The Gargoyle Prophecies, Part I, The Savior Rises »

Christopher C. Payne was born in January 1967 and grew up in DeSoto, IL. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, graduating in 1990. Currently, he lives in San Francisco, CA. In his spare time, he enjoys biking and snowboarding with his three daughters and his fiancée.

Payne recently embarked on a literary career with his first novel Duncan’s Diary: Birth of a Serial Killer. In his second book, Learning to Cry, Payne detoured from horror and delved into the complicated ties, deep love and ferocious pain between fathers and daughters. Not wanting to be labeled under a specific genre, Payne has completed his third novel, The Gargoyle Prophecies: Part I, The Savior Rises.

Payne published all three books through the small press publishing company JournalStone he owns and founded. Look for an anthology of horrors to be published in late October. JournalStone is also in the process of signing a select group of authors and should publish additional works before the end of 2010.

With a tattered Raggedy Ann doll as her only companion, Stefani has spent her entire life immersed in self isolation. As a 10-year-old child she was the lone witness to her mother's murder. She vowed to find the man who robbed her of all she held dear in the world and ensure he suffers as she has before he takes his final breath.

Her childhood is consumed with training in the hopes of one day finding the scar-faced killer. But her world up-ends as her 21st birthday looms when she discovers she isn't the hunter. She is the one being hunted, and her predators are not human. Stefani finally opens herself up for the first time, allowing Dennis into her life, revealing her emotions to her hopeful protector. But her fear and confusion mount when he reveals he is a gargoyle - and she is, as well.

Dennis claims Stefani is the key to the future of the gargoyle world. She is the Chosen One, and she is in danger. Dark forces covet her imminent power and will use any means to steal it. Stefani's mind swims with peril she neither understands nor is sure she believes. She questions everything, including her grip on reality.

As Stefani battles the damned across the globe, she searches for answers about her identity. Is she truly the savior of an inhuman race or has her solitude and the trauma of her mother's death finally infected her sanity?