Growing up in Minnesota, I played a variety of sports and was a junior Golden Gloves champion and an all-state and college baseball player. I also attained the rank of brown belt in Tae Kwon Do.
My love for reading began as a child when my cousin gifted me a set of Hardy Boys’ mysteries. In high school, I became interested in journalism and considered majoring in it. While in college, I decided on a career in teaching and obtained a B.A. in English, an M.A. in special education, and an educational administration license. I worked with at-risk youth, taught English literature, and served as an elementary principal before pursuing a career as a college professor.
I got serious about writing when I took a course from Will Weaver, author of A Gravestone Made of Wheat, which was made into the very successful Hollywood movie, Sweet Land.
When I met and married my wife, Martha, I began traveling to Mexico and to Colombia, where she was born and raised. The seeds of my first John Santana novel, White Tombs, grew out of her stories and experiences.
In doing research for White Tombs, I spent time with members of the St. Paul Police Department and the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department. I subsequently enrolled and graduated from the Citizen’s Academy at the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department.
I’ve authored ten works of fiction featuring Colombian born, St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana: White Tombs, The Black Minute, Bad Weeds Never Die, Bone Shadows, Death’s Way, The Darkness Hunter, Speak For The Dead, The Price Of Life, No Way To Die, and Shadow Falls, as well as the noir murder mystery City Of Stones with Dan Cohen, and the literary novel All The Fields.
When we’re not traveling, my wife and I now spend our time in Arizona and Minnesota.
Christopher Valen
(High Resolution - Print Media)