Teacher librarian Margaret Chapple said The Phoenix Files series, Chris’s first foray into writing for young adults, had proved to be very popular titles amongst the Senior School boys.

The boys, along with a few Year 7 girls from MLC, learned how he started in writing and how it led to “the impossible dream job” he had always wanted. He explained how one of his fellow writer friends had offered him a job writing the bestselling Zac Power books under the persona of H. I. Larry but after tiring of the same plot, he approached his agents for his own series.

His debut novel in the Phoenix series, Arrival, is described as a “transfixing thriller, which tells the gripping story of three teenagers who uncover a plot to wipe out the entire human race. Everyone, that is, except the residents of Phoenix.” Arrival is followed by Contact and Mutation, with three more in the series to come.

Chris, who believes that “all stories benefit from the addition of mystery and spaceships,” gave the students an insight into some of the realities of the writing and publishing processes and fielded lots of questions on the Phoenix books’ storylines and characters.