About Me
Christopher Stanton is a creative writer and artist from Columbus, OH who has lived and worked in Los Angeles for nearly thirty years. He received a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University and an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California.
You can find him on Instagram, Facebook, Letterboxd and Twitter.
His horror thriller Kings of the Earth was published in 2019 and was nominated for the 2020 TopShelf Book Award. He published a second book: The Underachiever: Collected Stories 2000-2010 in 2021. Both titles are available on Amazon.
For years now, Stanton has explored his affection for the 1980s -- his teenage years -- in his writing. His many years of college classes -- everything from story structure to film script analysis -- as well as deep dives into that decade through 80s movies, TV shows and countless episodes of "American Top 40," have been a huge benefit! He especially loves delving into how news events, controversial social issues and most importantly, pop culture, affect the lives of the characters he creates.
His manuscript Dandelion Crossing, about the first week of a controversial, brand-new suburban shopping mall in 1983, told through stories of fourteen diverse characters who work at or visit there, is complete. Stanton is currently seeking a publisher for it.
He is also revising his second novel Neon Muscle, about a huge fitness center in Los Angeles in 1983. Centering on five characters connected to the gym, the book explores the 80s fitness craze, the emergence of AIDS, the LA art scene and the world of male strip clubs.
Stanton has had more than a dozen short stories published in literary magazines, and he created the graphic novel Nick Pope, illustrated by the late Christopher Darling, which was published in May 2023. Kirkus Reviews calls it "A finely executed, wonderfully evocative tale of teen discovery."
He has shown his art in more than fifty exhibitions across the United States.
More about me:
I'm the type of dude who likes to work on a bunch of different projects at once. I wrote a ton of short stories in high school in Columbus, OH, then went on to major in Dramatic Writing at NYU. Then I got an MFA in screenwriting at the University of Southern California, and I've lived in Los Angeles since 1995.
Since then, I created the graphic novel Nick Pope (with illustrations by Christopher Darling), had short stories published in numerous literary magazines, and written a bunch of feature-length screenplays.
Out of the blue in 2004, I decided to start making art. I bought a set of basic colored pencils and started drawing portraits of people from Myspace, using their profile photos as reference images. Pretty soon I was drawing every day, sometimes doing two portraits a night.
My first solo show was at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City in 2005, and it was all Myspace portraits! After that, I moved into oil pastels, then collage, then paint. I'm still all self-taught, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've been in dozens of exhibitions since then.
I'm always looking for opportunities to show my work and collaborate. I'm also available for commissions, and I'm proud to donate my art to support worthy causes.