Full Name: Christopher Kevin Barrett
DOB: 12/04/1970
POB: Columbus, OH
Height: 6'2" Weight: 205 lbs.
Blood Type: O-
Favorite Musical Acts: Classic Rock, Bad Metal, Alternative...
Education: BA, MA, PhD. (Anthropology)
I grew up in Worthington, OH a town just north of Columbus and graduated from Worthington High School in 1989. I attended The Ohio State University from 1990-1993 and graduated with a BA in Anthropology. I went on to attend Graduate School at both Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL and after a years absence, re-enrolled at OSU in 1996. I received an MA in Anthropology from Ohio State in 1998. I received my Doctorate from Ohio State in the Summer of 2005. Want to read my Dissertation? Click Here.
I am trained as a Biological and Forensic Anthropologist. Most of my research has been on prehistoric health and the effect of cultural change on growth and development. In the past I have worked on a number of digs, research projects and medicolegal investigations. For the last 3 years I have taught full-time at the Ohio State University's Newark Campus. Earlier this year I made the decision to leave teaching and pursue my research and writing full-time. Like many before me I found academia to be too confining and the overload contract made it impossible to do anything but teach.
In 2003 I started submitting stories for publication. In May of 2003 I received an e-mail from Chris Cevasco at Paradox magazine informing me that he was buying one of my stories. Since then I have won the PARSEC/Confluence Writing Contest twice (2004 and 2005). In August 2006 my short story, "The Qualities of a Monarch" beat out 79 other entries to win the Paradox Magazine Alternate History Flash Fiction contest and in 2007 I won the Eurocon 2007 Short Story Contest with a story about a Polar Bear (on Mars!). I am writing on Evolutionary Biology and will be dabbling in Motorcycle Journalism soon.
In addition to writing, I enjoy (and practice!) the martial arts, not only for the self-defense applications but also for the mental benefits. I have been doing Shaolin Tiger Kung-Fu and Shuai Ciao for four years now. I earned my Black Sash in Shaolin and a Green Belt in Shuai Ciao in 2006, and in 2007 I competed in the Great Lakes Shuai Ciao tournament. I also love motorcycles and put almost as many miles on my motorcycle each year as I do my car. Last year I made 3 trips to the West Coast and put almost 22,000 miles on my Suzuki DL650 -- who say's you need a large displacement bike to travel?
Favorite Quotes:
"The First Step Toward Immortality is First Living a Life Worth Remembering" -- Bruce Lee
"I want my family to love me and my friends to respect me. Everyone else can go to hell." -- John Wayne
