Addicted to Genre Fiction discussion

Starting next week, Chris Allen will be dropping by to answer your questions! Ask him about the bestselling Intrepid series, ask him about his writing process, maybe ask him about his crazy action life:

'Chris Allen writes escapist action thrillers for realists, having seen and done it all.

A former paratrooper, Chris served in three Commonwealth armies across two decades and four continents. He left the military due to injuries, retiring at the rank of Major. In addition to his military career, Chris has served with three law enforcement agencies in Australia, led security operations for an international aid agency in East Timor during the emergency in 1999, and was headhunted to take over the protection of Sydney's most iconic landmark, the Sydney Opera House. In 2008 Chris was appointed Sheriff of New South Wales, one of Australia's most historic law enforcement appointments. Today, he continues his career as a writer and government senior executive. Chris and his wife, Sarah, live in Sydney. They have two small boys, Morgan and Rhett.

In his Intrepid series, Chris puts the reader deep within the action. His protagonist, Alex Morgan, represents the embodiment of Chris's own military and law enforcement insider experience. Intrepid is the Intelligence, Recovery, Protection and Infiltration Division of Interpol, a top secret black ops taskforce operating in the shadows to protect the world's most vulnerable people from the worst among us.'

Leave your questions here!

Any hints to where Alex Morgans next mission will be?

Hi Jason, as usual Alex Morgan's mission will take him all over the world but I'll give you a hint to the location where you'll first see him again: It's the prime location of one of my favourite cop shows on TV. The show features an Australian actor in the lead role and is based on an iconic 1960s TV series of the same name. Hope that helps :) Best, Chris

Do you have a number in mind for how many Alex Morgan books your fans can expect to see Chris?

Hi Mark, I guess the magic number (aiming mark) for me is around 12. I'm planning to experiment with novellas and short stories over the next year or so, too. So, it may be that a couple of the books could end up being compilations of short stories - which Ian Fleming also did! Cheers, Chris

Chris - you've been very up front about your love of the greatest spy of all, James Bond. How has he influenced the Intrepid books?

Hey Chris, you've introduced a great new heroine in 'Avenger', what part do women play in his world/life?

Hi Patrick, the character of Bond as a person, a human being, hasn't had a great deal of influence on my Intrepid series, but the notion of an intensely loyal, blunt instrument who is willing to risk his own life in the service of something greater than himself most definitely has. When Fleming created Bond back in 1952, Britain was a long way from recovering from the second world war, yet history was already conjuring a new challenge for Europe in the form of the Cold War and all of the fear and uncertainty inherent within it. So, he created a hero for the time and made Bond a man above the fears of others. Today we face similar if not greater fears on a much more personal level, and so I wanted to create a similar kind of hero. The main differences between James Bond and Alex Morgan are that Morgan is much more personable and enjoys the company of his friends, whereas Bond is a loner who shuns company. Morgan represents the international community while Bond represents the interests of only one nation. All that said, my entire approach is to try and pay homage to what Ian Fleming created and, in my humble way, bring that world into the new century for a new audience. I like to think that Fleming would enjoy my books. I hope so anyway!

Hi Michelle, great question. Women play an incredibly important part in Morgan's world, particularly in his development as a person. Women have always played an immense role in my personal journey and so I wanted to ensure that I wove that influence similarly into Alex Morgan's journey. From the very beginning I didn't want the women in my books to be the window dressing the genre tended to prefer years ago. So I've deliberately set out to give them central roles that place them very clearly in the category of 'intelligent, accomplished, self-assured and strong'. It's these characteristics that I find most attractive and therefore I hope to convey those same triggers in Morgan. Although, the difference is that I am giving Morgan time to work all that out through the series.

Chris wrote: "Hi Michelle, great question. Women play an incredibly important part in Morgan's world, particularly in his development as a person. Women have always played an immense role in my personal journey ..."

It would be great if they introduced a 'like' button on here. ;)

Thanks!