Christopher Travis Rice (born March 11, 1978) is an American author. Rice made his fiction debut in 2000 with the bestselling ''A Density of Souls'', going on to write many more novels, including ''The Snow Garden'', ''The Heavens Rise'', ''The Vines'', as well as the ''Burning Girl'' series. His work spans multiple genres, including suspense, crime, supernatural thriller, and erotic romance. With his mother
Anne Rice
Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature.
She was best known for her series of novels ''The Vampire Chronicles''. B ...
, he is the co-author of the
historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
-
horror
Horror may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Genres
*Horror fiction, a genre of fiction
**Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction
** Korean horror, Korean horror fiction
*Horror film, a film genre
*Horror comics, comic books focusing on ...
Christopher Rice comes from a family of authors. His parents were renowned horror novelist
Anne Rice
Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature.
She was best known for her series of novels ''The Vampire Chronicles''. B ...
Alice Borchardt
Alice Borchardt ( Alice Allen O'Brien; October 6, 1939 – July 24, 2007) was an American writer of historical fiction, fantasy, horror. She shared a childhood of storytelling in New Orleans with her sister, the novelist Anne Rice, who was ...
, was a noted writer of fantasy and historical fiction. Rice had an older sister named Michele, who he never met as she died of leukemia in 1972 when she was five years old. Rice was born in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
and spent the first ten years of his childhood in the
Castro District
The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood throug ...
. In an interview with The Advocate after the publication of his first novel, ''A Density of Souls'', Rice describes the culture shock that resulted from his family's move to New Orleans when he was ten years old. "...being dropped in New Orleans, it was completely different. I went from a school in San Francisco where we called our lesbian teachers by their first names to this uptown, private elementary school where we all had to go to chapel in the morning."
Rice has lived in
Isidore Newman School
Isidore Newman School is a private, nondenominational, co-educational college preparatory school located on an campus in the uptown section of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Jeré Longman of ''The New York Times'' described Isidore Newman as "one of ...
, which he attended during the same time period as future NFL stars
Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Col ...
and
Eli Manning
Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...
. He has stated that while he was never physically threatened during high school, his knowledge of his own sexuality and his failure to play athletics made him feel like an outcast. Of this time in his life, Rice said, "I had money, had a nice car, was white. I could have fit in, but I knew I didn't belong. I knew I didn't share their dreams and ambitions and their values". These experiences ultimately inspired his first novel, ''A Density of Souls''. Rice began visiting gay bars and clubs during his senior year of high school, but he did not come out to his parents until he met his first boyfriend. His father had no trouble accepting Rice's sexuality, but his mother believed he was bisexual based on the number of intimate relationships he had enjoyed with the opposite sex during high school. Rice went on to attend Brown University, an experience which inspired his second novel, ''The Snow Garden''. At Brown, he was not cast in a single theatrical production his freshman year despite his extensive high school theater experience and his determination to be an actor. He transferred to
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
where he completed a semester in their Dramatic Writing Program. He did not graduate from either school; instead, he moved to Los Angeles to explore writing screenplays.
As of 2020, Rice lived in
West Hollywood, California
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most prominent gay villages in ...
.
Sexuality and its role in work
Rice is
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
and his works consist of descriptions of contemporary American life for the gay male. When asked in 2002 about "being pegged a 'gay writer, he replied:
Nonetheless, Rice is proud of the reaction of the gay community to his writing, explaining "it was incredibly rewarding when I got a huge positive response from the character Stephen in ''A Density of Souls.'' More than a thousand young gay men contacted me and said that I captured what it was like for them going through those years. That means everything to me."
Work
In December 1998, Anne Rice had a medical crisis and nearly died when she fell into a diabetic coma. Her son Christopher wrote his first novel, ''A Density of Souls'', upon returning home to New Orleans during her recuperation. Published the following year, ''Souls'' generated buzz in the gay and mainstream press, and became a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. His second novel, ''The Snow Garden'' received a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery. For many years, Rice wrote a regular column for the
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term i ...
-related biweekly news magazine '' The Advocate'' called "Coastal Disturbances," in which he discussed various topics.
Early in his career, Rice distinguished himself by saying that unlike his famous mother, he did not write horror novels, instead considering his books to be thrillers. However, as years went by, Rice became more comfortable experimenting in different genres, exploring his own version of the supernatural with works such as ''The Heavens Rise'', published in 2013, and ''The Vines''. Both of these novels met with critical acclaim, and each were nominated for the
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing.
History
The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...
for Superior Achievement in a Novel but lost to '' Dr. Sleep'' by
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...
and ''Blood Kin'' by
Steve Rasnic Tem
Steve Rasnic Tem (born 1950) is an American author. He was born in Jonesville, Virginia.
Rasnic attended college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and also at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned a B.A. in English educ ...
, in their respective years. On the publication of ''The Heavens Rise'' in 2013, Rice told The Advocate magazine that part of his motivation for writing the novel came from a desire to tell a New Orleans-set story with a more sympathetic ensemble of characters than the one featured in his debut, ''A Density of Souls''. "I said my first novel put the city through such hell, both figuratively and literally, at least certain neighborhoods. But honestly, what happened to me is that I grew up. And I saw my perspective on the city and some of its communities in ''A Density of Souls'' to be youthful and unforgiving. And I had a desire to back and write a kinder, gentler New Orleans story, which, because I'm a Rice, turned into a horror novel."
