About Chris

Bio / Profile

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A fourth-generation longshoreman turned novelist, Chris Nelson spent his childhood summers as a junior and senior docent at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and later leading tours at the Waikīkī Aquarium—learning early that the ocean isn’t just water; it’s a world of characters, conflicts, and secrets.

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Chris began studying marine biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, but soon discovered that his true life’s work was transforming real maritime history into adventure fiction that puts teen readers at the helm.

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Coming from a family of Merchant Mariners, harbor pilots, and a legendary port film buff whose chalkboard movie reviews became a local landmark, Chris writes with one foot on the dock and one in mythic waters. His Pirate Queens series is a celebration that honors the working-class heroes of the sea. Through his school visits and workshops, Chris shows teens how the ocean can be read like a map, investigated like a mystery, and honored like a legacy.