Rick Christian has had a life-long passion for words and great writing.  He is the founder and president of Alive Communications, the premiere literary agency, with more than a dozen New York Times #1 bestsellers to his credit. He launched Alive Communications in Los Angeles in 1989 and moved operations to Colorado Springs in 1991.  Books he has personally represented have sold more than 100 million copies and have also occupied the #1 slot on best-selling lists compiled by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly.  

Christian’s efforts on behalf of top authors have been widely chronicled in leading newspapers and magazines, from the New York Times and USA Today to Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly and Publisher’s Weekly.  His biography and record of achievement appear in Who’s Who in America, 2008.

Raised in San Diego and a 1977 graduate of Stanford University (communications and creative writing), he also studied at Capernwray Bible School in England and the University of Southern California where he pursued graduate work in professional writing. Christian launched his publishing career as a newspaper reporter and columnist, followed by a career switch to magazine publishing. He served as associate editor of Campus Life magazine, executive editor of The Saturday Evening Post, and then transitioned to executive leadership in book publishing. Along the way, he wrote several books himself, including Alive, The Woodland Hills Tragedy, A Gift of Life, and Silent Night, the Sue Thomas biography adapted for the television series “Sue Thomas F.B.Eye."

It is as a literary agent that Christian became renowned, particularly for his entrepreneurial efforts behind such mega-sellers as the Left Behind series (65 million copies with millions more in 27 languages), Eugene Peterson’s The Message (15 million copies), Karen Kingsbury’s novels (15 million copies), Lisa Beamer’s post 9-11 Let’s Roll (1.5 million copies), and the Life Recovery Bible (1.5 million copies).  He is also celebrated for his literary efforts on behalf of Billy Graham and his family, Brennan Manning, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, among others. His representation of high-profile properties, negotiation for top-tier marketing/sales plans, and pioneering work to develop cross-over markets earned Christian and his Alive Communications team its second-to-none reputation as Agents of Change.  

Christian also serves on the board of Global Action, a compassionate outreach active in 74 countries, and developed their “Buckets of Love” program to provide relief after the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.  He and his wife Debbie have a blended family of seven children and live on a ranch in Black Forest, outside of Colorado Springs.  His interests include winter sports, boating, mountain biking, fishing and hunting. He is an avid reader, travels broadly, and finds special challenge in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times crossword puzzles and hiking mountains over 14,000 feet. 

Little Known Facts: Rick was a paper boy, yo-yo champion, Eagle Scout, and high school student body president. He has hunted cape buffalo in Africa, alligators in South America and bear in Colorado.  An avid fly fisherman, he has also landed king salmon in Alaska and marlin in Cabo San Lucas.

Andrea brings a broad publishing background to every project she represents, having worked as an editor, marketer, and agent, with award-winning and best-selling authors of both fiction and nonfiction adult, youth, and children’s books. Her love for the written word began early in life, and took her to Seattle Pacific University where she majored in English, studied Literature in London, and wrote for the University’s newspaper. Andrea started her career as a literary agent, where she contracted over 30 books with major publishers. She went on to work at NavPress, first as a publicist, where she directed and implemented publicity plans for the publisher, including release events, author signings, media appearances, and trade shows, and later as an editor, where she helped develop a new line of books targeting college students. Andrea was recently an acquisitions editor at David C. Cook, where she acquired dozens of book titles, including a Christy award winner, and a book that Publisher’s Weekly, deemed one of the best books published in 2008. Andrea is married to Matt Heinecke, the Instrumental Music Director at Coronado High School. In her free time, Andrea enjoys driving her red Jeep Wrangler, traveling, reading, hiking, and skiing. 

Little Known Fact: Andrea is an avid traveler and her adventures have taken her on planes, trains, and automobiles around the world. She’s been scuba diving in Israel, ridden an elephant in Thailand, and worked at an orphanage in the Ukraine.