More about me
I was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1979 – the same year that U.S. President Jimmy Carter fought off a swimming rabbit (true story – later dubbed the “Killer Rabbit Incident”).
After travelling for several years, I moved to Scotland, where I lived and taught for fifteen formative and fascinating years. During my time in classrooms, the children I taught were a fountain of inspiration and my love of books grew stronger. I became fascinated by the magic created in classrooms through sharing, exploring and investigating good stories.
Now back in England, I am settled with my wife, daughter and two cats (Joan, the chess-playing cat, and Pops, who can see ghosts) in the market town of Leek (where there are thankfully no known swimming rabbits). While still teaching, I have been pursuing my passion for writing stories for children.
My first stories were picture books, including The Wasp that Changed the World and Mummy Had a Stroke, and I thought picture books were my true home. That was until I dived into a creative writing course, which unlocked a smorgasbord of ideas for longer stories. This led straight to my debut novel, AI Kid, which follows Ava, a ten-year-old girl trying to find her place at school with the help of an artificial intelligence–powered friend. My aim is to create some of that magic for adults and children to share. We could all do with a little more imagination, curiosity and joy.
5 Unusual Facts About Me:
- Joining the Circus: Whilst hitchhiking in Queensland, Australia, I accidentally joined a circus group and ended up living in a barn for three weeks.
- Sandwich Artist: Yes, you read that right! I was once employed as a Sandwich Artist – creating culinary masterpieces surrounded by bread.
- Dream Knightmare: It was my childhood dream to go on the children’s game show Knightmare. Secretly, I’m hoping this could still happen – don’t tell anyone!
- Squash Hazard: I am so terrible at squash I had to stop playing. I kept running into the walls and became an extreme danger to myself on the court.
- Time Magician: I am exceptionally good at guessing what time it is. Without a watch, you can ask me to guess and I’ll usually get it right within a ten-minute margin of error. I’m hoping one day this will become a useful life skill, rather than just getting the occasional nod from my wife saying, “Good guess”.
Favourite Books: (very hard to choose!)
- Impossible Creatures – A modern masterpiece!
- His Dark Materials – All three are brilliant, with Northern Lights as my favourite.
- Goosebumps – So many good titles! Return of the Mummy and Night of the Living Dummy really stand out.
- The Highway Rat – One of Georgia’s early favourites, and mine too!
- Stitch Head – I enjoyed a wonderful book study of this with a P6 class.