Christopher Crosby Morris is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, a shortened form of his name, but occasionally uses pseudonyms.
Background
Chris Morris began writing music in 1966, fiction in 1984, and nonfiction in 1989. Much of his fiction and nonfiction literary work, including all of his book-length science fiction and fantasy, has been written in collaboration with his wife Janet Morris, with whom he has also written two novels under the joint pseudonym of Daniel Stryker and one novel under the pseudonym of Casey Prescott. He has contributed short fiction to the shared universe series Thieves' World, Heroes in Hell, and Merovingen Nights. He has also co-authored with Janet Morris five titles in The Sacred Band of Stepsons saga. Chris Morris has also authored song lyrics and melodies. Notably, Chris served as chief songwriter, singer, and leader of the "Christopher Morris Band", formed in 1976, whose first members were Chris Morris, Janet Morris, Leslie Kuipers and Vince Colaiuta. The first "Christoper Morris Band" album, produced by Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat and Tears fame and featuring the Tower of Powerhorn section, was titled the Christoper Morris Band, and released by MCA Records in 1977. The album's nine songs, all of which are sung by Morris, included eight songs written or co-written by him. The Christopher Morris Band album was reviewed by Ken Tucker in Rolling Stone Magazine. and in GIG Magazine. The Christopher Morris Band album was also one of Billboard Magazine's "Top Album Picks" and listed by WBCN Boston as among WBCN's "52 Heaviest Records for 1977." The Christopher Morris Band album was also reviewed in Record World, July 23, 1977. The Christopher Morris Band was reviewed after their first major live performance as a headliner in The Boston Globe by Tom Long. Previous to that, Chris Morris was the band leader, and the original Christopher Morris Band was the core back-up band, for Al Kooper's 1976-1977 "Act Like Nothing's Wrong" national tour. In the realm of nonfiction writing, Chris Morris has authored books and articles on military and defense matters in collaboration with Janet Morris and others. Chris Morris served as Research Director and Senior Fellow at the United States Global Strategy Council, as well as Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. At USGSC, Morris co-authored the nonlethal weapons concept and the seminal paper, Nonlethality: A Global Strategy, and co-led the USGSC's Nonlethality Policy Review Group. Events surrounding Morris's work in the nonlethal weapons area are chronicled in Chapter 15 of War and Anti-War, by Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler,. In 1998-1999, Chris Morris was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Technologies and his views are reflected in the associated report, Nonlethal Technologies: Progress and Prospects, Council on Foreign Relations, 1999. He served in 2003-2004 as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Nonlethal Weapons, which produced the report Nonlethal Weapons and Capabilities in 2004.
Thieves' World shared universe
"What Women Do Best" in Blood Ties, Asprin & Abbey, ed.
"Red Light, Love Light" in Uneasy Alliances, Asprin & Abbey, ed.
