My first book, Not So Stupid! was published by Livewire Books for Teenagers in November 1990 and since then I have written over 50 books, including Noughts & Crosses, Pig-Heart Boy which was turned into a BAFTA winning serial, Hacker and Whizziwig among others. I have won a number of literary prizes (Click on the Awards link for further details).

I have written TV scripts, including a number of Byker Grove episodes, Whizziwig episodes and Pig Heart Boy (the first 4 episodes) as well as a couple of original dramas for CITV and BBC Education. I wrote a play for the Polka Theatre called The Amazing Birthday which was performed in February and March 2002. I'm a graduate of the National Film and Television School, and divide my time between book and script writing.

Before I was a writer, I had a number of jobs including Database Manager, Systems Programmer, Documentation Assistant (in other words, a glorified filing clerk) and I had a number of temporary summer jobs whilst I was doing my O and A Levels, including working as a telephonist/receptionist/typist, a Catering Assistant and Saturday jobs at Littlewoods and British Home Stores. The worst job I ever had was working as a kitchen porter. I lasted a day and a half!

When I was at school, I wanted to be an English teacher but tripped and fell into Computing instead. I worked in the Computing industry a number of years, after which I did an acting course, then became a writer.