Oh yeah...I see....describe the highlights of your life in a grand total of 20,500 characters.

Uh huh.

Well, the basics are easy enough I suppose. The name's Chris...or Vel...or...hell, having been married once, I'll answer to about anything. Comes with the territory you know. 34 years old, free and single once more, and living out the life I've always dreamed of.

That's me....BIO....and, since I very nearly ran out of room on the upper portion of this little bio thingy, I'll just continue down here without pausing.

Let's see...first and foremost, I consider myself to be an artist. Art is something you can learn in school, but *being* an artist is a whole lot more than the art. You gotta live it....breath it....that's me. Life is art, and art is everything....rather bizzare circular logic going on there, but I'll not stop to contemplate it just now....I'm on a roll and writing this off the top of my head.

So how, exactly, can I summarize my whole life story? Gods, where to begin?

I'm an artist, but it took me a while to realize it and embrace what that meant fully. Got my start tentatively, writing strategy guides for computer games (the first one that was published was the SMAX guide for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri). Success there led me to the conclusion that I could really DO this stuff....put interesting words to paper....not always an easy task, but having tasted a bit of success, I threw myself into a more creative endeavor. My first novel, "Guardians" was the fruit of that labor, eighteen painful months later. Far and away the hardest thing I have ever done.

But, my life (a very colorful life, I must admit!....enough adventures for TWO lifetimes!), and my instincts told me that there were other stories yet to be told, and so I went on an inner search for them. Got interrupted during my search by an untimely visit from the grim reaper and croaked at age 32. Bad experience. I don't recommend it.

Stubbornly refused to yield to the big guy with the scythe, on the grounds that there was just too much stuffage I had left to do, and he gave me a reprieve. I consider it something along the lines of having purchased the "extended warranty" plan.

A year later, he (that same reaper guy) tried to revoke my warranty again, but...foiled this time! 'twas a near thing, but having been caught unawares the first time, I was a bit better prepared. That, and quick action by a talented surgeon, saved the day.

After a few months of recovery, I resumed my search for the next big story, and found "Five Days in May" lurking in one of the corners of my brain, and over the span of 22 sleepless days, wrote the entire novel.

Just like that, I found myself with three published books (okay, okay, so NOT just like that....that, plus SEVEN YEARS total time spent practicing for the day, and beating my head against the gates of the publishing world looking for an "in"....and croaking in between all that. Other than that....it was a piece of cake!)

So...I was off an running. Three books published.

Off and running, but unsatisfied....searching for a way to leave some kind of lasting legacy....to leave my mark unmistakably on the world.

Founded "The Renaissance Portal" (http://click.to/renaissance) as a home for wayward souls, kindred spirits, and starving artists of all stripes, and left it in the care of a dear friend when I discovered that it wasn't quite what I had in my head either.

Still searching then....

Founded Velocigames, Inc., a software company with the mission of making kicka$$ computer games, and am neck deep in that project...along with trying to get the next books out.

Tired yet? *G* If not, check out any of these that might interest you:

http://www.cdhartpence.com
http://www.pyromaniaks.net/candlebre/

Hope to see you there soon! :)
-Chris
-=Velociryx=-