User:Laurenpronger/Robert Blake Whitehill

Robert Blake Whitehill is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for the Ben Blackshaw thriller series.

Born in Mardela Springs, Maryland, Whitehill earned a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from Haverford College before studying as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. The extensive exposure to some of the best stage and screen drama turned Whitehill from aspiring actor into aspiring writer. After earning several accolades as a screenwriter, he wrote Deadrise, the first book in the Ben Blackshaw series, quickly followed by Nitro Express, Tap Rack Bang, and Geronimo Hotshot. After receiving critical attention, the series' first installment is slated to become a feature film.

Biography
Whitehill was born in Mardela Springs, Maryland to a Quaker family as one of four children to Howard Joseph Whitehill Jr. and Claire Marcom Whitehill. Their house lay adjacent to Barren Pond, the hydraulic power source for the colonial era Barren Creek Mill. His father Joseph wrote short stories for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and numerous other journals as well as publishing two novels.

As a child, Whitehill sailed the Chesapeake Bay and the Chester River. He soon enrolled in the Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school in eastern Pennsylvania, before continuing on to Haverford College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing. After graduation he studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.