” on meth! I would, of course, insist that Ryan Reynolds star as “Harry Fische,” captain of the cheese smuggling starship “Limburger,” just because he’s got the perfect level of snark and non-sequitur humor. Security Chief “Turk”, I’m thinking Dave Bautista, because he’s got the brainless badass down pat. Intragalactic hottie pilot “Kikara” would have to be someone like Eiza Gonzalez, but she’d have to shave her head… and eyebrows… For chief engineer “Zook” – suicidally bored immortal – I’m thinking someone like Aziz Ansari, because he has the look and the acting ability. That’s the crew, so all we need now is a bunch of snarky aliens and a metric ton of sharp cheddar!
If you were transported into one of your books as a character, what kind of character would you be and what kind of adventures would you have?
l would have to be a pirate in the Blood Sea Tales series, of course. Sailing the high seas, pitching lowbrow humor, free and beholden to none. Yeah, that’d be cool, but only one problem: I don’t like violence. That’s kind of where I got the idea for “Kevril Longbright” the captain of the corsair “Scourge” in the Blood Sea Tales. He doesn’t like violence either, but he just happens to be very… very good at it. So, rob from the rich and keep 70%, the rest goes to the crew, and we don’t kill anyone we don’t have to.
If you could swap lives with any of the mythical creatures from your books for a day, which one would you choose and why?
I would be one of my “merfolk” from the Scimitar Seas series. Why? I just can’t get enough beingunderwater, and not having to breathe, and the freedom… Yeah, that’d be a fun day. I even like sushi, sohey, I even like the menu!
If you were a character in a fantasy RPG, what character class and abilities would you have and how would you level up?
Okay, my gaming group has actually discussed this a lot, and we all agree that the whole “risk my life fighting orcs for a few gold pieces” is crap! I would be a wizard “elementalist” specializing in cold magic, and I would make a FORTUNE selling ice. Just sit back at my villa in the tropics, sipping slushie drinks, selling ice to merchants, bars, meat packers, shipping companies… Man, I just invented refrigeration, and I didn’t even have to risk my life! HA!
If you had to describe your writing style using a fantasy-themed board game, which game would you choose and why?
Gloomhaven! First of all, it’s a little dark, but not too dark – check! Second, the protagonists (players)get thrown into situations they really don’t want to be in – check! Third… bad things happen on the road.The road is a deadly place! Beware the road!!! – check! I also like that the game includes a bit of“racism” between the races, which happens a lot in my world. It’s not so often that you find that kind ofrealism in a board game! Now, if you had asked about RPGs? Shadowrun! But I do write in Shadowrun,so… achievement unlocked! WOOT!Bonus Question! – If you were secretly an alien visitor to the Earth, why are you here?Cheese, chocolate, whiskey, and Thai food. I would be a drug runner, of course, and these are the drugsI’d be pedaling to the universe!
I’ll be making appearances at several conventions this year, including GalaxyCon, ConCarolinas,GenCon, and DragonCon. My newest release, second tome in the post-apocalyptic “War of SoulsTrilogy” from Falstaff Books, will be out this spring, as well as a brand-new series of Asian flavoredfantasy in my own world, the Seeds of the Dark Gods Trilogy. Audio versions of my award-winningWeapon of Flesh series are out! You can check out all of my work on my website, Jaxbooks.
