Gary Cross

Hello, I’m Gary Cross. I write children’s books. That cat in the photo with me is Frank. He doesn’t write kids’ books, but he does appear in some of them. My own children, Lucas, Olivia and Gabriel, are usually in them, too.

I started writing stories when I was in school. I’ve still got some of those stories – tales of giant eyebrows taking over the world or of something nasty living under the toilet seat.

I got my love for writing stories from a boarder who stayed at my parent’s hotel. He was blind.

Every day after school I would read him a chapter from a book. In return, he would tell me a ghost story. He made them up as he went and they were really, really scary.

Thanks to those stories, I slept with my head under the bedcovers until I was 30! And I NEVER left my wardrobe open at night. (OK, I admit it, I still don’t.)

I love writing. My children love writing, too, which gives me a real buzz. In fact, Frank, the Flea Cat started off as a story my daughter Olivia wrote.

So if you love writing stories, just keep on writing! Who knows where it will take you.