Simon Cheshire

Simon Cheshire grew up in Warwickshire, England. He was always the quiet kid at the back of the class, and spent a lot of time staring out of the window. From a young age, he was a dedicated reader and would spend many hours absorbed in books, happily dreaming of faraway places, and completely ignoring his mother's cries of "Go out and get some fresh air, for heaven's sake!"
After graduating from university with a PhD in Spending-far-too-much-time-on-obscure-researches-and-not-enough-on-actual-assignments, Simon went to work in the only industry that would have him: the book trade. He spent over a decade in the marketing departments of various book-selling companies, until they'd finally had enough of his silliness and told him to go and do something more useful instead. So he became a full-time writer. His hobbies include movies, tinkering with old computers and wishing he had more hobbies. He lives in Warwick with his wife and children, although he spends most of his time in a world of his own.

Simon was writing, with the intention of being published, from the age of sixteen or so. For fifteen years, he turned out novels, screenplays and stage plays, all of which were utter garbage. Then when he arrived at his thirtieth birthday, and finally accepted that his mental age would never exceed ten, he turned to children's books, and at last found his natural habitat. His first book appeared in 1997, and since then his books have been published in many countries around the world, and in several languages. He writes in a tiny room that used to be a walk-in cupboard, but which is now crammed with books, pieces of paper and empty chocolate bar wrappers.

Some things you didn't know about Simon Cheshire
• He is allergic to cats, horses and the entire city of Coventry.
• His favourite food is fish. Or possibly chocolate.
• He has no dress sense whatsoever, and usually goes around looking like a mobile rubbish tip.
• His favourite activity is reading late at night, when everyone else is asleep.
• He writes on a laptop computer, using OpenOffice to write his books, Sandvox to maintain his website and PacMan to waste his time.
• He hates gardening, swimming and Christmas.
• He believes in the existence of extra-terrestrials.
• When he was growing up, he wanted to be either an actor or a film director.
• He has travelled in China, India and Egypt and really, really wants to go to the Moon.