  Hi.
I'm Chris Donahue: Electrical Engineer, Supervisor, former Navy
Avionics Tech, Author, Gamer, history buff, brewer & vintner and
husband to Linda Donahue.
I've lived in Texas for around thirty
years, with previous years in Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania.
My mother lives in Toledo, Ohio and my sister and her three boys live
in Adrian, Michigan.
I completed my Associates in Electronics in
Detroit and moved to Texas in the late 70s where I worked for Texas
Instruments in various Defense projects. Not long after marrying
Linda, I started back to school for my B.S.E.E. doing night school
while working as a tech during the day. Not a quick process, but
after ten years (with a couple of gaps) I earned my E.E.
Currently, I'm a supervisor for Dallas Water Utilities in
electronic/instrumentation maintenance. I'm working with Linda's
brother on a side project we hope to patent within the year. Yes,
there is a chance of striking it "less poor" and we could be rolling in
thousands (insert maniacal laugh here and the sound of loose change
bouncing on the floor).
Just to keep things from getting boring
while working and going to school, I found an interesting opportunity
called the Advanced Pay Grade (APG) program, unique to the Navy.
APG'ers are previous service military or have high-demand skills like
construction or medical experience and have the chance to join the Navy
without going through boot camp or basic skills training. APG'ers
already have the skills and have a record of reliably showing up for
duty, so why spend thousands of dollars teaching them things they
already know? A good deal all-around.
 I
went in as an Avionics Petty Officer and had a good time while serving
my country. I washed more than a few F-14s, did line diagnostics,
bench testing, fire watches and all the other fun Navy stuff (even
peeled the odd potato along the way). Like a few of the other
APG'ers working on our engineering degrees, I spent a lot of my annual
two weeks active duty troubleshooting and repairing diagnostics benches
at our off-site postings. Fun stuff. I had active duty in
New Orleans (a rockin'-good time), Miramar (San Diego – before Top Gun
was done away with), Charleston and aboard the U.S.S. Stennis.
 The
main reason I'm on this site is to talk about the stories I've written
and had published, the ones in-work and the ones still burrowing around
inside my head looking for the right place to get onto paper. I
co-authored the story "Star of Istanbul" (in Elder Sign Press's "High
Seas Cthulhu") with Linda. This alternate history/Lovecraft short
was one of my first sales not involving zombies. Available at Elder Signs Press.
 Other sales include two to Yard Dog Press: "Hickenstein" in "Flush Fiction" which is a flash piece and a Good Ol' Boy version of Frankenstein as well as "Luther's Lunchwagon" in "Houston, We've Got Bubbas" which
finally answers that burning question: Why in the Hell do the aliens
want to do anal probes on every luckless human they abduct?
"Lunchwagon" includes the horrors of disco-cannibals and a
philosophical question on how gray, bug-eyed aliens might taste after
proper smoking and basted in an appropriately modified sauce.
Linda has stories in each book, as well. Check out all the books
at Yard Dog Press.
 Another
anthology also containing one of Linda's stories (and one of her
best–in my opinion) is From the Asylum Press's book "Loving the Undead
- An Anthology of Romance . . Sort of". My story is "Dinner
Date", a Boy Meets Ghoul tale. Available from From the Asylum Books.
 Published
this year is "Speculative Realms" edited by Sasha Beattie and available
through Lulu Press and Amazon. The theme of the anthology is
'Where there's a will, there's a way'. I'm batting cleanup in
this anthology with the story "Children of Ba-Seku". The story
takes place early during Egypt's Upper Kingdom revolt against the
Hyksos invaders (~1500 B.C.). It pits Egyptian Prince Khamose, a
solidly traditional Egyptian against his brother Prince Ahmose.
Ahmose wants to copy the bronze weapons, recurve bows and chariots of
the technically superior Hyksos in order to drive them out of
Egypt. Khamose delves into dark Egyptian rites for a way to
defeat the invaders without becoming just like them. Available
from Lulu Press.
Due
out this year from Permuted Press is "Robots Beyond", a Sci-Fi
anthology devoted to robots stories that push the envelope. My
story "The Cure" involves nanobots being used for a cancer treatment
and (of course) zombies. The editor says it is the creative, but
totally necessary, use of a chainsaw that sold the story. This
anthology will be available from Permuted Press.
I
have a few other stories out looking for homes – many of these stories
do not feature zombies. I also have two novels and a few in
various stages of work. The novel market isn't very open to new
names, so I've done some short stories to get out into the publishing
world, get some 'cred' and just plain have some fun.
One of the
more enjoyable side-benefits of being published (besides having a
royalty check pay for your Grand-Slam Breakfast – but not quite the
orange juice) is doing guest work at conventions. Being on panels
gets an author exposure and a chance to introduce your work to new
people. It also can open up whole new ideas from discussing
topics with other writers or from insightful audience questions.
 Outside
of the writing, I've been an avid gamer and history buff for most of my
life. I've been in play-by-mail wargames for over thirty years
(from StarWeb, through StarMaster, Tribes of Crane, Global Supremacy,
and currently in Continuum) as well as board gaming, miniatures
(ground, naval, air and fantasy) and co-wrote a fun space battle system
dubbed "Star Carnage". Staff work at a couple of Dallas-area
Origins and other gaming conventions was a treat as well.
In
addition, I fought in heavy weapons in the Society for Creative
Anachronisms (where I met Linda, a fencer) and gamed with the
International Fantasy Gaming Society –sort of Live Action D&D
adventures in parks and large farms.
Rounding out my Renaissance
Good Ol' Boy resume, I dabble in brewing (dark, sweet and Belgian
styles mostly), wine-making (from our backyard arbor, so the crop
determines the type), meat smoking (nothing like a raspberry ale and
fall-apart piece of brisket) as well as welding, fence-building and
random bits of other projects to help out friends and family.
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