I grew up in Darlington in the North East of England, studied Russian and German at Cambridge and spent a year in Russia in a city called Voronezh during the early nineties. Lots of vodka. Lots of falling over in the snow.
Before I started writing full-time I used to direct children's television, film and radio, including Numberjacks for Cbeebies. There is less sticky paper and glitter in my life now. Shame. I decided to try and make a career out of writing after I won the Telegraph's 'First thousand words of a novel' competition in 2007 with the opening scene of Instruments of Darkness, my first book.
As well as writing novels I also write poetry, there's some of mine in the anthology City State: New London Poetry, published by Penned in the Margins. I also play the cello and spend a lot of time staring out of my window in Bermondsey, South London.