Hello!

I’m Chris and I LOVE being a children’s author.

I’ve always had crazy ideas bouncing around inside my head and I’d scribble them down on any scrap of paper I could find. Even though I didn’t enjoy reading books when I was young, I’ve always loved exploring stories in comics, TV and from films. Once I discovered that there were amazing stories in books too, there was no stopping me. I devoured as many books as I could.

Better late than never!

I’m from Newcastle (a proud supporter of the Toon Army!) but now live in London with my wife (a primary school Head Teacher), my daughter (currently studying English at university) and a loony cockapoo called Milo.

Before I became an author, I’ve had lots of other adventures …

My first proper job was in Royal Air Force where I worked as a ground crew mechanic with jet fighters on a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Squadron during the end of The Cold War – ready to launch aircraft at a moment’s notice whenever the sirens went off!

I got to travel all over the world and was also part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces carrying out Operation Deny Flight during the Bosnian Conflict, where I was awarded the NATO Medal, which I gave to my Mam and Dad.

After developing a passion for environmental issues, I went back to study at university and became an Environmental Scientist.

It was a real hands-on job where I would visit lots of factories as I helped them improve their environmental standards and energy efficiency.

Such an endlessly fascinating job. I got to investigate all the nooks and crannies of all kinds of places. Some factories made cars, crisps, Yorkshire puddings and one place that made real money (a security guard would follow me around all day in case I filled my pockets with some of their cash!).

Then I became a Stay at Home Dad (the job which I am the most proud of doing) when my beautiful daughter was born.

It was a huge shift to go from engineering and science into changing nappies, putting hair into bunches, playing games on the floor and constantly cleaning EVERYTHING! But I loved it!

My love of creating and enjoying stories became a part of my daily ‘job’.

We would write stories together and come up with lots of whacky ideas. I wrote more and more, and my wife and daughter suggested I should sent my strange tales off to a publisher.

So I did …

My first book was published by Chicken House where I worked with many amazing people including publishing legend Barry Cunningham to write my silly, chocolatey story. Barry had previously worked with, amongst others, Roald Dahl, and I was thrilled when he allowed me a brief mention of Willy Wonka in my story!

More recently, it’s been fabulous writing all kinds of stories with Collins Big Cat. We’ve worked incredibly hard to create exciting and dynamic books that grab the attention of readers, especially those that don’t normally engage with reading – just like me when I was younger.

I visit schools and libraries all over the country talking about my books and getting inspired by all the lovely people I meet.