I grew up in Warrington in the UK, the same town that gave the world Lewis Carroll—perhaps explaining why doorways to other worlds have always seemed perfectly reasonable propositions to me.
As a boy wandering the streets where the creator of Wonderland once roamed, I developed an incurable condition: the ability to see magic in the mundane. My early literary companions were talking lions, chocolate river-navigating children, and wizards of both the Earthsea and Middle-earth varieties. I recall with particular fondness the day my parents presented me with Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea series—a moment that, much like receiving Hogwarts acceptance letters, changed everything.
In later years, I explored the neon labyrinths of Hong Kong and the cherry blossoms of Tokyo, where Miyazaki Hayao’s animated worlds forever transformed my imagination. The spirits of ‘Spirited Away’ and the moving architecture of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ now wander freely through my creative landscape.
When Saturday comes, I can be found performing my own brand of magic: attempting to influence the fortunes of Liverpool Football Club through an elaborate series of superstitions and unwashed lucky socks—a ritual as fantastical as my fiction, though with decidedly mixed results.
Outside of writing and football, I spend my time explaining to bewildered strangers the importance of caution around wardrobes and the imperative of accepting tea from a giant.
I now call Stamford Bridge in the East Riding of Yorkshire home, the very place where William’s adventures unfold in my novels. When I’m not immersed in writing the next installment of the series, you’ll find me enjoying life’s simple pleasures—eating, drinking, and having fun with Lucy, William, and Ella-Rose.