Tom Smiley has been making up ridiculous stories since primary school and is slightly shocked to find that people are prepared to pay him to do it. He grew up in north Wales and sold his first comedy material to Radio 4 when he was 17. He now lives in Manchester, where he writes funny action/adventure books for children and plays for grownups. His young fiction has been selected amongst the 'Best Books of the Year' by Waterstones and won the Fantastic Book Awards. He also writes under the names Mark Griffiths and Mark Powers.James Lancett is a Bath-based illustrator, director and yellow sock lover! As a child growing up in Cardiff he was obsessed with cartoons, video games and all things fantasy. He now works as an illustrator and animation director. He has illustrated many bestselling middle grade and young fiction series, including Lil' Muffin Drops the Mic by Romesh Ranganathan, Adam Wins the Internet by Adam B and The New Famous Five by Chris Smith.