“A Day in The Life” of Local Author Chris Patrick Carolan

Chris Patrick Carolan is an author, an editor, and if you ask him, a hovercraft enthusiast. If you ask him twice, he might admit he has never set foot on a hovercraft. The other things are true, though. His first novel, The Nightshade Cabal, was published by Parliament House Press in February 2020, and hit #1 on the Calgary Herald’s Best Sellers list. His short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including the Enigma Front and Tesseracts series.

February also saw the role of father added to his list of titles, when Chris and his wife Maggie celebrated the birth of their first son. A book release and a baby coming so close together certainly made for a busy few weeks, but finding the new normal has been a wonderful adventure.

Chris was born in Scotland but grew up in Canada and, after moving around a lot as a kid, settled in Calgary shortly after the 1988 Olympics but before the Flames won the Stanley Cup. He’s not a sports fan, though, so he would say it was between Tim Burton’s films Beetlejuice and Batman. Either way, he dreams of a life at sea but hasn’t escaped the prairies quite yet.

Chris Patrick Carolan
I spend a lot of time looking dapper in the woods.
Chris Patrick Carolan The Nightshade Cabal
For a writer, there’s nothing quite like seeing your book in print for the first time. Opening up this box was the culmination of years of dreaming and, more importantly, a lot of hard work.
Every day starts with a magic potion. Or two. Or three...
Every day starts with a magic potion. Or two. Or three…
Music is also an important part of every day. Proving that I’m secretly a senior citizen, my favourite artist is Gordon Lightfoot.
Music is also an important part of every day. Proving that I’m secretly a senior citizen, my favourite artist is Gordon Lightfoot.
Chris Patrick Carolan
Is there anything better than live music? The Calgary Folk Music Festival is one of the highlights of the summer, and something we look forward to each year.
Chris Patrick Carolan
I love hiking, and as much I’d like to say we head to the mountains every weekend, it’s very much one of those things I need to make more time for in my life. Despite the rain, this trip to Takakkaw Falls was a great day.
Another new hobby, as if I needed something else to soak up any remaining free time... brewing! I love craft beer and making things from scratch, so taking up homebrewing was inevitable, really.
Another new hobby, as if I needed something else to soak up any remaining free time… brewing! I love craft beer and making things from scratch, so taking up homebrewing was inevitable, really.
Chris Patrick Carolan
I’m always happiest when I’m by the ocean. Any ocean, really.
Little known fact! I have a bust in the Colosseum in Rome. Okay, it’s actually the emperor Pertinax, who was assassinated 86 days into his reign. But the resemblance is uncanny.
Little known fact! I have a bust in the Colosseum in Rome. Okay, it’s actually the emperor Pertinax, who was assassinated 86 days into his reign. But the resemblance is uncanny.
I may have that “My God! What have I done?” look here, but I swear I know what I’m doing.
I may have that “My God! What have I done?”  look here, but I swear I know what I’m doing.

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What ‘hood are you in?

Woodbine, where I mostly grew up. I lived in Sunalta for nearly twelve years in between, and then two years in a secret pocket of rental townhouses in Pump Hill, but we ended up back in Woodbine last summer. We’re about a five-minute walk from where my folks used to live. It’s strange how much hasn’t changed.

What do you do?

By day I work behind the scenes at the University of Calgary’s Taylor Family Digital Library. That may make it sound far more mysterious than it is, but there you go. I also write books and short stories, and sometimes they end up getting published.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve got a few projects on the go. Too many, if I’m being honest. Right now, I’m focusing on the sequel to The Nightshade Cabal. It’s another paranormal murder mystery, once again set in 1880s Halifax, this time with werewolves and monster hunters and unscrupulous newspaper tycoons adding to the complications our reluctant hero has to deal with. I’m hoping to finish that up by this summer, then the next project in the queue is a science fiction novel heavily inspired by classic anime and sci-fi comics like Heavy Metal Magazine. I’m also currently co-editing an anthology of robot stories by mostly Calgary-based writers, which will be released in August.

Where can we find your work?

The Nightshade Cabal is available from all ebook vendors, and the print edition can be ordered from Amazon. My much-neglected website and I can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as @cpcwrites.