Press Kit - Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇)

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Contact Curtis

Photographs

Permission is granted to freely use the following photographs for promotional or press purposes so long as they are credited to Folly Blaine. (Click through to download full-size images; crop as needed.)

preferred photo

bigger smile       black background

Name Format

In print, any of these variants on my name is fine:
  • Curtis
  • Curtis Chen
  • Chen
  • Mr. Chen
For bylines, please include my middle initial, "C."

Chinese (Simplified): 陈致宇
Chinese (Traditional): 陳致宇


Bibliography

See a complete list of my published and forthcoming works at: https://CurtisCChen.com/stories


Appearances

See a complete list of upcoming author appearances at: https://CurtisCChen.com/events


Bios of Varying Length

25 Words

Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) writes stories and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. He is the author of the KANGAROO science fiction spy thriller novels.

50 Words

Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) now writes stories and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. He's the author of the KANGAROO series of funny science fiction spy thrillers and the lead writer for Realm's Echo Park podcast. https://CurtisCChen.com

100 Words

Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) now writes stories and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. He's the author of the KANGAROO series of funny science fiction spy thrillers and has written for the Realm original podcasts Echo Park, Ninth Step Murders, and Machina. Curtis' short fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey, The Sunday Morning Transport, and elsewhere. His homebrew cat feeding robot was displayed in the "Worlds Beyond Here" exhibit at Seattle's Wing Luke Museum. Visit him online: https://CurtisCChen.com

150 Words

Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) now writes stories and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. His debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo (a 2017 Locus Awards and Endeavour Award Finalist) is the first in a series of funny science fiction spy thrillers. He has written for the Realm original podcasts Echo Park, Ninth Step Murders, and Machina.

Curtis' short fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey, The Sunday Morning Transport, and elsewhere. His homebrew cat feeding robot was displayed in the "Worlds Beyond Here" exhibit at Seattle's Wing Luke Museum. He is a graduate of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise writers' workshops.

Want to know a secret? There are visual clues hidden in the KANGAROO book covers that lead to online puzzle trails! Finding the rabbit holes is left as an exercise for the reader.

Learn more about Curtis at: https://CurtisCChen.com

Long Form Bio

Once a software engineer in Silicon Valley, Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) now writes fiction and runs puzzle games around Portland, Oregon. His debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo, a science fiction spy thriller, was a 2017 Locus Awards Finalist in the First Novel category and a 2017 Endeavour Award Finalist. Kangaroo Too, the second book in the series, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Curtis is a current Board Member for Willamette Writers. From 2017-2021, he served as Secretary of the Board for The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). In 2010, Curtis co-founded Puzzled Pint in Portland, Oregon, then oversaw its growth into a global charity and served as President until 2021.

Curtis is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy: the first movie he saw in a theatre was Star Wars in 1977, and the first TV shows he remembers watching—as an infant, from his crib—were Star Trek (the original series), Space: 1999, and Bewitched. He devoured Asimov's Robot stories as a young child, burned through Niven's Known Space novels as a teenager, read a ton of John le Carré even though he didn't get all the political nuance, and once dared to write an assigned book report for English class on one of Diane Duane's Star Trek tie-in novels. (He only did that once.)

Curtis' short fiction has appeared in Playboy Magazine, The Sunday Morning Transport, anthologies such as Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey and Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers, the SMART 25th anniversary collection Oregon Reads Aloud, and many other print and online publications. He is a graduate of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise writers' workshops, and his first writing critique seminar was taught by Pat Murphy and Ursula K. Le Guin. From 2008 to 2013, Curtis posted a new flash fiction piece every Friday on a blog called "512 Words or Fewer." 117 of those very short stories are collected in the book Thursday's Children.

Random fun fact: from 2000 to 2008, Curtis performed with The Richter Scales, a San Francisco-based men's a cappella group. He continues to be a big fan of singing karaoke with friends (technically, noraebang).

Gamers may also know Curtis as "one of the founders of Puzzled Pint" or "that guy who captained Team Snout." He's been making puzzle events with friends since 2001, and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. You can find Curtis at Puzzled Pint on the second Tuesday of most every month. And yes, there is a puzzle hidden in each of the KANGAROO book covers! Finding the rabbit holes is left as an exercise for the reader. Visit: https://CurtisCChen.com




Curtis is not an aardvark.
Last modified: Tuesday, 17-Oct-2023 14:45:00 PDT