As a child, she also spent a lot of time in and out of hospitals, undergoing surgeries. This is because Cris has arthrogryposis, asthma, astigmatism in her left eye and some nearsightedness in the right. (Cris will never get Lasik because she is one of those weird people who loves her glasses--particularly, her black Ray-Bans with the white stripe like Mikey Way used to wear before he got Lasik.) Though she once used leg braces and a walker to walk, Cris is now permanently wheelchair-bound, due to her back surgery for scoliosis in 1997. Not that she lets it stop her from getting in a car with friends for late-night trips to IHOP…
The bulk of Cris's early writing consisted of overdramatic Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fan fiction--most of which was (not so) tragically lost when 3.5" floppy disks went out of style. (She still writes the rare drabble of fan fiction, but only to practice a new writing technique and only for the eyes of a select few.) In high school, she discovered she enjoyed writing stories with original characters much better and spent freshman and sophomore year working on a fantasy-based story with two of her friends. Cris's characters were a pair of badass vampire twins, Maya and Mercurio Moonhaven. She also wrote her first truly violent story ("Roulette") in high school--for an assignment for a creative writing class. It was eighteen pages. It also revolved around a male-male romantic couple. Instead of sending her to the counselor or questioning the homosexuality in the piece, her creative writing teacher praised and encouraged her to write more.
In college, writing has become her greatest asset and friend, along with an eclectic infusion of music ranging from Morrissey to Kaizers Orchestra. While Cris suffered through a troublesome fall semester her sophomore year, it became what kept her sane--along with the really nice on-campus counselor who also encouraged her to continue writing. This is partially why Cris is now possesses her Bachelor's in English with a minor in Art (as of May 2010), after originally entering St. Mary's University as a Criminal Justice major to the shock of everyone in 2005. Cris would like to attend the Manhattan School of Visual Arts for their two-year Master's program in Art Therapy. She also writes articles for The Rattler, the university's award-winning newspaper.
Among her prized possessions is a 1939 Remington Noiseless typewriter she is in the process of having repaired. She is also rarely seen without her BlackBerry cell phone, her Zune (with its protective cover custom-designed by Sally), an assortment of pens and the current notebook in which all of her ideas go. She also still possesses the first spiral notebook she ever used to write stories and poetry, which probably dates to about sixth grade. To her memory, hidden among the pages of the First Notebook is a very bad story explaining why kangaroos exist. However, like the fabled "Peter Pan Videotape", Cris has decided that no one will ever see the contents of the First Notebook.
"We all deserve to have things we keep secret from the world, after all."
Cris loves coffee. She loves comic books--the more bizarre, the better, which is probably why she adores The Umbrella Academy so much. She hereby publicly expresses her love, admiration, and respect for Gerard Way, Amanda Palmer, Anthony Stewart Head, Morrissey, and all of Kaizers Orchestra--all while harboring hopes of one day collaborating/becoming friends with (or at least meeting) one or all of those mentioned.
Cris is also a writer and co-conspirator for Under the Van Gogh, an online prose-and-comic series about what happens when the stranger things do happen.
