My Name Was Baby:
An Intersex Memoir
Coming June 23, 2026
When Chris Arnone entered the world in 1980, doctors found no clear anatomical markers of sex, leaving his parents to call him "Baby" until chromosome tests revealed XY, a boy. His memoir traces a journey from Midwestern roots to the spotlight of Off-Broadway theater, including the watershed moment in his mid-forties when he opted for a double orchiectomy. Despite comprising less than two percent of the population—comparable to those with red hair—the experiences of intersex individuals like Arnone are largely hidden from our collective narrative.​​
Newsletters
My Story
Chris M. Arnone (he/him) was weaned on comic books and Hardy Boys novels, finding his first literary love in Lord of the Flies, though his longest-lasting is a love for Ray Bradbury. He reads and writes nerdy fiction in equal parts with literary fiction and poetry these days, but his imagination still leans toward the magical. As an intersex man, he is particularly interested in gender and sexuality in his writing.
​
Chris’ cyberpunk heist series, The Jayu City Chronicles, are available everywhere you buy books. He is a contributor for Book Riot. He is represented by Metamorphosis Literary Agency.
​
He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. He also performs on many stages in Kansas City, where he lives with his wife Christy and their cats. ​
Praise for My Work
Arnone once again deftly channels the sleek and sexy cyberpunk vibes of standards like Ghost in the Shell, Aeon Flux, and the Deus Ex game franchise in The Cordelia Solution, the third installment in his Jayu City Chronicles. It is a slick, high-intensity, corporate espionage thriller, featuring a diverse and inclusive cast, that leaves you on the edge of your seat begging for more.
A.G. Rodriguez,
Author of Space Brooms!
