Christopher Paolini was born in Southern California on November 17, 1983, but grew up primarily in Paradise Valley, Montana. He was home schooled and at the age of 15, graduated from high school through an accredited correspondence course at American School in Chicago, Illinois. He decided to write a book and after three years of writing and editing, Eragon was self-published in 2001. The Paolini family spent the following year promoting the book themselves by giving presentations to the local library and high school and then eventually branching out to libraries, bookstores, and schools across the United States. After his step-son read a copy of the book, author Carl Hiaasen brought Eragon to the attention of publisher Alfred A. Knopf, who acquired the rights to publish Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle in 2003. The other books in the cycle include Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. Eragon was made into a movie in December 2006. (Bowker Author Biography)