Paul Watkins

Paul Watkins is an accomplished American author who has spent his life living in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He has established himself as a writer of fiction, historical fiction, and crime fiction, using the pen name Sam Eastland. Watkins was born in 1964 and grew up attending prestigious schools such as the Dragon School, Oxford, Eton, and Yale University, where he earned his B.A.

Watkins' writing career began at the age of 16 when he wrote his first novel, 'Night Over Day Over Night,' which was published in 1988. His writing talent was recognized early on, and he won the Encore Award in 1990 for his second novel, which was the best second novel of the year. In addition to his successful standalone novels and nonfiction books, Watkins is well-known for his Inspector Pekkala series, which is set in Stalinist Russia and features the main character, Inspector Pekkala.

Currently, Watkins works as a teacher and writer-in-residence at The Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, where he lives with his wife, Cathy, and two children, Emma and Oliver. He has previously taught at the Lawrenceville School. His experiences at the Dragon School and Eton were documented in his autobiographical work, 'Stand Before Your God: An American Schoolboy in England.'