Paul Western was born in 1963 and has written from an early age. In 1981, while still at school, his competition-winning essay taking an imaginary look back from the year 2001 was published in New Scientist.

Paul studied chemistry at the University of Southampton, staying to earn a doctorate and, coincidentally, a black belt in karate. Alongside this he developed an interest in philosophy and history. This is also the time he became a member of Amnesty International, whose aims he supports to this day.

During a fifteen-year a career in software development, much of it as an independent consultant, Paul wrote a great deal for professional reasons and also participated in a local creative writing group for many years. In 2000 he published More Praise for Idleness, an essay revisiting a well-known Bertrand Russell piece, in Philosophy Now.

Music has been a lifelong love. Paul's tastes have continually expanded their range, beginning with mainstream rock and pop then exploring various forms of dance music, reaching out to world music and jazz, before finally embracing classical music. He has been learning the piano for several years.

Prison is Paul's first novel. He is currently working on a second one.