I was born in Larne, Northern Ireland, and shortly afterwards went on to be educated - an experience I didn't enjoy terribly much, if I'm honest about it. Fortunately I'd already discovered the joy of reading, which helped quite a bit.
In early secondary school, with a group of friends I took to writing and illustrating comics - mostly about insects, since they were easier to draw than people - and from there, I began writing other pieces of silliness.
In the sixth form - when I really should have been revising for my A-levels - I took up the guitar and quickly began to direct my creative energies into songwriting, with the occasional bit of poetry thrown in.
During the next few years I somehow made it through university, acting in a number of plays while I was there. I went on to do various other things including voluntary work for Barnardo's, a stint as a YMCA worker in Norwich, a summer working in a summer camp followed by a tour of the Western states of America in a battered Ford van with two Danes, and several months as a machine operator in a tape factory in London, which was to be my home for around 15 years. London, that is, not the tape factory. I also formed a band and spent quite a bit of time trying to get a foothold in the music business.
In the early 1990's I trained as a primary school teacher, a job I did for over 10 years. One of the first - and best - pieces of advice I was given during training came from a Mr Alan Millington (then deputy head at Broadwater Primary School in Tooting), who said:
"If you're going to teach children, you need to read children's books."
So I did. I read lots of them, and so rediscovered my love of children's literature. Naturally enough, reading soon led to writing, and after a while I began sending stories to different publishers. One of these stories
caught the eye of Sue Cook, Senior Editor at Random House Children's Books. Over the next few years, Sue encouraged and guided me and, when I wrote Zeus on the Loose, put it forward for publication. It reached the bookshops in January 2004, and the following year was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award for 'an outstanding first novel for children'.
I now live in Stroud, Gloucestershire, with my lovely wife and our two wonderful children. I gave up teaching to concentrate on writing when we moved here, but I really enjoy visiting schools as an author and would like to do even more.
Appearing (November 2009)
South Tyneside (10th), North Tyneside (11th), Hartlepool (12th)
Author Website
www.visitingauthor.com
Publisher
Random House
Recommended Reads
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Jack Slater and The Whisper of Doom Young Corgi 978-0552558051 Jack Slater is an official Monster Investigator - licensed to hunt out monsters who turn up under beds and terrorize small children. Brave Jack has never met a monster that could scare him...until now. The Dark Depths - home to the most terrifying of all monsters - have been opened, and Jack and his feisty friend Cherry must enter them and face the danger within. Armed only with their wits, a torch and a teddy bear... |
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Bansi O'Hara and The Bloodline Prophecy Corgi Yearling Books 978-0440867876 Bansi O'Hara is visiting her granny in Ireland, when very strange things start to happen. First there is the swan that seems to be following them from the ferry, then the strange little man who appears in her bedroom and says he's a brownie called Pogo. Things get even stranger when Bansi finds out that her birth fulfilled an ancient prophecy from Tir na n'Og, the land of the faeries, and that the wicked Lord of the Dark Sidhe wants to spill her blood on faery soil. Bansi, Pogo and Tam, a handsome faery who can change into animal form, cross through the gate that separates the two worlds to try and make the prophecy come true for the good faery peoples. But the Dark Lord is waiting for them... |
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Zeus to the Rescue Young Corgi 978-0552553735 Zeus is back! This time Alex and his friend Charlie have summoned Zeus down from Mount Olympus on purpose because there's a problem that they're hoping he will be able to help with. There' s a new girl in the class called Diana and ever since she turned up, things have just got weirder and weirder. All the girls follow her around like sheep and do whatever she says and their teacher Miss Wise is letting Diana and the girls get away with outrageous behaviour. Zeus doesn't seem very willing to help but then Alex and Charlie discover that Diana is actually Zeus's daughter, the goddess Artemis! It's bad enough having two gods running around on Earth but things start getting really bad when Artemis bets Zeus that he can't get Miss Wise to give him a kiss of her own free will because she's one of Artemis's followers now. If Zeus fails then Artemis is going to turn his High Priest, Alex, into a pig...! |
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Niteracy Hour Young Corgi 978-0552550826 WHAT A LOUSE! Jim is a head-louse, newly-hatched from a nit on Gregory's head. But as Gregory is a good listener and it's 'in his blood', Jim's breakfast turns him into a good listener too and suddenly school storytime changes from Literacy Hour to Niteracy Hour. And can Jim help Gregory do something about Duncan, the class bully? He's the real louse in the class- |
