I studied at Oxford and Cambridge and have worked in an ad agency, a comprehensive school, a building site and a men's prison. My interests are books, movies, cake and stand up comedy and I love to make people laugh, especially when it's intentional rather than accidental. I've always wanted to write, and after coming second in the Montegrappa First Fiction Competition at the 2013 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, I was lucky enough to get an offer of representation by London agent Luigi Bonomi, followed by a two book deal with Simon and Schuster. The Case of the Exploding Loo is my first novel, the second in the series is due out in March 2015.

 

A quirky kids detective story about exploding loos, top-secret brain rays, talking shoes and weird uses of the colour turquoise.

There was no hard part. I loved coming up with daft ideas and making myself laugh. Then, when I entered the competition and got an agent and a publisher within a month, I felt like I'd written myself the ultimate happy ending!

My favourite books as a child were Roald Dahl’s The Witches and Matilda, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and everything by Diana Wynne Jones. They triggered my love for funny books full of big ideas and unconventional characters.

I love the promotional side of being author. For The Case of the Exploding Loo I've done launch parties, bookstore signings, school visits, a virtual launch event, a blog tour, as well as having fun on social networks like Facebook and Twitter

Researching the next book!

Book 2 in my quirky detective series - an all-new adventure for Know-All, Holly and Porter, featuring stolen space rocks, exploding brains and a frying pan of pain. Out next March.