Christopher Patterson
I live in Tucson, Arizona with my wife Kellie. We currently have three kids, our new addition coming in December of 2014. Savannah is six and in First Grade, Shaymus is one, and Elianna is our newborn. My wife is a home health nurse who not only does her typically nursing assignments, but also coordinates training and orientations for the compan.... more
I live in Tucson, Arizona with my wife Kellie. We currently have three kids, our new addition coming in December of 2014. Savannah is six and in First Grade, Shaymus is one, and Elianna is our newborn. My wife is a home health nurse who not only does her typically nursing assignments, but also coordinates training and orientations for the company for whom she works. I was a high school English teacher for seven years before I transitioned over to Government, Economics, and History. I am the head wrestling coach at Sahuaro High School in Tucson AZ and have been for ten years. I am also a coach on the Sahuaro football staff. I fostered a love of the arts at an early age when I started playing the guitar at the age of seven. My mother encouraged me greatly in my musical endeavors, even getting me up at 5am to practice since I was also busy with church and sports. In fact, I spent my first year at the University of Arizona as a classical guitar performance major.
I have loved action and adventure as well as science fiction and fantasy for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching the original Star Wars movies and Star Trek series. I read The Hobbit at a very early age, loved stories about mythology, and have always had a fascination with the European Middle Ages. As soon as I could, I played Dungeons and Dragons and started reading any Forgotten Realms or Dragon Lance book I could get my hands on. I also read Ursula K Le Guinn's Wizard of Earthsea series, C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, and, of course, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
I started writing my own fantasy adventures on my grandma's typewriter. Each one she would title, "The Next Great American Novel" and I find myself extremely lucky and blessed that my family encouraged my creativity. It was in college, studying Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Arizona, that I started taking writing seriously and exploring a career as an author. After my first year in music, I found that that was not the path I wanted, but knew I wanted something involving the arts, and so I transitioned to Creative Writing. I actually started writing what would eventually become the Shadow's Fire Trilogy in college.
I am also active at Desert Hope, the church that my family attends. I am very actively involved in the high school ministries and the music ministries. Church and faith are a major part of my family's life and I have tried to implement that influence in my writing.
I am also sincere about fitness and health and I have been a competitive power lifter since high school. I workout as much as I can and try to pass that love on to my students and athletes.
A Chance Beginning: Book One of the Shadow's Fire Trilogy is my first novel.