Simon Cheshire hated school and, on the whole, school wasn’t too keen on him either. He had a successful career in book marketing until leaving the publishing industry in 2001 to write full time.

'I was writing with the intention of getting published since I was a teenager and was turning out a steady stream of utter rubbish until I turned thirty. At that point I finally accepted that my mental age would never exceed ten, turned to children’s stories and at last found my natural habitat.'

Simon’s new books for 8–12-year-olds are a solve-it series called Saxby Smart.

He sometimes frequents schools and literary festivals – check out his availability here.