Simon Cheshire grew up in Warwickshire, and absolutely hated school. On the whole, it wasn't too keen on him either. 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.