FAQ
The Phoenix Files
How many Phoenix Files books are there going to be?
There will be six books in the series altogether: Arrival, Contact, Mutation, Underground, Fallout and Doomsday.
When are the other books coming out?
Fallout is due to be released in Australia and NZ in 2012, with Doomsday to follow in 2013.
On the Phoenix Files book covers, one character gets further and further away from the other two. Who is that?
It’s Peter – and by the end of Mutation, you should have a pretty good idea why.
Other Books
Are you going to keep writing after you finish The Phoenix Files?
Absolutely! Right now, my plan is to keep writing for as long as you guys want to keep reading!
Have you written any other books?
Before I started The Phoenix Files, I wrote twelve Zac Power books under the H.I. Larry pseudonym: Volcanic Panic, Sky High, Swamp Race, Close Shave, the four Mega Mission books, and the four Extreme Mission books.
Writing & Publishing
How did you get your first book published?
My “first book” story is a bit of an unusual one. I’d always thought being a writer would be really fun, but I never thought it was something that I’d actually get to do for a living.
But a friend of mine from church, Rowan McAuley, was already a published author. She and I would quite often talk about writing, and one day she told me that her publisher was looking for new authors to help out with a series called Zac Power.
I’d never heard of the series before, but I did a bit of investigating, and then had a go at writing a Zac story of my own. I sent it to Rowan, and she passed it on to her publisher… and I assumed that would be the end of it.
But then, a couple of weeks later, the publishers got in touch and said they wanted to turn my story (“Volcanic Panic”) into an actual book! It took four or five redrafts and a whole lot of editing to get the book up to scratch, but we got there in the end. From there, I went on to write 11 more books in the series, all under the name, “H.I. Larry.”
Somewhere in the middle of all those books, I pitched the idea for The Phoenix Files to my publishers. They agreed to publish that series too – and I’ve been writing it ever since!
And that’s the thing about my story: I never “earned” this job, and I definitely haven’t done anything to deserve it. The whole thing has just been one huge gift. All that’s left is to be incredibly thankful for this amazing work that God’s given me to do, and to keep on working to create stories that are worth the time and the enthusiasm that you guys pour into them.
More Questions?
At the moment, this is just a short list of the questions I seem to get asked the most often. If there’s something else you’d like to ask me, you can leave a message in the comments below, or contact me here.
How did you get your first book published?
Hey Crystal,
I was going to answer your question here, but then it got kind of long, so I stuck it the FAQ above.
Chris
Hey Chris,
What is your favourite Phoenix Files book so far?
Hard to say… It keeps changing! Right now, I’m pretty excited about Fallout…
That’s pretty cool! Can’t wait to learn what it’s about though.
Who or what inspired you to become a writer?
Hmm… Well, one of the big things that inspires me is wanting to explore interesting ideas through my books. Two of the big questions that are starting to get raised in The Phoenix Files are “Who gets to decide what’s really right and wrong?” and “Does everything happen for a reason?” Both of those questions are really interesting to me, and I’m really enjoying exploring them through my writing.
My faith is also a big part of what inspires me. I’m a Christian, and so everything I write is shaped by my faith in Jesus. That doesn’t mean my books are Bible stories in disguise or anything like that – but it’s definitely a big influence.
It doesn’t surprise me that you’re a Christian – particularly when I noticed the names of the main characters – Peter, Luke and Jordan – and I wondered how conscious that decision had been. And then I find a Matthew…… One of the things I like most about the Phoenix Files series is that it shows that, no matter what age you are, you can make a difference.
Woah! Really?! That’s so cool, I’m a Christian as well. I never really knew that but since I have… You’re totally awesome!
hay chris
how can you become a christian besides well beliving in god and jesus.
Hey Kasey,
That’s one of the most amazing things about becoming a follower of Jesus – we don’t have to do anything to earn it! God has already done everything for us!
When Jesus died, he was taking the punishment we deserved for all the times we turn our backs on God and try to live life apart from him. Because God has already taken our punishment onto himself, there’s nothing left to separate us from him.
