Christopher Westwood (born 26 November 1959 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England) is an English

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. 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. He began his writing career as a music journalist before studying ''

Film production Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

& TV production'' at a college in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. 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 ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

, where he worked for three years until 1981 and became the first English rock journalist to cover the work of the Irish

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

U2. His first novel '' A Light In The Black'', was published in 1989 by

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

and became a runner-up for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Children's Fiction Prize''. His second young adult novel '' Calling All Monsters'' (1990), had film potential and was considered for adaptation by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

Amblin Entertainment Amblin' Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are lo ...

and later DreamWorks. Westwood's other novels include '' Brother of Mine'' (1993), a study of

sibling rivalry Sibling rivalry is a type of competition or animosity among siblings, whether blood-related or not. In childhood, siblings generally spend more time together than they do with parents. Sibling bonds are influenced by factors such as parental ...

between twins, ''

Becoming Julia Christopher Westwood (born 26 November 1959 in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England) is an English author and journalism, journalist. Born as the son of a coal miner and school teacher, he is best known as the author of young adult fiction and childre ...

'' (1995), a taut thriller about a murder victim and her

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

. These were followed by his cyberspace adventure ''

Virtual World A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a Computer simulation, computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal Avatar (computing), avatar and independently explore th ...

'' (1996), which was set in a world of interactive computer games. This book was in included in the contenders list for the Carnegie Medal. His Internet stalker psychological thriller, ''

Profile Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Pat Donohue album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Duke Pearson album), 1959 * '' ''Profi ...

'', was published in 2009. The main influence for this novel was the

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

film ''

Shadow Of A Doubt ''Shadow of a Doubt'' is a 1943 American psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an A ...

'', one of several Hitchcock films referred to in the novel.

Bibliography

Children's books

*'' A Light In The Black''. HarperCollins (1991). - A stranger, Mr Stands, comes to town and with him threats to a teenager called Jules and other town inhabitants. *'' Calling All Monsters''. Viking (1990). - Joanne finds that the horror creations of her favourite writer are appearing in real life. *''Personal Effects''. Viking (1991). *'' Brother Of Mine''. Clarion Books (1994). - about identical twins, Nick and Tony, who antagonise each other but also occasionally pretend to be the other. *''

''. Puffin (1996). - a girl called Maggie resembles Julia, a girl who has disappeared, so the police ask Maggie to play Julia in a television reconstruction of the day she went missing. *''

''. Viking (1997). - about a boy called Jack North who becomes obsessed with a game called Silicon Sphere that somehow causes elements of itself to appear in the real world and other players to disappear. *''

''. Lulu.com (2009). - a thriller about an internet stalker.

Adult fiction

*''Dark Brigade''. Headline (1991). *''The Silence''. Piatkus (1993). *''Sight Unseen''. Piatkus (1994).

Short stories

*''Closeness, anthology: Thirteen More Tales Of Terror''

Notes

External links

*
Chris Westwood web site

Chris Westwood at Fantastic Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westwood, Chris English children's writers Living people 1959 births