Bio (Extended)

Chris Eastvedt (East-vet: the d is silent) never wanted to be a professional writer. She lacked direction for many years, acquiring numerous business skills in the process, but was unable to commit to any one thing. It wasn’t until life slapped her upside the head with some karmic justice that Chris accepted her true calling.

The process of writing had always been fun, but that was one of the things that kept Chris from pursuing it professionally: how would she ever be able to earn a living by doing something fun? She had always heard that publishing was a cut-throat business and, not being a competitive person by nature, wanted no part of it. Chris believed that if her creativity was to be regulated by deadlines, market trends and a host of unknown variables, then she would lose both her inspiration and enthusiasm- a high price to pay for such an unstable possibility.

But life has a way of intervening. The signs were always there: Chris had a voracious appetite for reading starting as a child, she jumped at the opportunity to answer essay questions in class, she even has a prominent writer’s fork on the palm of her hand to this day… all definitive road marks, but would Chris listen? Did we mention she is also strong-willed and stubborn (though surprisingly, not inflexible)?

So off to college she went, to study Zoology of all things (that’s animals, not zoos). Chris’s intention was to one day run her own wildlife rehabilitation facility, but one thing led to another until finally she had to relinquish the dream: a most crushing blow. Both aimless and clueless, she flopped from job to job hoping to find a career to embrace, but failed. Over and over and over again, Chris failed. Demoralized, depressed and unemployed she always went back to writing. Not only did she have the time, it was one of the few forms of entertainment she could afford.

This was the turning point for Chris Eastvedt. This was when writing professionally seemed to be a real possibility and she was psyched. She submitted stories to magazines as was expected of aspiring authors and was rejected repeatedly. Ms. Eastvedt did not care for this process. She was constantly amazed at the work deemed acceptable by the magazines while hers was given a pass. She finally grew so disgusted as to study the publishing industry and acquire the answers she sought. Now wiser, but still no less disgusted, she felt the time had come to let go of the short stories and concentrate her efforts on writing a book. Thus, The Empress Rose was born.

Bio (Brief)

Chris Eastvedt (East-vet: the d is silent) is fascinated by human behavior and will happily watch hours upon hours of PBS documentaries in an endless quest to understand the species. How could a man live in his car for six months while he started his own business? Why would that woman agree to go on Jerry Springer? These are questions that need answers. Chris writes to give people a chance to laugh and think about the little things that concern us all.