We don’t have to earn God’s love because God has already loved us right from the start.
We don’t have to go crazy trying to be “good enough”, because Jesus has already made us good enough.
And when Jesus came back to life, he proved that the power of death really had been defeated, once and for all.
All that’s left to do is accept the new life that God is offering us. If you believe that Jesus really was God’s son, if you trust that Jesus died for you, in your place, and if you invite God to be your friend and to help you live the way he wants you to… then that’s it! You’re part of God’s family!
Paul, one of the writers of the bible, puts it this way:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
…and:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
…and Jesus himself said it like this:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” (John 11:25)
Talking to God, getting to know more about him by reading the bible, and hanging out with God’s family by going to church (or to SUFM, or wherever!) are all great things to do – but none of those things make you a Christian. God’s love is a gift. He gives it to us, totally free!
Does that make sense?
Chris
hiyaa. im doing a book review on the phoenix files for school and i need to know what inspired you or made you want to write the series??
:):):)
much appreciated
btw youre books are awesome
Hmm…
Well, before I started on The Phoenix Files, I was writing books for the Zac Power series. I would quite often get ideas for stories that I thought were really fun, but weren’t quite right for Zac (too complicated, too scary, too weird, too sci-fi, too something…)
I’d always known that I didn’t want to write Zac Power forever, that I wanted to move on and do something else, and so eventually I started working some of these other ideas together into a new series… Which ended up becoming The Phoenix Files.
Basically, I tried to take everything I loved about stories – action, mystery, weird sci-fi stuff, interesting philosophical questions, relatable characters – and work them all together into something that I would enjoy reading. I figured that if it was interesting to me, it would hopefully be interesting to other people as well!
thankss
heyyy,
i love your books
but i was wondering whether Tabitha is just going to be let out in Aus? or all over the world?
and how is it going to be let out? in the water? or is it a gas?
sorry if you’ve mentioned these in ur books but im a bit oblivious
thats a heap
(:
The “Tabitha” event is worldwide. We get a bit of info about what’s going to happen at the end of Contact, and you’ll get a bit more by the end of the series…
heyy thanks a heap
and i love ur books
Chris your last comment to me in writers tips makes sence
I was just hoping I didn’t have to do any more things than going to church and sufm
The thing is that I only go to church ones at Christmas and sometimes at Easter but that’s about it
I also do scipture 1 a week
That’s all
It’s nothin compared to what u do though
I mean go to church every week at least once
One of the main People who run SUFM
Is there anything I can do to be more like u?
Hey Kasey,
Like I said before, being a Christian isn’t about what we do for God – it’s about what God’s already done for us.
A Christian is someone who trusts that Jesus really is who he said he is (God on Earth as a human being) and who has faith that Jesus’ death took care of their sin and removed everything that was separating them from friendship with God.
The question is basically this: “Who am I putting in charge of my life? Me or God?”
The reason that I do stuff like SUFM and kids’ camps at my church is not because I’m trying to make God like me – he already loves all of us. It’s because I’m excited about what Jesus has done for me, and I want to share that with other people.
If you’re interested in learning more about God, the best place to look is the Bible! I’d start with the book of Mark, which is one of the four biographies of Jesus. If you don’t have a Bible at home, you can read Mark here – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+1&version=CEV – or else there are a few free iPod apps with the whole Bible.
Some parts of the bible can be a bit hard to understand – but if you’ve got any questions, I’d be very happy to have a go at answering them!
Something else you could do is go along to a youth group at one of the churches around where you live. Usually, they meet one night a week, play some games, hang out, and spend some time learning from the Bible. I’m pretty sure the Presbyterian Church (the one that meets at SWR school) has one – I can find out some details for you, if you like.
Hope some of this is helpful!
Chris
do u have the name of a new searies if u r writing 1, thx
Hey Oliver,
I’ve still got two more Phoenix Files books to finish before I start working on my next book or series. I’ve got a few ideas for what I might do next, but none of those projects have names yet!