In 2012, Rice launched a streaming Internet radio show called ''The Dinner Party Show'' with Eric Shaw Quinn, his producing partner and co-host, who was known for having ghost written two books by celebrity
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series '' Baywatch'' (1992–1997).
Ande ...
and a 1992 novel about gay adoption called ''Say Uncle''. The show describes itself as "the Internet's first live comedy variety show" and became known for its hard-hitting satire and celebrity interviews Guests have included
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell (born Patricia Carroll Daniels; June 9, 1956) is an American crime writer. She is known for her best-selling novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, of which the first was inspired by a series of sensational murders in ...
,
Dan Savage
Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes '' Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husb ...
,
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
activist
Chaz Bono
Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, ''The Sonny ...
and ''
Tales of the City
''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally seria ...
'' author
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for ''Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco.
Early life
Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Mau ...
. In 2019, after placing the show on hiatus to begin development of The Vampire Chronicles television series, Rice and Quinn returned with a new podcast entitled ''TDPS Presents CHRISTOPHER & ERIC'', which included a regular series focused on true crime television documentaries they called Christopher & Eric's True Crime TV Club.
In 2014, Rice announced through his social media channels that he was scheduled to publish several works of erotic romance. The first of them, ''The Flame'', was published in November 2014 as part of the 1,001 Dark Nights series.
On November 26, 2016, Anne Rice announced that the film and television rights to her entire Vampire Chronicles franchise had reverted to her after unsuccessful attempts to launch them as a film franchise with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. Her announcement included the detail that she and Christopher would be executive producers on a planned TV series based on the franchise.
On February 28, 2017, the Rices announced their first novel written in collaboration, '' Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra''. It was published on November 21, 2017. Of the collaboration with his mother, Christopher said, "I had to be taught how to write...scenes from an immortal's point of view in a way that fits with an Anne Rice book because immortals don't engage or interact with everyday ordinary stimuli the way we would. They have an absence of fear and an absence or reactivity, and that's something Mom really counseled me on." Anne would publicly state that Christopher was largely responsible for inventing the origin story for The Elixir of Life, first introduced in the first novel in the series and responsible for giving Ramses and Cleopatra their immortality. Anne would also reveal that Bektaten, an ancient African queen responsible for inventing the elixir, was almost entirely Christopher's invention. Publishers Weekly called ''Ramses The Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra'' a "slick sequel" to The Mummy, noting that its "immortals gifted with virtual indestructibility scheme as nastily against one another as the similarly endowed characters in Anne Rice's celebrated Vampire Chronicles." The publication added, "In their first literary collaboration, the Rices, mother and son, configure these subplots into an entertaining soap opera replete with romantic alliances, betrayals, and ends left tantalizingly loose as grist for sequels."
In early 2020, Anne revealed she had sold the studio rights to both The Vampire Chronicles book series as well as her Lives of the Mayfair Witches series to
AMC Studios
AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Pennsylvania Plaza, 11 Penn Plaza, New York City, New York.
AMC Networks owns and operates the AMC (TV channel), eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC (American TV ...
Killing Eve
''Killing Eve'' is a British spy thriller television series, produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence investigator tasked with captur ...
'', with her and Christopher as executive producers on all films and television series produced under the deal. In a May 13, 2020 announcement of the deal Christopher Rice said, ""AMC Studios is responsible for creating some of the most iconic television series of the modern era and has, at times, single-handedly defined this era we call 'peak TV'. All the members of Team Anne, including my long-term producing partner, New York Times Bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, are both thrilled and comforted to know that some of our most cherished kin, from the vampire Lestat and the witch Rowan Mayfair, to the paranormal investigators at the Order of the Talamasca and the powerful spirit Lasher, are now safely in the hands of these vastly accomplished innovators who possess both global reach and deep reservoirs of experience."
Bibliography
;Early novels
* ''A Density of Souls'' (2000)
* ''The Snow Garden'' (2001)
* ''Light Before Day'' (2005)
* ''Blind Fall'' (2008)
* ''The Moonlit Earth'' (2010)
* ''The Heavens Rise'' (2013)
* ''The Vines'' (2014)
;Erotic romance (''1,001 Dark Nights'' / ''The Desire Exchange'' series):
* ''The Flame'' (2014)
* ''The Surrender Gate'' (2015)
* ''Kiss The Flame'' (2015)
* ''Dance of Desire'' (2016)
* ''Desire & Ice'' (2016)
;Collaborations with Anne Rice
* '' Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra'' (2017)
* ''Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris'' (2022)
;The ''Burning Girl'' series
* ''Bone Music: A Burning Girl Thriller'' (2018)
* ''Blood Echo: A Burning Girl Thriller'' (2019)
* ''Blood Victory: A Burning Girl Thriller'' (2020)
;Recent and Upcoming Works
* ''Decimate'' (2022)
* ''Sapphire Sunset'', as C. Travis Rice (2022)