He grew up watching television classics such as Batman, Thunderbirds, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and James Bond. And he served in the army in many parts of the world.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He has led security operations for international aid agency CARE in East Timor and has worked in protective security, counter terrorism and law enforcement.
He was responsible for protecting the Sydney Opera House after the 'No War' sign incident and is a former Sheriff of NSW.
But during all that experience Chris Allen was working behind the scenes and using all his experience to become like a secret agent thriller writer.
The former paratrooper’s work about the adventures of Alex Morgan is so good one of his books is about to be the subject of a movie..which is likely to be the first of several spy films.
During The Illawarra Connection’s black-tie networking dinner at the Novotel Wollongong Northbeach on Tuesday the Venues NSW chief operating officer revealed how he always knew he had a passion for writing.
Some of the inspiration for all he is doing now started with many of the classic television shows from the 60s and 70s as well as the James Bond books and movies. He has always been a big fan of Ian Fleming.
During his time at Sydney Opera House he decided to pull out one of his old manuscripts and self publish. He had tried to get his work published several times but to no avail. But he followed his instinct and immediately found a market for his brand of thriller adventure stories with a purpose.
Many of his books and stories include his thoughts about real world events at the time of them being written. And the formula has worked very well.
His first novel, Defender of the Faith, was published in 2011. It attracted so much interest he was soon offered a digital book deal with Pan Macmillan’s digital publishing arm Momentum.
There have now been five books released in his INTREPID series under the names Defender, Hunter, Avenger, Helldiver and Ranger.
Mr Allen’s own personal story, particularly his love of classic TV shows, seemed to resonate with many in the room. As did his message.
When he first left the army he struggled to find employment and that has given him a good understanding of what others have gone through.
His latest book focuses on a colleague Alex Morgan has served with who has come back from the war in Afghanistan and is now a homeless veteran
“The objective being I am raising the issue of veteran homelessness through this story,” Mr Allen said.
“I am giving a percentage of the profits I make from that book directly to that charity. It has shown me there is an opportunity through writing entertainment to raise issues that are of importance to me and that I can then convey to people who follow my writing through my thrill series..and particularly this one (Ranger).”
Mr Allen said he had learned many things through life’s journey to date.
And one was to just keep persevering no matter what.
“I have found right the from the outset that there are things that you want to do with your life that you have absolutely got your heart set on..but occasionally..and sometimes more than occasionally, obstacles get in your way,” he said.
“And you just need to look at them and think how serious am I about these things that I want to achieve. And what am I prepared to go through to make them work. Too often we can find them too hard and we think “okay this is not worth it..it is exhausting”. “We have put so much money into it. We have put so much time and effort into it”. That is the dangerous point where you can actually give up before you realise what you can achieve. But if it is worth it..and you are serious about it you have got to overcome those obstacles.”
Mr Allen said it was like the approach often taken in the military where succeeding was about outwitting and out-maneuvering obstacles.
“And there is always a way to do it,” he said.
“You do it with communication. You do it with intelligence. You do it with strategy and thinking through the problems. And before you know it you can achieve things.”
Mr Allen said sometimes you don’t realise you have achieved it until you get to the end of the process and look back.
In the meantime it is a matter of digging in. Just keep going to get through it when it is hard. And then eventually achieve success.