Chris
Hey Chris just wondering, what is you’re favorite book out of the ones you’ve written
My favourite book is usually the one I’m working on at the time. For example, I’m just working through the final edits on Fallout, and I’m hoping it’s going to be the best one yet – but I’ll leave you guys to judge that for yourselves!
I bet it will be the best too, but do you know a definite date on when the book will be released in stores??
It should be out in the first week of May next year.
Sweat! my Birthday is early May so I just wanted to know!!
Hey Chriss I’m a Christian too!!!
I love your books and I can’t decide which is my favorite. I was just wondering roughly how long it takes for an idea for a book series to get too published and put on a shelf ready to be bought? Another question is how can you get a book published if you don’t know any published authors?
Thanks Bailey
It can take quite a long time for a story to go from an idea in someone’s head to a book on a shelf – months or sometimes even years. In the case of The Phoenix Files, each book takes around 9 months from start to finish, but that’s not counting the time it can take to find a publisher.
If you’re interested in getting something published, the part you have control over is writing the absolute BEST story you can… After that, it’s up to a publisher to decide whether they want to publish it or not.
Who is the main character (“I”) in Fallout and Doomsday?
The narrator of Fallout is Jordan. The narrator of Doomsday is… not telling.
Hi Chris,
My name is Victoria, I’m eurasian, I’ll be 13 this year, and I live in Singapore. I just finished reading Arrival and I absolutely adored it! So can’t wait to read Contract! (trying to convince my mom to let me buy the whole series for my birthday) I used the Arrival as a book for my book review and it turned out great, thanks to the book’s never ending action, twists, turns and surprises. Here’s a snippet of the book review that I wrote……
“Overall I absolutely loved this book. Partly because of the storyline but mostly because of Chris’s writing. The way he writes, it pulls me into the story. Like I’m in action right beside Luke going through his ups, downs, frustrations, shocks, and excitements right beside him . Chris starts or slow, and casual, in such a way that makes you feel, that this is a very normal story. Then suddenly there’s such an abrupt twist that really intrigues you, and makes you want to keep on reading. Plus, while you’re in the mist of the excitement and adrenaline Chris still manages to put in a pinch of humor, that never fails to make you smile.”
I hope that you enjoyed reading a bit of my book review. I don’t really have a question to ask you (yet) but I’d really appreciate it if you could send me a picture of your signature, so that I could paste it on my laptop, it would mean so much to me to have one of my favorite authors do that to me
Thanks for inspiring me and making me laugh. Please reply soon!
From,
Victoria Birrell
Hey Victoria,
Thanks heaps for the great review!
Chris
Chris,
Wow, that was odd! It posted my post for me! (How thoughtful of WordPress -_-)
Ahem…
Chris,
I just happened upon your blog and wanted to say how inspiring it is to see an author who is so open with fans.
I am from the U.S. and have never heard of your series, but now I am going to try to get a hold of it!
I’ve been fostering a secret desire to write, and have been asking for God’s opinion in the matter, since I don’t want to do anything unless He’s backing me up! (My writing would need some help!) My dream is to write a series and that is not “Christian” by label but that gets readers thinking…about what, not sure!
Thank you for being yourself and sharing your story with fans!
(:
Hi Elayne,
Thanks for writing!
The US rights to The Phoenix Files have recently been sold to Kane Miller publishing, but I haven’t heard anything as yet about when they actually plan to publish. In the meantime, Amazon/Kindle or The Book Depository are probably your best bet.
All the best with your own writing. I’m sure God will let you know one way or another where he wants you to head!
Chris
im quickly re-reading the whole series again and im trying to follow up 2 underground so i a clear understanding of where im up 2
Chris none of my local bookstores have Fallout and I am DESPERATE to read it. Do you know where I could find Fallout in Sydney?
Thanks
I know that my local Dymocks (Burwood) has it in stock already. The official release date isn’t until tomorrow, though, so a lot of places will still be getting in it.
Hey Chris,
I’ve read about 100 sci-fi and apocalyptic style books now and so far,
The Pheonix Files are the best books I’ve read other than Stephen King’s-The Stand.
Someday I hope this will become a movie.
Thanks Jonathon!