Christopher

I just received the rare honor of speaking on a panel at the Ohio Statehouse during the 10th annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Hosted by Ohio State Sen. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) and state Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron), the event featured over 40 panelists, including survivors of sex trafficking and abolitionists from organizations across the state. “This is a historic year for Human Trafficking Awareness Day,” Fedor said. “A decade of advocacy and action has helped us address human trafficking in Ohio and set an example […]

The following essay was published in the Winter 2019 Edition of Colloquy, a magazine by Gutenberg College, my alma mater.  One of my favorite quotes about literature comes from British author C.S. Lewis, who once wrote that “What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects—with their Christianity latent.” The word latent comes from latēre, which in Latin means “to lie hidden,” as when something is “present but not visible, apparent, or actualized.” The word […]

It’s a new year, and I finally finished a draft of my new novel The Girl from Level 10.  Those who read The Black Lens will recognize similar themes, but this is a very different story. Like Westworld and Ready Player One, my science fiction thriller explores the dark side of technology in the near future. Here is a short teaser for the book I recently submitted to Writer’s Digest 2nd Draft Critique Service that will eventually become part of my pitch to a literary agent: Evaline wants freedom from The Games, an […]

Check out the official website for The Black Lens movie! Kokosing River Productions is sharing the script right now with a casting agent in Hollywood and hoping to start filming sometime this winter. You can follow the film by signing up now on the website to get exclusive news and updates. Matt Starr, the president and CEO of Kokosing River Productions, has teamed up with Director of Photography Dan Parsons to find the right director, actors and investors for a movie version of my debut novel. This partnership came after the […]

The following is a guest blog post from Paul Curtin, my good friend and fellow author. Paul published O Negative in 2017 and plans to release his second novel this winter. I’ve been quiet for a while. This wasn’t intentional. I keep track of my writing on a full-year calendar. Every day I write, I mark an ‘X’ over that day. You can see my year below: Not great. There are months where I wrote nothing. Weeks. Sputtering starts and then complete stoppage. Never getting momentum. I’ll […]

I am honored to be speaking at Shared Hope International’s 2018 JuST Conference as an official board member of She Has A Name. With more than 1,000 people coming from over 40 states, this is the nation’s leading conference on juvenile sex trafficking. Presentations and workshops focus on skill-building, survivor experiences, cross-discipline collaboration, task force development, case studies and lessons learned. Here is a brief summary of my presentation, which incorporates research I conducted through my work with both She Has A Name and The Black Lens novel: Why do men solicit? That’s […]

Kirkus Reviews — a New York magazine that has been reviewing the nation’s top publishers’ books since 1933 — just published a story about The Black Lens novel. Thanks to Boyle & Dalton, Writer’s Digest and Book Pipeline for even making this interview with Paris-based writer Rhett Morgan possible in the first place: While working as a journalist in Central Oregon, Christopher Stollar stumbled on rumors of a sex trafficking ring at a local truck stop. Although his investigation led to nothing concrete, he remained haunted by the grim reality of modern-day slavery […]

My wife and I just came back to New York once again for the annual Writer’s Digest Conference. This year, I got to be a main speaker and give two talks, one about how to research like a reporter and the other about how to self-publish an e-book. We also had a wonderful time exploring the city together, going to places like: Eugene O’Neill Theater The Rum House St. Patrick’s Cathedral Here’s a brief summary of the sessions I taught this year: How to Research Like a Reporter […]

My wife and I are coming back to Manhattan this summer! Next month, I’ll be a main speaker at the annual Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City. I will be giving two talks, one about the value of research in fiction and the other about self publishing The Black Lens novel. Here’s a brief summary of the sessions: How to Research Like a Reporter Too many fiction writers start their stories without any research. And those who do some research barely scratch the surface, sticking to what they can find on […]