Chris Barton grew up about 80 miles east of Dallas, in the small town of Sulphur Springs, Texas. It was there, at Lamar Elementary, that he wrote the first story that he remembers sharing with the public: The Ozzie Bros. Meet The Monsters, inspired in equal parts by Star Wars (recurring dialogue: "Let's get out of here!"), the Muppets, Abbott &and the movie-monster books he loved to check out from the school library.

When Chris was a teenager, he loved writing with his friends, whether it was making up parodies of superheroes and soap operas or putting out an award-winning student newspaper. It was that love of being part of a writing community that led him to the University of Texas at Austin, where he immediately joined the staff of The Daily Texan (and eventually graduated with a degree in history and a wife who also wrote). A few years later, he stumbled into another group of Austin writers — children's writers.

Today Chris has several books on the way and lots of ideas for other stories he'd like to tell. He lives in Austin, with his wife, their two sons, and various dogs, birds, rabbits, and fish.

Visit Chris's website at www.chrisbarton.info

Check out Bartography, Chris's blog, at www.chrisbarton.info/blog