About John
Hmmm... so what can I tell you about John that isn’t on the other pages? Let’s see...
He was born in Larne, Northern Ireland, and shortly afterwards went on to be educated - an experience he didn't enjoy terribly much, if he's honest about it. Fortunately he'd already discovered the joy of reading, which helped quite a bit.
In early secondary school, with a group of friends he took to writing and illustrating comics - mostly about insects, since they were easier to draw than people - and from there, he began writing other pieces of silliness.
In the sixth form - when he really should have been revising for his A-levels - John took up the guitar, and quickly began to direct his creative energies into songwriting, with the occasional bit of poetry thrown in.
During the next few years John somehow made it through university, acting in a number of plays while he was there. he 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 his home for around 15 years. London, that is, not the tape factory. He 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 John trained as a primary school teacher, a job he did for over 10 years. One of the first - and best - pieces of advice he 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."
During the next few years John somehow made it through university, acting in a number of plays while he was there. he 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 his home for around 15 years. London, that is, not the tape factory. He 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 John trained as a primary school teacher, a job he did for over 10 years. One of the first - and best - pieces of advice he 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 he did. He read lots of them, and so rediscovered his love of children's literature. Naturally enough, reading soon led to writing, and after a while he 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 John and, when he 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'.
John now lives in Stroud, Gloucestershire, with his two wonderful teenagers.
He gave up teaching to concentrate on writing when he moved to Stroud, but he really enjoys visiting schools as an author and would like to do even more. If you'd like John to come and visit your school, point your teacher at the School Visits tab on the menu at the top of the page.
He gave up teaching to concentrate on writing when he moved to Stroud, but he really enjoys visiting schools as an author and would like to do even more. If you'd like John to come and visit your school, point your teacher at the School Visits tab on the menu at the top of the page.
In early 2004 John took up running and within only a few months completed the London Marathon. Ummm... he completed it in a little over 5 hours, actually. It just felt like a few months. But what I meant was, he ran the marathon only a few months after taking up running. Clear?
He's a member of the Society of Authors, which doesn't involve much running. Okay, it doesn't involve any, but he does get to meet other authors - including some quite famous ones - and there's quite often food, or at least crisps, which is nice. He was on the committee of the Society's Children's Writers & Illustrators Group (CWIG) for five years. For two of those years he chaired CWIG, which meant that he got to sit nearest the biscuits.
John is very proud to be a patron of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. It's really good, and the people who run it are lovely.
He sometimes reviews books for Armadillo, an online magazine about children's books which is well worth checking out.
He's also a member of the Scattered Authors' Society - the other SAS, as they like to think of themselves. If, as Shakespeare said, the pen truly is mightier than the sword, they ought to be able to beat the original bunch in a fair fight, but for some reason none of them is very keen to put that one to the test. Still, it's worth checking out everyone's websites.
Music is still a very big part of John's life. He was a member of award-winning extraordinary acappella group Naked Voices for over 2 years, and was very sad when the group ended. Then he joined a group called Original Sing, which lasted for about 6 years. Now he's rehearsing with a new 6-piece group, but would also like to put together a band with instruments when he has time!
Other things John enjoys include getting together with friends, going to restaurants, getting together with friends to go to restaurants, listening to music, playing music, watching films...
...and, of course, reading.
He's a member of the Society of Authors, which doesn't involve much running. Okay, it doesn't involve any, but he does get to meet other authors - including some quite famous ones - and there's quite often food, or at least crisps, which is nice. He was on the committee of the Society's Children's Writers & Illustrators Group (CWIG) for five years. For two of those years he chaired CWIG, which meant that he got to sit nearest the biscuits.
John is very proud to be a patron of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. It's really good, and the people who run it are lovely.
He sometimes reviews books for Armadillo, an online magazine about children's books which is well worth checking out.
He's also a member of the Scattered Authors' Society - the other SAS, as they like to think of themselves. If, as Shakespeare said, the pen truly is mightier than the sword, they ought to be able to beat the original bunch in a fair fight, but for some reason none of them is very keen to put that one to the test. Still, it's worth checking out everyone's websites.
Music is still a very big part of John's life. He was a member of award-winning extraordinary acappella group Naked Voices for over 2 years, and was very sad when the group ended. Then he joined a group called Original Sing, which lasted for about 6 years. Now he's rehearsing with a new 6-piece group, but would also like to put together a band with instruments when he has time!
Other things John enjoys include getting together with friends, going to restaurants, getting together with friends to go to restaurants, listening to music, playing music, watching films...
...and, of course, reading.