Chris Westwood (author)

Chris Westwood
Born	Christopher Westwood 26 November 1959 (1959-11-26) (age 51) Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Author, Music journalist
Nationality	English
Notable work(s)	Calling All Monsters, Profile
chris-westwood.com

Christopher Westwood also known as Chris Westwood (born 26 November 1959 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England) is an English author and journalist. Born as the son of a coal miner and school teacher, he is best known as the author of young adult fiction and children's books.^[1] He began his writing career as a music journalist before studying Film production & TV production at a college in Bournemouth. After graduating from college, he began a career as a novelist.

Career

Westwood's first publication was in the weekly English music newspaper Record Mirror, where he worked for three years until 1981 and became the first English rock journalist to cover the work of the Irish rock band U2.^[2]

His first novel A Light In The Black, was published in 1989 by Penguin Books and became a runner-up for The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. His second young adult novel Calling All Monsters (1990), had film potential and was considered for adaptation by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and later Dreamworks,.^[3] Westwood's other novels include Brother of Mine (1993),^[4] a study of sibling rivalry between twins, Becoming Julia (1995), a taut thriller about a murder victim and her doppelgänger. These were followed by his cyberspace adventure Virtual World (1996), which was set set in a world of interactive computer games. This book was in included in the contenders list for the Carnegie Award.^[1]

His Internet stalker psychological thriller, Profile, was published in 2009. The main influence for this novel was the Alfred Hitchcock film Shadow Of A Doubt, one of several Hitchcock films referred to in the novel.

Bibliography

Children's Books;

• A Light In The Black. Harper Collins (1991). ISBN 978-0-397-32487-3
• Calling All Monsters. Penguin (1992). ISBN 978-0-14-034421-9
• Personal Effects. Viking (1991). ISBN 978-0-670-83879-0
• Brother Of Mine. Clarion Books (1994). ISBN 978-0-395-66137-6
• Becoming Julia. Puffin (1996). ISBN 978-0-14-037031-7
• Virtual World. Viking (1997). ISBN 978-0-670-87546-7
• Profile. Lulu.com (2009). ISBN 781-40928-848-0

Adult fiction

• Dark Brigade. Headline (1991). ISBN 978-0-7472-3479-1
• The Silence. Piatkus (1993). ISBN 978-0-7499-0195-0
• Sight Unseen. Piatkus (1994). ISBN 978-0-7499-0235-3

Short Stories

• Closeness, anthology: Thirteen More Tales Of Terror

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Christopher Westwood biography". chris-westwood.com. http://www.chris-westwood.com/aboutme/. Retrieved 2010-03-14. 
2. ^ McCormick, Neil. U2 by U2. Harper Collins Entertainment (2009). p. 76. ISBN 978-000719-668-5. 
3. ^ Emsley, Margaret (1994-24-03). Chris's Hollywood Dream. Yorkshire Evening Post. 
4. ^ Cooling, Wendy (1994-24-03). "Books For Keeps. No85". Yorkshire Evening Post. http://www.booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/85/childrens-books/articles/other-articles/rising-stars. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 

External links

• Chris Westwood at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Chris Westwood web site
• Chris Westwood at Fantastic Fiction

Persondata
Name	Westwood, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1959-11-26
Place of birth	Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Date of death
Place of death