Author Bio: Christopher Gutierrez - 2008

In the same fashion Do-It-Yourself punk bands have built their fan base for the past 30 years, Chicago author Christopher Gutierrez has carved his own niche into the literary world relying on that same aesthetic. In the span of three short years, Gutierrez has gone from sporadic zine publisher and part-time blogger to full-time writer and public speaker, self-releasing 3 books, a spoken word CD, a live DVD, several mini-books and fanzines all under the umbrella of The Deadxstop Publishing Company.

Since the release of his first book On the Upswing of Life, Love and Regret in 2005, Gutierrez has built a strong foundation of loyal readers garnering over 10,000 hits a day on his popular Livejournal.com blog 'Askheychris.' The advocacy of his readership helped him sell two pressings of the book with no major distribution, land him a feature piece in the Chicago Reader and a sponsorship as in-house spoken word artist by Myspace.com on the Vans Warped Tour. His work ethic and online presence also earned him a position as a staff writer and guest blogger for popular social-networking site Buzznet.com.

June 2007 saw the release of his second book A Life Deliberate, a personal collection of memoirs as humorous and emotional as they are uplifting. Following the release, Gutierrez set off on a full US tour including dates in Canada and a stint in The UK spanning England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These dates documented the beginning of what would become his third book, Notes from the Deep End: A Year in the Life of a Touring Author, a collection of journal entries spanning his initial tour dates following the release of A Life Deliberate, a Northeast tour with friends and fellow Chicago natives 2*Sweet and his speaking engagements at Rutgers University, The University of Massachusetts, The University of North Carolina and the University of East Anglica in England and many others. The Chicago date was filmed and released as the "Live from Chicago" DVD.

This past year has been a busy one for Gutierrez with no indication of slowing down. Notes from the Deep End was released in June and once again he immediately followed up the release with a full 6-week tour of the U.S. He has also been hosting his own three-hour online radio show through Fearlessradio.com aptly titled This Deliberate Life and making plans for future visits overseas. Though he isn't a household name, Gutierrez continues to inspire thousands of people with an uplifting message and a DIY attitude.