bio

SHORT BIO

Chris Kridler is a writer, editor, photographer and storm chaser. As the owner of Sky Diary Productions, she works with other authors as an editor and book cover designer. She is the author of Funnel Vision, Tornado Pinball and Zap Bang, storm-chasing adventure novels in the Storm Seekers Series. She also writes romances and mysteries as Lucy Lakestone. As a journalist, she’s covered a variety of topics, from space to lifestyles, and was a longtime columnist for Florida Today. Chris’s photographs have appeared in several magazines and books, including the covers of The Journal of Meteorology, the book Winderful, and the Wallace and Hobbs Atmospheric Science textbook. She was featured in Popular Photography. Her short film “Chasing Reality” won the best documentary award at the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival in Florida in 2011; she won best animation in 2013 with “The Chase.” She has been interviewed in various media about her storm-chasing adventures. Learn more at ChrisKridler.com.

EXTENDED BIO

Chris Kridler is an award-winning writer, editor, photographer and storm chaser. She is also the author of Funnel Vision, Tornado Pinball and Zap Bang, storm-chasing adventure novels in the Storm Seekers Series, in addition to several romances and fun mysteries under the pen name Lucy Lakestone. She has been documenting storms since 1997.

Chris’s photographs have appeared in several magazines and books, including the covers of The Journal of Meteorology, the book Winderful, and the Wallace and Hobbs Atmospheric Science textbook. She has been featured in Popular Photography. See photos

Chris’s video has appeared in several television documentaries, including “National Geographic Explorer” and programs on The Weather Channel, The Learning Channel, the BBC, The Travel Channel and The History Channel. Her documentary “Moonstruck on the Space Coast,” which she directed while working for Florida Today, won Best Documentary and Viewers’ Choice at the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival. Her independently produced short documentary “Chasing Reality” won best documentary at the Melbourne festival in 2011 and was an official selection at the Bare Bones International Film Festival. Her documentary “Hourglass” was an official selection of the MIFF in 2012, and her short film “The Chase” won best animation in 2013. See videos

Chris’s writing has appeared in Newsweek, Premiere, Maryland Poetry Review, Space Coast Living and a number of newspapers. She has worked as a reporter, columnist and editor at Florida Today, The Baltimore Sun and The Charlotte Observer. As a reporter covering space, her subjects included space shuttle missions, the Mars Rovers from California’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and a Soyuz launch and mission from Kazakhstan and Russia. She has written book, movie and restaurant reviews; countless news articles; and features on a variety of topics, including trends, people, technology, food, cocktails and gardening.

Originally from Pennsylvania, she studied journalism and copy editing, with a double major in English, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Brevard County – on Florida’s Space Coast – with her husband and dogs.

 

A few credits:

Writing

• News articles, features, and book and movie reviews in The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald, The Charlotte Observer, Florida Today and several other newspapers
  • Winner of a Bronze in the Land Travel category of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition, sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, 1999
  • Co-winner of 2002 Waldo Proffitt Award for excellence in environmental journalism in Florida
  • Second place, general excellence in science writing, 2003 Florida Press Club awards
  • First place, 2010, “Bon Appetit Brevard,” Society for Features Journalism best interactive feature
  • First place, 2009, “90 Seconds to Fame,” AASFE/Society for Features Journalism best interactive feature
  • First place, 2009, Video, “Fay’s Aftermath,” Florida Society of News Editors
  • Writer on Florida Today space reporting team that, for its coverage of the Columbia disaster and its section on the future of human space flight, was key to the newspaper winning a Gannett Gold Medal for 2003; second-place 2003 Best of Gannett awards for spot news and investigative reporting; various quarterly Well Done awards from the company; and first place in Associated Press Managing Editors’ online convergence awards
• “My Turn” essay in Newsweek
• Humor in Premiere and bOING bOING
• Cartoons in Indie File
• Poetry in The Maryland Poetry Review, The Charlotte Poetry Review and Face of the Assassin

 

Photography

• Cover of Journal of Meteorology (July/August 2004); first-place contest winner
• Cover of Winderful (book from Firenze University Press, 2004)
• Cover of Wallace and Hobbs’s Atmospheric Science, Second Edition textbook
• Popular Photography
• Storm Chasing Handbook, 2nd Edition
• Power Zone Magazine Vol. 9-Issue 1, Going to Extremes (textbook from Thomas Nelson Publishing)
• Spotter’s Guide to Weather (book from Usborne Publishing)
• Wild Winds (book from Learning Media)
• Divine Wind: The Hurricane In History, Art, And Science by Kerry A. Emanuel (book from Oxford University Press)
• Weather Guide Calendar
• Hong Kong’s Next Magazine
• The Baltimore Sun, Florida Today and other newspapers
• Shows at The Black Dog Gallery in Cocoa, Florida; Downtown Gallery, Titusville, Florida; Rocket City Retro in Cocoa, Florida; Cocoa Beach Library; and Off Center Art Center, Melbourne, Florida. Seasonal juried art fairs including Winter Park Autumn Art Festival (Award of Merit), Space Coast Art Festival, Orlando Fiesta in the Park (second place) and Melbourne Art Festival

Stolen Butter Gallery, featured artist

 

Video

A sampling:

• Documentary “Chasing Reality” – independently produced – won Best Documentary at Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival 2011; official selection of Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival 2012
• Documentary “Hourglass” was an official selection of the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival 2012
• Documentary “Moonstruck on the Space Coast,” directed for Florida Today and WBCC-TV, won Best Documentary and People’s Choice awards at Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival 2009
• Short film “The Chase: A Silly Storm Safari,” winner, best animation, 2013 Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival
• NBC/Weather Channel: “Strangest Weather” (2013)
• Pioneer Productions: “Top 10 Natural Disasters” (2013)
• Travel Channel: “World’s Worst Weather” (2010)
• NBC/Weather Channel: “Weather Caught on Camera” (2011)
• BBC: “Medical Mysteries: Lightning” (2001)
• BBC Worldwide: “Tornado Diary” (1999)
• National Geographic Explorer: “Tornado Hunters” (1998) and “Lightning Strikes” (1998); “National Geographic’s Most Amazing Moments II” (2006)
• History Channel: “Nature Tech: Lightning” (2003)
• GRB Productions: “Now See This!” (2002)
• Pioneer Productions/The Learning Channel: “Storm Force: Tornadoes” (1999)
• SurfGuru.com: “Vital Signs” (2001)
• The Weather Channel: “Storm Stories” (2004), spot weather, “Full Force Nature” (2006)
• WSMV-4, Nashville NBC affiliate: tornado footage (1997)

and many more