Christopher C. Payne

Christopher C. Payne was born in January 1967 and grew up in DeSoto, IL. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, graduating in 1990. Currently, he lives in San Francisco, CA. In his spare time, he enjoys biking and snowboarding with his two daughters and an amazing wife.

Chris dabbled with writing in his spare time before deciding he would be better served focusing on the publishing side of the literary industry. He founded JournalStone in April of 2009. JournalStone began as a blog before transitioning to a publishing company in the fall of 2010.

Journalstone shot out of the gate by immediately launching a short story contest, then a full blown novel writing contest and quickly began to sign authors. Getting some help from a few HWA members Chris established some author friendly procedures and was well on his way to publishing books. That Which Should Not Be, the winner of the inaugural writing contest in 2011, received a warm welcome on its publication date and was subsequently honored by being nominated for a HWA 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Ghosts of Coronado Bay, another 2011 JournalStone offering was also nominated for a HWA 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult novel.

With two books nominated for awards in JournalStone’s first 12 months of operation, Chris is still not willing to slow down. 2012 has already seen JournalStone on the front cover of Publishers Weekly magazine in an April issue; with three of its authors highlighted on the inside cover. Additionally, Joseph Nassise (international bestselling author), Jonathan Maberry (New York Times bestselling author), and Benjamin Kane Ethridge (2010 Bram Stoker Award winner), have been added as JournalStone signed authors, complimenting Brett J. Talley and Anne C. Petty on a shared world anthology titled Limbus, to be released in the fall of 2012.

Look for more announcements from JournalStone as they continue to flourish, establishing their place as one of the premier genre publishing companies in today’s rapidly fluctuating market.