Simon Hutt was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1973 and joined the British Army straight from school. After two wars and a spell in prison, Simon started writing about his experiences as a boy soldier and dealing with the hopes and horrors of war and its aftermath, culminating in his autobiography; Paint - A Boy Soldier's Journey, published in June 2010.

Determined to create a book that was true to the feelings and emotions of war, Simon made a book that is far removed from the SAS -type heroics of most military autobiographies. "Paint" is raw, emotional and often painful to read, but, says Simon; "That's how war is".

The book took three, often difficult, years to write. Simon Said...

"Exposing your emotions in this way is cathartic, but it's painful. Trying to remember everything that for a long time I had tried to bury was difficult to say the least. Now though, I have written my story, and I hope when people read it they may experience some of the things that I have been through."

Simon is a writer, artist and blogger and still lives in Nuneaton with his wife and four children.