About me

Hmmm... so what can I tell you about me that isn’t on the other pages? Let’s see...

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 few months working in a summer camp followed by a tour of the Western states of America in a battered Ford van with two Danes, and a job 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. There's a bit more about that on the Songwriter page of this site.

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:
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"If you're going to teach children, you need to read children's books."

So I did. I read lots of them, and 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 she 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 wife Jennie. My children, who inspired the characters of Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face, are grown up and have places of their own; it's exciting seeing what they're making of their lives and always lovely when we get together. The same goes for my two grown-up stepdaughters.

​I gave up teaching to concentrate on writing when I moved to Stroud, but I really enjoy visiting schools as an author and am always keen to do even more. If you'd like me to come and visit your school, point your teacher at the School Visits & Events tab in the menu at the top of the page.

In early 2004 I took up running and within only a few months completed the London Marathon. 

​I completed it in a little over 5 hours, actually. It just felt like a few months. But what I meant was, I ran the marathon only a few months after taking up running. Clear? I did it again, twice, over the next few years, with a personal best of around 4 hours 22 minutes.

I'm a member of the Society of Authors, which doesn't involve much running. Okay, it doesn't involve any, but I do get to meet other authors - including some quite famous ones - and there's quite often food, or at least crisps, which is nice. I was on the committee of the Society's Children's Writers & Illustrators Group (CWIG) for five years. For two of those years I chaired CWIG, which meant that I got to sit nearest the biscuits.

I'm 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, we ought to be able to beat the original bunch in a fair fight, but for some reason none of us is very keen to put that idea to the test. Still, it's worth checking out everyone's websites. ​

Music is still a very big part of my life. When I lived in London, as well as being in the band I was part of an a cappella group (in a cappella music, the only instrument used is the human voice) called Colla Voce.

When I moved to Stroud, I joined Bristol-based award-winning a cappella group Naked Voices. It was tremendous fun, and I was very sad when the group ended. Then, with some of the members of Naked Voices, I sang with a group called Original Sing. Now I'm in a choir called The Caw, which is great fun too.

​I'd really like to put together another band with instruments some day, as well.

Original Sing

Other things I enjoy include listening to music, playing music, getting together with friends, going to restaurants, getting together with friends to go to restaurants,  watching films...

...and, of course, reading.