Simon Cheshire grew up in Warwickshire. 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!"

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.

His hobbies include movies, repairing 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's titles have been shortlisted for the Lancashire Book Of The Year Award and the South Lanarkshire Book Award, and have twice been voted “Best Book For The Teen Age” by the New York Public Library. His Saxby Smart books have twice been selected as featured titles by the Junior Library Guild.

Some things you didn't know about Simon Cheshire • He is allergic to cats, horses and the entire city of Coventry. • His favourite food is fish. Or possibly chocolate. • He has no dress sense whatsoever, and usually goes around looking like a mobile rubbish tip. • His favourite activity is reading late at night, when everyone else is asleep. • He writes on a laptop computer, using OpenOffice to write his books, Weebly to maintain his website and PacMan to waste his time. • He hates gardening, swimming and Christmas. • He believes in the existence of extra-terrestrials. • When he was growing up, he wanted to be either an actor or a film director. • He has travelled in China, India and Egypt and really, really wants to go to the Moon.

Simon Cheshire's personal website
Information about Simon Cheshire, his life and works, plus downloadable free chapters and a page for teachers about school visits.

Simon on Twitter

The Saxby Smart website
Site devoted to the brilliant (fictional) schoolboydetective Saxby Smart